the next step

Finally, She thought to herself. It was the first true break she'd had in.... Well a very long time, and time for her to do some work for herself. That meant cosplays. She tooka seat after pulling out the heavy wooden chair, her fingertips tracing across the soft grain of the wood. "Yanno..... This grand table... It really makes our work feel more important. More fantastic. I would almost venture to say.... Posh. " Yes. This really was a fantastic thing. Who knew that leaving your village and fleeing to the first place you could find would actually end out significantly better then I'd ever imagined?! Now... What should we work on... I've got a few ideas for grand ball dresses. I'm considering hosting a dance for the village as a thanks for all of the hard work. Do you think that would be a good idea?"

The puppet Ai was brought to life once more as Aios turned her attention and more so her questions to the girl made of wood. Her eyes shifted to glance upon her puppet master, considering the questions quietly... Or seeming to considering yanno... She cant actually think. She would never remind her sister of that however. She was fragile and needed to be encouraged. Without a word she pushed off of the cedar arm rests of her chair, raising herself up onto her feet and taking a few steps away from the girl.

"Ai... AI where do you think you're going exactly? I was talking to you yanno!" A shake of her head was the response, followed by Ai reaching her target. Atop a long table set against the wall was a pile of books and random papers stacked loosely, some only small fragments of the pages that they once were. "WE won't be working on any costumes today child. We have much bigger things to worry about. AIos. Pinochio and I are grand creations... But The three of us alone arent enough to protect the village. You have strings that sit idle. There are uses for them of course outside of additional puppets however Aios.... We need a stronger weapon then myself. We need to create a puppet who's power far outmatches mine or yours. Sister.... I've been gathering things. Papers from the ruins of Amekagure's library, Bits and pieces from Funka before we left... As much information as I could on puppetmasters of the past. There have been greats. Ninja who's skills in puppetry are more remarkable then you or I could ever imagine... But one. One stood out. Have you heard of the legendary White puppets of Chikamatsu?"

The comment was out of line. Aios gave her a look as she closed the distance once more, carrying the heavy load with her arms extended as far as possible, her hands turned inward like a shelf to use the full of her strength to bring over the load. She knew AI's strength. There was no way she actually was having this much trouble with the load, even if it did come up to the base of her chin, but still she allowed the spectacle to continue. "This is so different for you sister.... You've never really been one to snap at me in such a way. "

"it's imperative for the protection of this land.... your land. Concentrate sister dear. The white puppet collection of Chikamatsu. Have you heard of it. Have you heard tale of the puppetmaster chiyo? One of the legendary puppet masters long before your father's father was born? Or of the great Sasori of the red sands?"

No. She hadn't. Of course she hadn't. The girl hadn't studied anything in her entire life. To be honest she'd skated her way through the ninja academy. If it werent for her brothers the girl's skill would be completely null. Great with a needle, but horrific with anything else. Still, it was through the torture of her siblings and the cold glare of her brother Taios that she'd trained and worked to increased her skills. "Of course I have. I know all about them. They're like... Puppeteers or something. " And so she lied. It was the easiest way to try and get through this... Or would be were it not for her sisters magical ability to recognize whenever she tried to withhold anything.

"Aios. dont lie to me. Here. " With a heavy thud the pile was dropped before her, A rush of dust floating into the air making it clear these had not actually been opened in some time. "Listen. These two were revolutionary puppet masters. The first created a set of ten puppets that were considered the greatest thing that any puppet master could ever imagine to hold in their chakra threads. The second created the technique you use daily. The red techinque performance of one hundred puppets, granting each of your fingers to control ten threads instead of one was created by Sasori of the red sands... Or so I hear. Within these tombs holds vital information about these two. I'd like to suggest... We try and bring back the chikamatsu puppet collection... Or as many as we can. take a look. "

She gave the girl a soft nod. maybe she was right. Taking the first book she glanced over it, reading through broken pages about the sand village. Sand village? She'd heard of it but only in passing. Realization hit her quickly that she had seen so little of this world and her concentration inward was significantly affecting her skills. "THanks Ai. I really apreciate this. " The first page held information on the puppet master Chiyo and her legendary medical jutsu. This interested her. She'd not really considered the importance of Medical ninjutsu for use in puppetry considering constructs made of wood weren't exactly something that screamed Med spec. Still her study in poisons and antivenoms were remarkable.

