Round table (I/O Rikaro,Kozan,Li)

On this cold dark night Mortarion sat at the end of his kage table in complete darkness save for three candles lighting the corners of the rooms stretching the shadows and creating a very eerie vibe. He had sent messenger ninja to retrieve the three he wanted. There was much to be done and certainly he would need the help of others along the way.

"They should be here soon..."

As Rikaro was jumping from roof to roof in the village of Kumogakure a Jounin would come up to him and tell him that the Raikage was waiting for him in his office. He didn't know what for but nodded towards the ninja and followed him back to the tower where the Raikage waited. As they made their way towards the tower they would come to a halt in front of the doors. The ninja nodded his head towards Rikaro. Walking through the doors of the dull lighted tower Rikaro would look at the lady at the desk and say " The Raikage is waiting for me " she nodded and told him where the office was located. As he walked up a set of stairs and down long hallways he would come to a pair of doors that had to ninja on each of it's side." The Raikage is expecting you go in " said the ninja on the left side of the doors. 

Rikaro would nod and push the doors open and come to a dim room that only light source were three feiry candles. The man in his glory sat at the head of his desk as three seats sat did by side 5 meters away from each other surrounding the desk as if it were a round table. Taking a seat at the desk in the middle Rikaro would stare at the Raikage with his pale face nodding his head as he said " Mi Lord I've heard you wished to speak with me yet again ".

When the Shinkou arrived Li would already be sitting in his own candle lit seat. His pupiless light blue eyes flickered with the flames and addressed the new comer with a mild interest. Though meeting new people always held a certain amount of joy for Li there was a far more vexing elephant sitting in this particular room. Youka held all the interest that Li could possibly rally.

Twice his life had been destroyed by this man, and twice it had been saved. Spared rather. What pushes a man to do such things? Life, Death, Hither and Tither. This strange corpse of a man who played so easily with the lives of others. Why destroy a village and it's people and yet let Li live? It had to be some sort of amusement he derived from seeing Li's pain. If he thought Li could be of any use, surely the destruction of two different Ame's proved otherwise.

He shrugged and shifted in his seat. He crossed his legs and put one hand on the arm rest. With a tilt of his head be brought his spikey blonde hair to his hand and began to pinch one of the ends. His flight from the hospital had been short lived. These kumo nin were persistent if nothing else. Luckily they'd only been interested in delivering a message.

So now he waited with a queer sense of confusion for the group to assemble and for Youka to speak.

With a silent yawn Li Curled his tongue upwards. One of his thin fingers moved over to the side of his eye, and brushed away a tear drop which had accumulated. The cloud ninja had a ridiculous amount of patience it would seem to him. They were still waiting on one guy to walk in. It felt like they'd been waiting for months! He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. This whole situation was ridiculous. But what was a boy to do? so he breathed in deeply, and patiently just trying to bury down his frustration with the situation.

And there they sat in the flickering shadows cast by the candles. Soon the first two would come and Mortarion would greet them with nothing more than a nod. The third was yet to come and in the mean time Kage would silently inspect his underlings, just as they were inspecting him, without a word. Eventually seeing the blond puppeteer yawn the man would decide it was enough wait. Kozan must have chosen not to heed his command and he would deal with that later. Now, it was time to start this little meeting in the dark.

Slightly leaning forth he would begin to speak. His voice would be not too loud, just enough for them to hear him, making it so if they wanted to they would have to listen. "Well then, welcome. I have called you here because I see your potential. And I wanted to offer you a chance to use that potential and become stronger, to make a difference." He would smile at the thought of what he was going to suggest. For now he would see their reactions.

As Rikaro studied the man who let out a yawn he would hear the voice of the Raikage speak."Well then welcome. I have called you here because I see your potential. And I wanted to offer you a chance to use that potential and become stronger to make a difference." The man would smile creepily as Rikaro looked at him. Only days ago was he meeting with ths Raikage up in the moutains and the man offered him power as well as the experts to find the Land of Shadows so he could in the future awaken his Satori.

