The Return Of Aufero

Angerona had awakened within the confines of the Black Forest as she was ought to do after a long time in one of her 'trances' in which the blade took over her body completely and moved about on it's own will. Her head was aching and as she placed a hand to her own forehead in order to suppress the feeling she felt a strange warmth upon herself and when she withdrew her hand to find the culprit she noticed that her hand was now covered in blood upon having been put on her forehead. Unbeknownst to her, Angerona had been in several long battles over the past few days and as such was injured somewhat during them, leaving her confused and wounded among other things. 

Grumbling to herself, Angerona would then brush aside locks of her golden blonde hair as she moved off, further into the forest, having remembered vaguely that she was in search of her Prophet, Suto whom had gotten lost within the Black Forest as he was not as accustomed to its ways as she was and definitely not to the extent that her Goddess was. It was a somewhat annoying fact, but she accepted it as purely something to be expected of those not born of the Darkness, since he even lacked being in contact with the Goddess and had outright refused to do so on several occasions. Although, even with that Angerona still trusted him, though it was possibly due to the fact she was desperate for anyone to confide in or to fight alongside her in this holy crusade. 

She continued to wander through the trees, occasionally steadying her still groggy form against them with one hand as she did so, her now tattered white cape flowing behind her as her equally torn black bodice leaked streaks of blood just as her forehead did - all in all, she appeared to have been in quite a few scuffles. She held Aufero firmly in one hand, not even bothering to re-sheathe her since having awoken, the red gem upon the hilt of which emitting constant pulses of dark energy as it slowly healed the wounds of it's Wielder starting from the body and upward, the Dark Energy covering Angerona like a second skin, protecting her and frightening any local wildlife she came across.

Eventually, Angerona discovered a cave within the edge of the Black Forest that resided within a nearby mountainside as she approached it and assumed inwardly that this would be a place that she thought Suto would wait if he had any intent of doing so for Angerona, or merely if he sought refuge from the rather nasty wildlife and harsh terrain. She would enter the cave, calling out in a strained and somewhat broken voice: "Suto? . . . Prophet? . . . " In an attempt to get his attention if he were inside, slowly entering the cave herself as she panted heavily for a few moments before slumping against the nearby rock wall, blood still leaking down her forehead and over her face as she mumbled to herself about hoping that he was really here, since he apparently had at least some medical knowledge and would maybe know how to make this increasingly annoying pain in her head go away, or at least provide her with someone to talk to, as she was quite lacking in that department for the past while.

With bated breath she awaited, slumped against the cave wall, for her Prophet and Friend to return as she said quietly aloud: "I will return, soon, and make them regret everything - I will destroy them, once I become just a little more powerful . . . " She would then shake her head softly and begin to drift in and out of consciousness, head lowered as she remained in place and began mumbling incoherently, yet quietly.

[637]

Suto was walking through the black forest, having ventured away from 'Angerona,' as she now preferred to be called, for only a mere second, however that mere second was enough to stray away from their desired path, whether purposeful or not. He was now in search for Anger, trying to rehunt down the path. He sighed, beginning to wonder why he followed Anger. It was a question he often asked himself, why follow a little kid around and pretend to be the prophet of their religion. There was no real answer, there was only the fact that she was capable of teaching Suto how to become a "ninja" or shinobi as he heard they were called, which he longed to be like. Using big, large, flashy, fancy attacks, or keeping them subtle though equally deadly.


He continued to travel, worrying about the weather, wondering if it were about to rain soon. What with the gray clouds overheard, rain seemed evident. He sighed, deciding to find shelter, assuming Anger would seek some too. With luck, the two would run into each other. He began to dash, in search of a cave, or random cabin. A cave was more likely, though, considering they were near mountains and such. After actually finding a cave, he would head inside, immediately taking shelter from the soon to be coming rain, or at least he assumed it was coming. He leaned up against the wall of the cave, deep enough to where he wouldn't be seen easily due to the fact that people didn't typically like him, being the random wanderer that he was and all.


He was pondering over leaving Anger, it wouldn't really effect anything much at all, Suto going off to travel on his own. He had discovered some things on his own, like the ability to walk on top of water. Though there would be more he could learn if he stuck around, which, in reality, at the moment was the only reason he was searching for Anger.

"Suto" he would here someone saying, as he woke up from what he would assume to have been a rather long nap. He wasn't sure just how much time had passed, but he figured it would have been quite a long time. Looking outside he would take note of the bright shining light blinding him temporarily, as he walked towards the exit. His eyes had adjusted to the darkness and now needed to adjust to the light. He pulled out a Kunai, out of mere caution. He was fairly sure the voice was Anger's, but you never know. He couldn't exactly see her either. "Oi, who's there then?" He asked, pulling his cloak back over his side, to cover the front after pulling a Kunai from the inner pocket. His other hand was rubbing his left eye, and then proceeding to fix the headband wrapped around his forehead. It was a plain white headband, not the one shinobi's wore. His right hand, the one with the Kunai was pointed towards the shadowy figure blocked by the light.