"Hm.... This woman... She was brilliant. Medical ninjutsu with skills in poison and antivenoms.... Remarkable skill in puppetry including the ability to... Woah. " The pages rustled quickly, followed by a slight tearing noise as she shifted too quickly.

"Aios! Those are very delicate... You must be gentle with them come now. " AI helped the girl set the page back into the old text, smoothing a bent corner over and back down into the edge of the bindings with absolute precision. "It may be helpful... To work on multiple things at the same time sister. The seal will allow you to take in information more quickly. Allow it to flow through your body. " At her suggestion she activated her cursed seal, allowing it's power to pour into her flesh, empowering her with the strength of her greatest fuinjutsu. She intended to push the cursed seal of temperance farther then she'd ever done before, letting her chakra flow through the small flower like seal. Vein like tattos strethced out over her shoulder, traicing down her chest and up her neck. They wove their path down her chest and back, spreading like a cancer through her entire upper body to tempt stretching across her entire body.

"Seal one.... Go Aios. We need more power.... Push it to version two...." With a nod Aios closed her eyes, putting her concentration onto the cursed seal. The veins, which had about two inches between their lines began to branch out further, every point of the symbols stretching out and exploding with small lines that resembled spiderwebs flowing through her entire body. "Part two... Keep it together sister. We've not gotten this far before. Aios keep your concentration. With it's power you will gain absolute strength. I believe in you.... Just keep it up. " She cringed at the weakness flowing through her body. It took far too much of her strength to push the seal into it's final form. Across her neck a black thorned vine began to reach up, curling backwards just as it peeked its face out from the edge of the neck of her shirt. It recoiled back into the spider web design for a moment before finally working it's way up, curling around the back of her neck and up and over the point just beneath her ear to stop just shy of her left cheek. From her back two large black wings formed, stretching out and upwards behind her enormous and fealthered with pitch blackness.

"I um.... Woah. " She'd never imagined the power held in this single seal to be this dynamic and yet here they were. She flexed her wings, flapping them behind her to test their power. It was more the remarkable. "I um... Suppose I should um.... concentrate. We have things to work on and uh.... WOW."

"Yes. " Ai was speechless. Even she couldn't imagine something this grand coming from the girl before her. It must have been completely accidental. She could feel the girl's power flowing through the chakra strings, enhancing her own power to remarkable levels and she could only imagine waht effects it had on her puppet master. "Let's get back to it hm?" They continued to read, AIos' eyes moving significantly faster with the power she'd been granted through her remakrable seal. She learned the particulars of her own technique, the splitting of chakra and empowering of her chakra threads that granted her ten times the control over her puppets, but then she found the magic text. There at the end of the text book was the story of the White Collection of Chikamatsu. Unfortunately there wasn't much on it, most of the pages burned or torn beyond recognition from the unfortunate mahem that Ame had seen before her arival.

"NEver... Again" She whispered under her breath as she tried her best to make heads or tails of the broken work. Ai gave her a gentle smile. She would protect this village even if it meant giving up her life. That was remakrable. "So.... Sister. It looks like The first step in our work will be the Oni puppet. Theres little information about these unfortunately. Do you have any more works?"

"No. OUr information was scarce. I think there's enough information to start but we'll need to search the other villages to finish the collection. I'd suggest we take a trip some time soon out to the village hidden in the sands. They were the origional place to house puppetry and where most of the great puppeteers are from. From what I've gathered there's enough information for five of the puppets however. " She'd already read it. Of course she had. Still it was helpful. Together they knew they could handle anything and if Ai had read everything once she was done they would be on the same page.

"Yes. Now... There really isn't that much information even on the few that are in here. It looks like the Oni puppet was strong with taijutsu... "

"And you arent.... Exactly the best at it. But i'm fairly skilled. I'm sure he will be too. " Where would she start? First she needed wood. THankfully one of the pluses to giving ninja money from her own pocket in order to have them gather materials was that after the village was up to a livable condition there was a fair ammount of scrap within which she could work with.

"I hope so. But first we'll need to gather materials. Pinochio. PINOCHIO WHERE ARE YOU?! " From the other room the puppet could be heard, his wooden feet clicking on the stone floor as he ran down the long hallway. "There you are. " She was greeted with a nod and a bow.

