On Rose Petal Mornings

Angerona would open her eyes slowly as the sound of her Goddess's hymn would slowly fade from her mind and the soft tinkling of her Soul Amethyst against her body would cause her to snap out of the self-induced trance she was in and she had noticed that she was walking, for some strange reason, toward the borders of Lightning where she had not been since leaving Kumogakure. It was a rather strange place to revisit, considering nothing truly remained there other than the occasional bout of trees and such wildlife. It was so very different from the places she visited within her mind, within the realm of her Goddess, it was so full of life and happiness that it made her almost regret having made the decision to pick up the blade in the first place - but she was too far gone now, she had chosen her path and now she was forsaken to continue it no matter the cost . . . After-all, she had made a pact, a promise with that sword to serve until she had gathered enough souls so that maybe one day she could reclaim her own.

Her mind wandered still to the image of her soul having been ripped from her body and displayed before her as a misty white orb that seemed so pure at the time, however now when she pictured it all she could see was black and red, blood and Darkness. Was that truly all she had become? Or merely a facade that the blade had invented in order to stay her path, to continue serving without question? Only time would tell, and now she must focus on the road ahead, her mind drifting in and out of her old self as she did so: It was sometimes surreal, even to her, just how much she felt like two separate beings. One a murderer, and the second a lost child. One a deacon, and the other a martyr. Yet she chose not to dwell on this for too long as it seemed to only upset her further, instead she would look up to see that in the distance there was a small and rather beautiful forest before her, one which she began to enter and revel in for a short time, a faint smile crossing her lips as she reached down and plucked a nearby rose, sighing softly as she inhaled the fragrance and savoring the scent for some time, not even minding the thorns upon which had begun digging into her skin and causing trickles of blood to flow down upon her white gloves as suddenly she was drawn out of her bliss by the sound of a soft voice nearby and she would mumble while placing a hand to her head, dropping the rose to the grass as she shook her head vigorously before then approaching the voice, taking her hand from her head and placing it upon the hilt of Aufero which gleamed softly in the filtered sunlight of the trees. Luckily for Angerona however, the filtered sunlight was not enough to completely rob her of the constant dark aura she bore, only lessen it for the time being as she moves toward the sound and called out in her still somewhat strained voice that was firm, yet had an undertone of pain behind it: "Who's there? . . . Are you of the Goddess or not? . . . " She called, her deep red eyes narrowing as she continued forward, waiting for what laid beyond to respond before doing anything further.

[587]

Suto was walking with Yuriko, the two were wandering across the Lightning country borders - which was nothing new, the two often traveled here. Suto mainly followed Yuriko around, so he assumed that she had some sort of obsession with the village not too far by, it was the village he assumed she was born into, Kumogakure. It was one of those big shit villages, where Shinobi's are trained by a rather large number at a young age apparently. He was rater envious, actually. He enjoyed training as if he were a shinobi, at least thus far. Gave him something to do, and Yuriko was teaching him, so he didn't stray too far from her half the time. She was abnormally silent though, it seemed to happen on occasions, he just left her alone when this happen. He would listen, though, once she began to speak up. She asked if it were her Goddess which approached, he pondered over her sentence for a moment and looked around, noticing someone else present.

The woman who approached seemed to actually be around Suto's age, so he assumed she was nearly an adult. Assuming she was from the nearby village, he would have to also assume she was a shinobi. However, he didn't exactly fear her. For some reason, despite Suto not being the strongest of self-proclaimed shinobi, he figured he could win in combat against her just by glancing over. Could be the fact that she gave off the feeling that she was a failure, but.

Suto, not thinking at first, unsheathed his Kunai from his cloak. He began to shout; "Oi! Who're you?" He would ask, his Kunai ready to be thrown, if not then ready to clash with another blade. He's learned a bit about this weapon, mainly how to aim where it flies and how to use it like a make-shift sword, however, he'd put his knowledge to the test today, more than likely.

Angerona would narrow her eyes at the woman's words, seeming angered by the fact that she had apparently denied the sword's request for the young student to join the ranks of her cult which had amassed a grand total of only one member, yet she was confident would gain many more. The fact that this woman had the gull to speak out against the blade and even prepare herself for battle - as evidenced by the kunai which she drew, even if it were not in a hostile motion. Such things were seen, by Angerona, as an insult and would be dealt with accordingly.

She moved forward as the woman spoke, her cape flowing in the air in a brilliant wave of tattered white silk as she spoke in a voice that now echoed in a mighty - and some would say intimidating - tone: "I am Angerona Night, Third Wielder of the Goddess and savior of this world . . . Lay your weapon down, Mortal, and the Goddess will consider allowing you survive" her voice was cold, harsh even as she spoke and so vastly different from the young Yuriko that often spoke with Suto, the one who was rather enthusiastic about things and held not even hatred in her heart, only a faint sadness. This version of her, assumed to be Angerona, was much darker and willing to kill for the Goddess Blade if given a reason - or simply told to do so, shown by her current actions here as well as others that even Suto would not be aware of.

She would then raise the blade with one hand into the air and say aloud, firmly: "Sun-Thief!" as a wave of dark energy flowed from the blade and with it came blinding and hissing shadows. The sky itself would now appear black to the three currently in attendance and the air was filled with a strange black mist that seemed to move upon its own accord and make seeing difficult for Karumi herself, although Suto and Angerona being followers of the blade and accustomed to it's Darkness were unaffected. 

Angerona then lowered her sword-arm as she leveled the tip to point toward Karumi and said flatly: "I will leave your fate to my Prophet, as he is the voice of my Goddess's Judgement . . . If he may spare your life, you shall walk free, if not, the Darkness will consume you . . . " She then fell silent, turning her head in a somewhat eerie fashion backwards to look at Suto, a small and unnerving smile upon her lips as her deep red eyes bore into him and she asked simply: "What is your verdict, my Prophet?" and then awaited his response, sword still risen yet her head facing Suto, seeing as she feared nothing that Karumi could do at this point and simply assumed her to be at the mercy of the man known as Suto Ikku, ally of Angerona and proclaimed prophet of the blade known as Aufero. His response would dictate whether or not Karumi lived, and what their next course of action would be. 

[1,099]

Suto listened, the woman had a Kunai pulled out in response to Suto and Yuriko's presence. He would listen to the two, Yuriko announcing who she was, loosely. She announced her alternative name, which was good. Made sure that the Village of Kumogakure couldn't link her to Yuriko, which may prove useful later on. However, their enemy was supposedly an enemy ninja, so they would have to be cautious. He listened to Yuriko, mentioning that the woman's fate was up to Suto to decide. Rather generous considering what he knew her as.

He would begin to walk up to her, holding his Kunai cautiously as he had been instructed to do in actual combat. Ready to attack, yet at the same time hesitant, he would look at the woman. He didn't want to kill her, "I don't wanna kill you," He said, "you're outnumbered by two trained Nuke-nin," He stated. "Hand over your cash money or we'll have to fight you." He said, not wanting to kill her, but at the same time the two wouldn't exactly be making an impact, or look very threatening. He tried to make it where, if she was any sort of threat, Suto made it look just as threatening, by not completely letting her go. Of course the fact stood by itself, she was outnumbered. "Drop the Kunai, let us take your Ryo." He would say, motioning his hand to suggest that Yuriko continue to be ready to jump her as Suto takes the money. Either way, Yuriko backing him up or not, he would proceed to walk up, and take any Ryo off her.

{+4kRyo. E ranked MN > C ranked MN, stole 4000 ryo. EXIT}

Eh approved

[Exit]

[1,099 words toward Soul Amethyst]

approved