Suddenly the world had returned to Angerona as she was awoken by the sound of Suto's voice calling out, asking who was there in a manner that she took for being anxious. Slowly, she would manage to force herself to stand and speak in a still strained voice, the darkness coursing through her body along with her own will being the two things keeping her currently awake as she responded softly: "It's me . . . Yuriko . . . " She managed to say, having used her true name rather than the alias she typically referred to herself as, seeing as she trusted her ally enough to do so along with the fact she was frankly too exhausted to keep up the charade.

She would emerge in front of Suto as she sheathed Aufero slowly onto her hip as she had one hand firmly pressed against a particularly bad wound on her torso while the other hung limply at her side, looking up toward Suto as her eyes held a tired yet firm gaze within them: "I've returned . . . To begin reclaiming the land that was stolen from us. -- Kumogakure will become ours, soon." She say in a tone that was dead serious, devoid of any hint of doubt or anxiety toward the subject as she stated it much like it were a fact or something that had already passed. 

She paused for a short moment, cracking her neck as she would then begin to move further forward so that she would be standing only a few feet away from the man known as Suto, her Prophet and her friend. She would reach out a blood-stained glove to rest upon his shoulder as she steadied herself while still holding the wound in her torso: "We must become stronger . . . Together, we will train and fight until the day we reclaim the crown jewel atop the mountain, the village itself will become ours in time . . . " She then allowed her hand to slip away from him as she took a few breaths to steady herself as she would now simply await for him to make any response, too exhausted to elaborate any further without provocation. 

As she waited for Suto to respond, Aufero would pulse incessantly with her typical dark red gem's color, the darkness that had always surrounded Angerona swirling and hissing occasionally as it was exposed to the light, something which it clearly despised. The blade was speaking into the young girl's mind about the shadows, about how they must learn to one day overcome the light but for now that they should refrain from standing so openly within it, something which the girl merely ignored and continued to wait for her ally to respond, since he was the one person that she trusted at this moment, one person that - at least she believed - was willing to follow her along on her quest, someone to had not turned against her simply for the Blade and it's ways, that said volumes in her opinion about his loyalty if he truly was willing to stay by her side even through all of this. 

Regardless, she waited, silently, for the man to speak and hoped that he would have a suggestion as to where they should go first, or what they should train - since he had much to learn and she was willing to teach if he would listen and follow, though that was all up to the man and not purely her. 

[1,209]

Suto would listen, Yuriko identified with her real name, rather than identifying herself with her alternative name, Angerona, which she seemed to now go by. "Oiyo," he would say, greeting her. She would mention, or announce her return, and announce that they are, both Suto and Yuriko are now going around and reclaiming apparently lost land, and listing Kumogakure in the gist of it. He sighed a little. "Why are we going to fuck with those big shits over yander?" He would ask Yuriko, not really willing to get into a fight with some of the stronger shinobi he knows. He didn't know much of the village systems, but he knew people actively trained to become shinobi there, especially since that's where Yuriko hails from. Assuming she's not the strongest of the bunch, then things would be difficult. "You know I can do next to jack-shit, right? Most I know how to do with your fancy chakra shit is walk along the surface of things I normally wouldn't be able to, like water, and trees. Walls, too. Fucking walls." He said, listing out the things he figured he could work with. "Hope you don't plan on fucking with them right now." He would say, not disagreeing with her judgement though questioning the timing of her decisions. "I'm not too confident at the moment." He said, hopefully persuading her to reschedule any plans to rek Kumogakure, and delay them to the point of which she forgets doing it all together.

His Kunai now put away, he would walk outside of the cave. "So, what now?" He asked, and was assuming that Yuriko had decided to delay plans. He was hoping she would reply with training, as that is something that Suto enjoys doing. Getting stronger and the such, anyways. He was grinning a bit as he came out of the cave, looking at the area around the two, the rain had stopped, he wasn't sure exactly how long ago, due to the fact that he fell asleep. It was rather lucky, now that he thought about it, falling asleep where he did. It allowed for him to meet up with Yuriko once more, which, for better or worse, was something he needed, or wanted really, to happen, this being due to the fact that so far Yuriko was teaching him shit he needed to learn to become a Shinobi, he only hoped that Yuriko knew mostly everything he needed to know. If not, shit would be complicated, and Suto would probably have to learn on how to do a majority of things on his own. Not something he was looking forward to doing.