"My appologies miss. I was simply enjoying our day off. Now how can I be of assistance?" His tone was pleasant and submissive, his smile beaming with interest in doing whatever task she needed done as usual.

"Go into the village. I need you to seek out four large logs of wood and fetch my wood working tools. It's time to create a new puppet. be quick. I'll also need the paint but bring me my wood working tools first. I want to get this knocked out as quickly as possible. " He nodded heading out of the main hall. Past the double doors to the left He rushed, Her finger barelly shifting as she moved the puppet down the long hallway towards the crafts room. He entered, looking through stack after stack of random materials. he knew about where the tools were, of course, but the girl wasn't exactly the most organized sort. She shifted three or four bundles of rolled cloth off of one of the large piles towards the back left corner, and there it was. A large brown leather parcel set against the wood grain of another table barelly noticable beneath all of the mess. He uncurled the tie holding it together to check it's contents, cinding all manner of chisel and other tools he knew the girl would need for her work. Satisfied with the items she had he rolled it back up, tying the fastener and tucking it gently under his arm. In a rush he ran through the hallways once more, stopping to drop off the parcel on the table before his master and then in a moment he was out the door once more.

"Thank you. " As he left she looked through the items herself. She was missing a few of her smaller detailed pieces. Thinking back she remembered the soft sound of metal slipping from her bag as she rushed off to ame and realized that they must have fallen out. "Shit. Well... We have most of what we need. Ai unfortunately We're missing a few pieces"

"I'm sure we'll make due Aios. Keep studying. WE need to have everything planned out it wont take pinochio long to return with the wood. "

Meanwhile....


Pinochio rushed out the enormous doors that allowed entrance and exit from the grand castle of the cosplay queen of Amekagure, down the cobbled path and in a single bound he jumped the tall wall, setting his feet for a moment on the top to push him further into the air. He sailed for several meters, crossing the better portion of the distance down the path leading from the main village outward to Aio's far too large home. He landed on his lead foot, rulling forward to displace his momentum, getting back up to his feet rather quickly. He was a blur to the people rushing through the bustling streets of Ame, who turned to glance at what had knocked a few back and caused what could only be described as a flash of tornado winds. "Sorry! Dreadfully sorry. Didn't mean to knock you over like that. Oh goodness my appologies. " he was there in a flash, walking through the entrance way to the woodworking shop where he knew their materials to be.

"Hey John? John are you there?" He couldn't see anyone in the main entrance way. It didn't matter. Past the back room door he found what he needed. There were three white wood logs about as big as he was setting up near the left most wall that would be perfect. "Alright... Now how do I get them....."

To the Puppetmaster This was the perfect plan, though of course it didn't happen exactly how she would expect. The puppet boy rushed towards the place as described, though unpersonified while outside of her senses the puppet would walk into the door and stare at the carpenter. Several minutes passed before he realized the boy must need something, and since they only had one thing John grabbed a few logs of particular interest, a few he was saving specifically as a gift for their village leader as a thanks for everything she'd done, and, setting them in a large satchel tied it to the puppets back. Once she felt the weight, without thinking about it, still lost in her own strange world, She used her control over her puppets to bring the puppet back.


"Alright... So the important thing we'll need is going to be this outfit. I've got a few ideas to make this look particularly Perfect. First i was thinking instead of a robe like... ugh. Whatever this is we could go for a suit maybe with some sequens and..." THe girl would continue on about the fashion for hours if allowed to. She would not be.

"Aios. That's not what's important. Look into the logistics of what makes the puppet tick. We need to find a way to grant it additional power. We need it's punches to well... Pack a punch" It wasn't her best play on words but it was something.

"Well.. I'm sure with a little industrial spring I can do a few fantastic things. We should have some actually. I'll need materials other then metal of course but this wont be too problematic. I also have my Fuinjutsu. I'm sure I can do some crazy things with that aaannnddd... Since there isn't much about the puppets asside from basics I was thinking of adding a little Aios Flare." She allowed her mind to wander to the million of things that could be done, realizing that as fast as her mind usually ran with the burst in speed given to her by her seal she could actually keep up in comprehension with the million plans flowing through her head.

"Now.... Grab some paper. I've got ideas and I want to plan." A loud thud met her just before she began. Ai knew. She always knew. The note pad and pencil was set directly before her, attop a few of the loose sheets she'd been studying about the Oni puppet and she got to work immediately.

"Do you really think... No. that wont work will it? Aios... Do you know what yo're doing?" Ai was impressed. I mean she was often impressed b the girl's ability to concentrate when there was a project to be done but this... This was unlke anything she'd ever done and yet... here they were.

"I believe so. This one is similar to your own mechanism. The fabric should actually be pretty easy to modify with our skill in fuinjutsu.... I'm thinking If i set an impact seal here, here and here. " In emphasis she pointed to specific points on the pad where she'd drawn the outfit in a rough sketch exactly as it was described in the texts, showing her sister what exactly she planned before continuing. "These points should allow the power to shift if it gets hit. that way if something gets past the armor seals we put on them it'll be displaced between these points and reduce the incoming damage. " The plan seemed perfect. Now could they pull it off.

In perfect timing The pinochio puppet entered the room, a bag of wood clutched in his hand rested over his shoulder in a way that was incredibly comical. The satchel was significantly taller then he was, making it look like a giant balanced on the back of a small child. "Perfect. Those will do nicely Pinoch. Now bring them over here. " He did as she asked crossing the distance quickly and pulling the logs out of the heavy cloth bag one by one, setting them just to her left. She lifted the first, grabbing her hammer and chisel and got to work. First she would need to split off the bark. The rhythmic tapping of the hammer against her chisel fileld the room as she dropped off bit by bit of the rough outter layer, leaving shattered shards of bad wood spraying across the ground around her. Ai picked up the sanding blocks, rubbing the rough edge against the pristine white wood just after a small section was opened enough for her to reach. The grain was beautiful. They couldn't ask for a better prospect for her greatest work of art since the twin puppet Aios Ai, and the two worked in perfect unison. As Aios' arm pulled back Ai's moved forward, the two almost seeming to link together like puzzle pieces The first log was finished quickly, and the two followed shortly after that.

"Alright. Now for the hard part. " Stroke after stroke she cut into the wood, abandoning the hammer. The pieces were tiny, barelly noticable shards coming off with every stroke. She worked slowly, watching the cutting edge like a hawk with the power of perception granted by the seal, and it felt like an eternity had passed before even the first layer was done.

Aios.... At this week we might finish before you're too old to fight any more. What are you doing. I'm all for taking your time but this is rediculous. " She picked up a sliver, looking at it for a moment before bringing it to her sister's attention. it was smaller then a tooth pick, maybe an eight of a centimeter thick and an inch and a half long.

"Be easy sister. Once the carving is done we can move a little faster. The important thing is that the wood grain is perfect. If I split it even in the slightest it will harm the structural integrity of the entire piece. This is the most important part of the entire puppet. I could build the seals perfectly and set every mechanism with perfection but if a strike turns a flaw into a crack then the puppet will shatter from the sheer force in which it moves and i'm not even going to pretend to go into once it begins fighting. A punch that shatters it's own arm is not really a punch at all now is it? " As she spoke she continued to work slowly.

"Now... If you'll go grab the bits I need for mechanisms that would be amazing. I'll be at this for quite a while. You know which fabric I'll need, and grab my good sealling paint. Oh. and the super fine brush. It's imperative that we use only the best on this work. it'll be almost as perfect as you are. "

(TWC 3676)

The hours flew quickly, Aios' skill in puppetry showing true. The final product were three circular bits of perfection. Aios ran her hands across the face of he wood over and over, checking for any burs or imperfections. one by one she finished them off, meticulously sanding down every intricate detail, even the tinyest little scratches edged down stroke by stroke.

"Aios... This is..... This is perfect. You dont even need realistic coating for this one it looks... Almost like skin already. How did you even do this. " It was a work of art to be sure. She could gaze into the gentle white sea of her teachers creation for hours but of course they had work to do. On the table Aios places a pile of various tid bits and baubles, small screws and metal this or thats, some springs and random tools that filled almost to the end of the table, setting each by their particular focus and which portion of the puppet they would be needed for. Now the true skill began.