Angerona would frown softly as the man expressed his concerns and doubts about her plans, effectively putting them on ice as she sighed softly and admitted audibly: "I suppose that you are right . . . It would be a rather dim move to simply go and attack them head-on especially when we are so ill-prepared . . . " She would shake her head softly and steady herself firmly upon her feet and beginning to move out of the cave fully as she heard him ask what it was that they were to do next.

She shook her head slowly and began to speak in a low, dark tone of voice that dripped with the influence of the blade which she bore within each word: "We will become stronger . . . So that we may continue this course and destroy those who had dared oppose us, those who cast us from their hearts and homes - The very same people of which our mortal enemy is a part of, they must pay . . . " She would clench her free fist at this, slowly withdrawing her hand from the wound which she had placed it upon previously as she noted that it was slowly healing due to the effect of the blade's power and would give her enough energy to speak again: 

"I will show you the path to the realm of the Goddess and together we will finally begin to hone our true potential . . . " She would then pause for a moment as she turned to face Suto as her cape billowed in the wind with her turn. She gazed upon him firmly with her piercing red eyes, speaking only after a long few seconds of silence: "Today, Suto . . . We shall begin becoming truly powerful - If you choose to stay with me, that is." She would add, before then beginning to walk away from the cave and further into the Black Forest where she would follow the incessant voice of her Goddess which nagged at her mind, telling the young Wielder to move deeper into the shadows where she would be able to communicate with her Goddess and hopefully be able to finally begin reaching her full potential, along with her ally Suto whom she hoped to aide in becoming a powerful shinobi in his own right, possibly even as much so as Angerona herself - though that would all be up to him and her Goddess if it were possible. 

Assuming that Suto were following along with her, they would eventually reach the clearing in question as she drew Aufero from her hip and the blade would emit a large pulse of Dark Energy as it would then create a barrier around the two from which no one could see inside and they could not see out, for their own safety. It would be of note that Suto was able to see perfectly in even this veil of Darkness, as due to him having traveled with Angerona it had given him the ability to attain a certain affinity for the Darkness she constantly reveled in.

She would turn to Suto slowly and smile, gently stabbing the sword into the ground and stepping away a few steps as she motioned toward the hilt: "First, I must ask you to take hold of the hilt of my Goddesses' Blade, it will make this training much easier and I believe that you will finally be granted a chance at understanding the power within - along with all that you can gave from siding with I and my Goddess." She would await then, silently, for Suto to either refuse to accept - though hoping he would do the latter as it would make things much simpler, along with allowing her to train with him to a better extent than they were currently able, though she would not entirely disown him if he chose not to - it would however make her and the blade quite upset if it were the case.

[1,861]

Yuriko would continue to mention that Suto was right, thankfully, and how launching an all out attack on Kumogakure would be rather suicidal, and dim of wit. "Aye," He agreed. She'd also mention being ill-prepared, while that came with being weak, they could also use allies. He considered bringing it up for a moment, letting her speak. After the first sentence, the one where she was agreeing with Suto and saying the attack, at least for the moment was dim of wit, he would begin to motion his hand, readjusting his cloak, by grabbing onto the inner-right of the cloak, and dragging it over to where it would cover more of his torso. He proceeded to stick both hands in pockets located on both sides of his cloak, so deep that his sleeves could make him look near armless if he made an attempt. He kept his thumb out, allowing it to act like an armrest.


Yuriko would continue to say that the two, both Suto and herself, will become strong, so that they can destroy the ones who've wronged them. Suto figured that Yuriko was merely holding a grudge against someone, or has been the underdog constantly picked up, since Suto has had nothing done to him. Hell, he wasn't even from Kumo. He merely grinned; "Aye. One day we'll get 'em." He agreed, sporting the thoughts of being capable of taking them down.


Yuriko wasn't finished there, however. She continued, mentioning that today will be the day the two began to grow stronger. It sounded promising, and he enjoyed the thought of it, getting stronger. It was something he's wanted to do. "Aye, then. We should probably get to it, right?" He said, looking over to the overly-enthusiastic Yuriko. "And of course I'll stay, baka-foo'." He said, not really having much of a choice after thinking about it. Couldn't let her go off and get killed, and at the same time, this was probably the only one willing to not kill Suto at the moment.