Taking the hammer gently in her hand she set up the first piece of wood. This was the make or break moment. The first piece would form the arms and legs, with the second barelly being changed as it set up to create the chest section, and the final piece being worked down to about half of it's size to shape the puppets head. This meant the first piece, which was about twice the size give or take then the other two, both in height and width, would need to be split into around six separate parts. "Dont cry Ai. This.. Um... Well this could be the make or break moment. Time mvoed in slow motion. She brought the first strike down at about the one third point, aiming just far enough to hit the point that would give her two solid pieces to form the first arm. Closer and closer it got to it's target, Ai's eyes growing wide with fear. She'd finally realized what was going on. "Aios waht are you oh god oh god." The sound of metal against wood filled the enormous grand hallway, followed by a splitting creek and the hollow tick tock of a piece of wood crashing against the stone floor. Neither looked. It was too scary.

"Ai you check it. Oh god... Please tell me I did it right. Oh god. I dont have the second chance Ai. Is it okay? Is it broken... Is it splintered oh god. Is it shattered?" The puppet didn't turn her head. They held their breaths for several minutes.. Or at least Aios did. Natrually puppets, not actually having life didn't exactly breathe. Finally she glanced downward. There perched slightly on it's side, atop a bundle of wood shards from the puppet master's first bit of work with the wood set the perfect piece of pure white heaven.

"Aois... It's perfect. It's... you did it. " She lifted it up in her fingers gently, clutching it like an egg for fear of harming the prise poised between nimble fingers. It rose up like a pheonix, peering past the edge of the grand table before setting down softly, and finally coming into her sister's sight.

"Excelent. Now.... Once more." The second strike came significantly easier, her power held back less to allow the chisel to glide like butter throught the wood before her, splitting it into three pieces. Ai caught the second split off, no longer fearing for the safety of her tool. Setting it on the table beside the other two the began the next part.

"Now. Ai. I want you to take the micro saw and split each of these into two pieces. While you do that I'm going to begin on the head. Pinochio. I expect you to pass us the materials we need. If we get this going as an efficient team we can have the rest of this done by the end of the day and be back in the kage building before morning. Are you ready?" It was time to really get this done. She had given her big speach to rally the troops and knew they would answer her call with the same excited conviction. Just as expected the two let out an excited cheer, pinochio jumping up into the air and thrusting his left arm uprward in excitement.

"Let's do it AIos. This is going to be perfect!" The two spoke in perfect unison expressing their excitement. Once calmed they went directly to work. Pinochio rushed off at his full speed, a stifling one hundred and fifty towards the table, picking up a few stray tools from the table before him, each of the spaces betwen his ten fingers filled with bits of this and that, tools and bits of metal, springs and god knows what else. To be honest they weren't actually sure the use of half of the items they had but Aios knew they would use it some way. He set them down just behind the two girl's work stations, causing Ai to stop, setting the tool down against her leg, resting on the arm rest of her own grand chair. She organized them in a strait line and then turned her attention back on their work. Ai split the wood stroke by stroke, forming the six pieces and setting them one by one onto the space provided. AIos had the head carved down, a smooth oval shape just a small bit larger then a normal human head. With her shaping tool she sunk in the eyes gently about half an inch, building the bridge of the nose and cutting in a deep divot where the lips would be. She split the mouth, cutting out a grooove for the mouth piece. It was more dificult then she would imagine. She'd not actually made a traditional puppet with the drop down mouth. Aios' had perfectly formed exactly movable lips, rapped in a specially designed rubber. This was more rough, simpler, and incredibly basic to a point that it almost felt klunky.

"Sister I'm finished. Would you like me to start shaping the arms? If so I'll need to figure out how exactly you'd like them to be formed... I assume you don't want them shaped like mine of course. Realistic isn't exactly what we're going for here. " As she spoke she lifted her arms, the cloth slipping from her seemingly muscled biceps to show off the feminine muscular perfection of the cosplay queen of Amekagure's own creation.

"Yes. Shape them but not like yours. Shape off the edges so that they wont catch on the cloth but leave them cylindrical. They'll be hidden beneath the cloth at all times and any further shaping could leave points of weakness. This thing's strikes are going to be powerful... We dont want anything to happen." Ai nodded. She figured that would be the answer and acted exactly as such, smoothing the squared out logs of wood into smooth cylanders and grooving each end to recive the pieces needed to hook them together.


"I'm almost done with the basics of the head. Pinochio... IF you'll bring the paints in. I'd like to get the white mask and details done before I put the seal on. Hiding seals would be nice but... It could reduce their power. " She took up the flat brush, waiting a few moments for her first puppet to produce a large can of white paint and beginging to paint the surface in smooth even strokes. The finished pieces of part one were piling up, four cylindrical arms, two slightly thinner cylindrical legs, the head painted white with black outlines and soft red painted on lips, and a contoured chest piece finishing off the final bits.

"Alright.... So here's what i'm thinking. First The gloves. If I put these seals on them it should increase the puppets strength by enough to prove it's supremacy in taijutsu. It says in the text that Chiyo used a technique to create pupetry mechanisms within herself.... Something about a shield. I want to add this. I know I know. It's not a part of the chikamatsu standard. Let's call it a little extra add on Aios style. If we split the palms here..." As she spoke she took the pencil her sister had brought her and sketched out a simple diagram. "This should allow the shields to deploy as needed, and it wont mess with the power of his punches which will be centered with the main impact force here and here in the top of the hand. I'll reinforce these points with metal plating and then set up six chakra conductive rods into the palms. If needed his hands open and the chakra shield deploys and boom. Perfect shield. Next I'm going to borrow a bit of your technology sister. With the chakra conductive plates that allow me to chanel jutsu through you I should be able to add a secondary function to the sheilds. The doors that open when the shield is deployed will be made of this material. With that I can add a secondary effect.

(TWC 5206)

"Next I want to add a secondary effect to the cloth. If I put Fuinjutsu seals in the right point I'll be able to make it not only protect the puppet, I'll have it disrupt damage. If something pierces the Oni puppet's armor It'll have a significantly reduced force, giving it less chance to pierce through the Oni puppets armor. This will be my tank puppet. He'll take all of the big hits and protect us, and with the power I'm putting into his gloves.... Well he'll dish it out too. I've got some interesting Ideas to use with my wind nature. I should be able to have it float. that will make movement significantly easier and if theres any dificult terain it'll not be hindered and... Heres the kicker. The final set will be a one two punch. If needed I want a mechanism in the feet that will extend, giving it a burst of speed. The impact springs will extend from where it's legs are floating, pushing off and boom. Big power in the punch. THe final bit is a little thing I'm incredibly proud of. Once we finish more puppets I have a seal that will empower them all based on how many we have. "

"So if we get all ten" Ai saw immediately where this was going. The puppets worked better as a team. Their synergy was plastered in every bit they read through but to take it literally... To boost them based on how many were used was brilliant.

"Exactly. Now... Lets get to work. We've got a long night ahead of us and as much as I hate it I will need some sleep for tomorow. " She looked out the bright glass window, seeing the last bits of day break slowly slipping from view. It would be night soon, which wasn't a problem... It just meant that their time frame if she was going to get any sleep was little to none.

THey rushed to get to work, screwing in piece by piece, combining the bits and pieces together and finishing the last bits of the puppet while Aios worked on the most important part. She grasped the brush firmly, stroking line after line across the seal with light pressure making four simple seals in the fabric. It was outlined but not cut, small black dotted lines indicating the points where one piece began and the next ended. With this done she formed the pieces, cutting and sewing them feverishly as the last traces of light faded. The torches were lit and still they worked. The coat was finished easilly, the seals checked and double checked, struck and resewn to ensure they would be exactly as they were meant to. The puppet was nearly finished, the legs being fastened in place by her sister as she put the finishing touches on her own work.

"ALright guys. Now only two steps left. " She checked the chakra conductive disks and rods, deploying them and allowing her chakra to flow. Sure enough they deployed, and with them out she placed the seals to ensure they worked as intended. She placed the seals with care, seing the rods now light up with her chakra and moved on to the next bit. She tested the legs and fists, placing those seals and then..... smiled at the two.

"We've done it. Its finally over now.... Do you wanna try it out?"

(TWC 5777 white puppet made)

This was the point Ai liked the best. With their work done Aios could wipe the sweat from her brow and test out her newest creation. "You had me at hello" The quite didn't quite fit... And also didn't make sense as of course it wasn't from anything other then one of the strange pop culture refferences that she'd invented in her own little world but still the knew it was time for buisiness. Cleaning up their mess, taking all the tools and packing them into neat little satchels, rollingup the cloth and taking the spare scraps of wood and putting them off in a bucket to be used later the prepared, lifting and moving the table and chairs into the hall way to leave them a thirty by thirty meter open arena to practice.