The two continued to travel, Suto held his tongue for the need of allies. Baby-steps, he figured. It's best to be strong rather than have allies, because one leads to the other. Strength leads to 'Friends' more or less, and can persuade their loyalty, and can present a reason to stay around. Suto's thoughts were cut short when he realized what was happening, a dark veil covered the area. He recognized this ability, she once used it before. However it had a different effect this time, he could see. Was this the fruits of training, he pondered? Couldn't tell, didn't ask. Yuriko proceeded to hold out the hilt of her blade towards Suto, asking him to place his hand upon the hilt. "What'll it do? Besides speed up the training process.." He would ask, but then sigh. "Never mind then." He said, hovering his hand over the hilt, shaking slightly, though he slowly lowered it, grasping it. What happened next only God knew. God, and Yuriko, and 'Aufero.'


{1460 words}

As soon as Suto had touched the hilt, he would feel a rush of cold move through his body as Aufero entered his mind and spoke for the first time directly to him, her voice soft and alluring - while clearly having something off about it, reminding one of a snake in some sense: "And so I may finally speak with the Prophet, Suto Ikku . . . Are you at last, finally ready to learn the true potential of my blade? Of my powers? Or shall I show you a demonstration first?" Without waiting for a response, Aufero had then begun to display an image before the eyes of her chosen Prophet of what would appear to be hoards of strange creatures made of the same dark aura which she emitted constantly, along with a distorted view of it's wielder that appeared monstrous in the fact that she appeared to have broken arms that still moved ordinarily and a neck that appeared broken, yet her eyes were empty sockets filled with darkness and her mouth filled with razor sharp teeth, a collection of dark tendrils sprouting forth from her torso.

Suddenly the tendrils would rush toward Suto, only to phase through him harmlessly as Aufero said in an oddly cheerful tone: "Is it not beautiful how I can make anything in the image of my Darkness? How would you like to wield that power . . . ?" She asked, suddenly dispelling the horrific image as Yuriko would be once more ordinary and the hoards of creatures no longer upon him as instead he was greeted with a serene green forest filled with lush trees and brilliant flowers. "You could make things both wonderful and terrifying - You may strike fear, or hope into the hearts of these Mortals . . . " She paused for a moment, as he could feel the eyes of the still unseen Aufero boring into his very soul. "Perhaps you want something more? The raw power to destroy all those who stand in your path? I may grant that to you as well, if only you accept my offer . . . " With that, Aufero's voice would fade away slowly as he was left in the illusion of the beautiful, lush forest to contemplate his decision, which essentially boiled down to if he would or would not accept to serve the blade fully, rather than simply having said so previously in a non-committal situation.

Yuriko would wave her hand as she began to weave the illusion that Suto was in to her own design, making the flowers bloom and birds begin to sing a chorus to the young man while he chose, eventually deciding to cause the illusion to slowly fade away with her own command as she smiled to herself, noting that during the time she had spent alone with Aufero in her own mind, she had begun to learn to weave the arts of illusion and work the will of others to her own desires, or possibly manipulate things even further given time - Though for now, she would return her attention to Suto at the time being and smile, giving him a small bow of her head.

Whether or not Suto would affirm or deny the request of the blade, Yuriko would regardless urge him to continue on with their travels for a little while longer, since she noted aloud that: "The Black Forest is not a proper place for you to train" and also that he would be more easily trained elsewhere, where they had plenty of room to do so without worrying about the confines of this rather thick and claustrophobic forest. She had no intention of turning back on her word of training him, however, and as soon as they would find another place to do so, she would drop everything and make him even stronger than he was before. And if he accepted the sword? It would only make things easier for both of them in terms of power, but if not she would not look down on him for it, rather she knew that it was a difficult decision to make and not to be taken lightly.

Such was the price of bargaining with one such as Aufero, a blade which while perfectly willing to aide an ally of it's own, it would not do such for free. One must give up who they once were in order to be given the power to be 'born anew' in a sense, though on the other hand one could never erase the power of sensation, the power of love and hate and happiness and sorrow, all of those things remained with any acolyte of Aufero, soul or not - They were after-all, still human in such a sense.

As she began to walk from the Black Forest, Yuriko's mind wandered to the future of her and Suto's quest and just how much they had come since they first met, while not seeming like much to some it had been quite the feat to make it thus far and she fully intended to make things last for a long time and possibly even grow stronger beside Suto so that one day they would be able to claim anything that they set their eyes upon, the first thing that Yuriko had within her eyes being Kumogakure, or at least one shinobi in particular which she intended to slay due to what he had caused upon her, he was the reason that she had done all of the terrible things she had done thus far and would be the reason she would continue to commit these acts. It was all his fault, and he would pay for his crimes in due time, once she became stronger, once she reached her full potential. But until then, she would bide her time and wait for the time to strike.

[2,830]
[Exit]
[Claiming Genjutsu Spec]
[14 Stats]

Exit, didnt train. QQ

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