"Now Ai... KNow that no matter waht you're my sister..... You'll always be my favorite. on that note... Lets see how this baby moves. " She connected the strings, and in an instant the puppet came to life. It's head turned up to face the twin puppet Ai lifting it's fists into a ready stance.

"Heh. Save that talk for later. For now lets see if this thing can keep up with the Master puppet Ai..... Prepare yourself Oni you're going down. " It rushed forward at it's max speed, a remarkable two hundred and twenty thanks to the seal pulsing power through Aios' body to revitalize both her and her pupetry skills. He sprung into action and she was suprised. he moved just a bit faster then she, a total of five points to be exact, moving at two hundred and twenty five, lifting it's great padded fists up as it rushed towards her. The movement was flawless. Though it moved so fast she couldn't see any trace of it's actual movement, the wind nature allowing it to hover above the ground towards it's destination as her feet bit into the dirt to push her further and further towards her goal. She pulled back a heavy punch her knuckles whitening due to the realistic skin like coating with the sheer power of her preparation and she struck, attacking with a power of one hundred and thirty two. He met the force with a shield, the twin chakra conductive plated doors shifting open as the six rods shot out. A bright blue beam connected between them creating a shield around him at a speed of seventy, done early enough to be just in time, and with a power of one hundred. The fist shattered a hole in the bright blue dome and as it did Ai's lip curled in time with her sisters. Perfect. She ripped the strike back with the same speed and force, tearing one of the triangular bits of shielding asunder with her remarkable force of one hundred and thirty three, still at the same amazing two hundred and twenty speed, chambering her other fist for a moment.

The oni puppet reacted, pulling his arms back and stopping his forward momentum. He slid slightly forward towards her as she pulled back, his arms pulling inward as the shield pulled back. Clearly he wasn't powerful enough to simply tank her hits. that meant it was time to meet force with force. With the plates hidden he prepared his counter attack, the white gloved fists closing their fingers in tight. He struck her with two quick jabs, first left then right, following his speed of two hundred and twenty five, and with a strength of one hundred and fifty seven. His attack was aimed at the center of her chest, though thankfully she saw it coming easilly. Bending her knees she ducked, turning her head to the left just as the fist came in. She could feel the powerful force of the air coming in past her ear. It was impressive and a little terrifying. THe second stike came in just as the first missed, one fist pulling back as he shot out a powerful jab aimed at her ribs. She pushed foward a bit, activating her speed boosting mechanism to gain an extra boost to push her inside the curved attack, her arm set low to push the attack away at the oni puppet's elbow.

"Go Ai go!!!" They weren't exactly sure where Pinochio had gotten it... But he had at some point between them finishing the oni puppet and when he'd began cheering them on slipped away, assumably off to his room and changed into a bright red and white cheerleader outfit. He wore one of Aios' wigs, long brown and slightly curly done up with a god aweful ammount of bows, and more make up then they even remembered Aios even owning. The think that worried them mroe then even that was the two brightly colored pom pom's he'd somehow found or made. When the hell had he gotten the time to make something like this in secret. At any rate here they were with Pinochio cheering and dancing about as best he could, waving the brightly colored pom poms about, Aios sitting watching with her fingertips twitching left and right to subconsciously move the puppets about as she studied the fight silently, and the twin puppet Aios Ai locked in taijutsu battle with the Reminant of chikamatsu oni puppet.

She prepared her counter attack, deciding it best to test the clothing of the oni puppet. She struck six times with attack sthat would pepper his chest. It was imperitive that she test the power and as such Aios allowed the attacks to land. The force struck hard and fast into the cloak, pushing through it pretty easilly but as she connected with the wood inside there was no cracking sound. The power reduction effect allowed the armor to drop the attack to one hundred and three from the one hundred and thirty three, and with a small bit of disruptive force that stopped her attack from hitting quite as solid as it was meant the barage hit just under the puppets health, causing damage but not enough to do actual harm to the oni puppet. Their job was done exactly as it was meant to, each point in the oni puppet working as intended.

"It worked it worked!!!" Pinochio continued to jump around, far too excited for the situation at hand. That was kind of his thing they supposed. He had a personality that shifted between a calm collected butler and an overly excitable little kid. They assumed it to be thanks to the link between Pinochio and the childlike side of Aios she was forced to abandon because of her bratty and then evil brothers.

"Ok Ok. Stop. I think we've seen enough. Ai You've proven yourself better then the Oni puppet, at least for the time being, however thankfully you've ensured all of his mechanisms work how we needed them to. Good job." The four nodded in unison as Ai slowed down, the Oni puppet simply spinning around in a circle, his momentum displacing easilly thanks to his ability to not actually touch the ground.

"Well... I suppose we've learned waht we need. As always My perfection remains absolute. I cant believe you'd even suggest he would defeat me.... The great Twin puppet Aios Ai come now sister. You know better then that" Her tone made it clear she wasn't terribly apreciative of the situation, her sister's tone suggesting she expected the girl to fail in combat compared to this new puppet. It didn't matter that he was bigger and stronger but she was significantly smarter then an over sized block of wood. As. If.

"Now now. Ai I would never expect anyone to be more brilliant in combat then you are come now. I was simply excited to see the power of our new tool. It will always be you and I together. " Aios realized that she'd talked up the puppet far too much. To be honest they both had. Even with the cursed seal of temperence they were nearly on even footing, though the ino puppet was significantly more powerful.

"yea yea. Whatever " She moved forward, pulling out the chair again to finally take a short rest. She was tired... or at least as tired as an inanimate item could be considering she was simply personified. Still her wooden chest heaved with every faux breath.

"So now what do we do? How long until your seal is finished synching sister?" THe oni puppet set down against the ground as Aios allowed the strings to release, no longer feeling a need to control the puppet. It wasn't alive in the sense Ai and Pinochio were so if she didn't need to use the extra energy why would she right?

"I'm not sure. It still feels like the energy flow is a little foreign but oh. my. god. Like... I didn't want to take attention away from the task at hand but have you seen these rediculous wings?! They're crazy. I didn't even mean to add these. I just kinda had a vision in my head of what the seal would do, put careful attention into the vitalization of my body and as I was creating the symbols I noticed a dove flying over head. That made me think of how cool it is to be able to fly and I suppose I just kinda started day dreaming? Then like... Boom. I vitalized seal rank three, this wierd like... What even is this. It's like rose thorns. Whatever it is is freain cool. I'm like that sephi something guy in that one game..."


"That game doesnt actually exist Aios. But continue" Ai had to remind her subtly that she shouldn't speak in a matter of fact sense about things that only existed between the two of them... Well.. And pinochio she supposed. To be honest she wasn't terribly sure what the smaller child like puppet even thought about

~meanwhile in Pinochio's head~


Things are crazy. It's so bright in here probably because of the fire, I wonder who lit those fires since none of us did but it definitely got dark before we finished and yet here they are maybe they're chakra fires chakra fire would be sooo cool that should be an element wait is it an element i mean wind is an element eath and water surely fire is an element oh my goodness this outfit is perfect i'm sure they're psyched i worked on it so far maybe i should pause to take a breath i mean i dont breath so not really but still what if i did take breaths what even would that be like I couldnt even imagine having to stop talking that would be crazy cuz my mind just flwos and thigns happen and oh... Oh. They're staring at me again

~back in the real world~

The two turned their attention to Pinoch as Aios considered his opinion on things. he was staring strait at one of the chakra infused torches, eyes opened wide and his mouth gaping in surprise. "PInochio. Come back to earth. It's almost time to prepare for bed. Are you even there?"

he snapped back to his helpful sense, the child like whimsy fading from his features to make way for the calm persona that tended to the two girls. "Yes ladies. as you'd wish. Should I draw a bath? "

"No. I dont think I'll need to soak tonight. I need to get to sleep. The seal is almost finished I think... It flows a bit more naturally now though the energy still catches in my network every few cycles. I just need to wait a little longer for the power to get used to my body and then I'm good. "

"Sounds good. In that case I'm going to take the Oni puppet, leave it by the main door and go lay down. I'll see you in the morning sister. With that they parted ways, preparing for bed and Aios dropping the powerful seal to lay her head down finally. As she drifted off to slumber she thought through the events of the day. It was a great day off.

(TWC 7807 claiming 39 ap oni puppet created and cursed seal rank 3 finished)