He would look at the other ninja who he had yet to recognize. He was quiet and seemed quite bored to say the least. Looking back at the Raikage he would say " Well Mortarion from the times we have met especially up in the moutains I have learned to trust you. And if you wish to awaken my so called potential then so be it. But I have only one question for you to answer. What exactly are you offering a ninja as such as myself " said Rikaro questionly.

One might find it hard to find emotions that were more mixed than what Li Dian Felt at Youka's announcement. He offered power, and Li knew coming from this man it could be nothing more than the most vile of poisons, and yet. Yet though this man. The Man in front of him. His new kage, leader, Jailer, and potential mentor. Though he was the embodiment of everything that Li hated and despised about the world. Though he was the compete antithesis of Li himself. And Though he had stolen more from Li than most would think possible, here he was still listening.

It was that last line that struck him. Struck him with more power than any blow Youka could have delivered. The Chance to make a difference. Now that was what it was all about in the end. Li had once been a person who could make a difference or so he thought. But the waves he made just ended up breaking on Youka's rocky shore. The difference he could make was only limited to his little tide pool. His Ame. Meanwhile Youka's domain was the shore, and the land beyond. Something so vast that Li Dian couldn't even dream of.

And now he was getting the offer to come ashore. How strange. All Li had ever wanted was to give hope to people who had none. Now the man who stole all of his was offering him some. If he could make a difference, even a small one would it be worth it? No matter how terrible the package may seem. If Li could even touch a few hearts in all this darkness would it be worth it. Would this life he'd been living be worth it?

He looked Youka in the eye, if he could manage. His pupiless blue eyes staring into youka's. Dangerous though that may be. "I've been a piece for too long." He almost whispered the words. "I'm ready to become a player."

Kozan hadn't been doing much those days. So, it came as a surprise to him when he received and order from the kage. Huh... a specific place at a specific time, huh? He gazed at a clock on the wall... eh, he had plenty of time. Best to take a nap first, perhaps. He drifted off to sleep, with no worries in his mind about this meeting.

When he woke up, his eyes drifted once again to the timepiece. It took him a few seconds to realize that he had overslept by quite a bit. Shit!

Buckling on Nightblood, he got up from his couch and ran as fast as he could. Out the door, into the street, and toward his specified location. Being faster than basically anyone else in the village with Nightblood, he passed as a blur amongst the normal people and even other ninja.

In the dark room, just as Li finished speaking, the door burst open, and the light from outside shone into the room. Standing in the doorway, Kozan was visible as a dark silhouette.

"Sorry I'm late."

Of course, he didn't say why. How embarrassing that would be. However, he did recognize the Raikage, along with an unknown man. However, the third one in the room... hadn't he put that kid in jail? Weird. Well, whatever. If he was here with the Raikage, then maybe he wasn't a spy after all.

Should everything go normally, he'd take his seat and await what might come next.
[This post is basically my uni life x.x Anyways, didn't see that there were people in this thread until now, sorry about that.]

Mortarion's eyes would glance from one to another as he heard their replies. Seems his words hit the cord in both cases. The weak ones desired power, that was a simple matter. The case of Li was a bit more unique as he was already an excellent shinobi. And though there is no end to human greed and hunger for power, his desire was more refined than that. Was it vanity or responsibility? Either way, the offer would interest him for sure, it's only his loyalty that was not guaranteed but that amused the prince of decay.

He would continue, first by responding to Rikaro's inquiry. "I offer opportunity. What do you with it, the benefits you reap or the price you pay, that would be up to you." Glancing at the Yamanaka Mortation would go on. "I've cleansed this corner of the world but my crusade is far from complete, there is much more out there." A timely intervention would halt his words there as the door to the chamber were loudly opened. It might have happened sooner but the guards at the entrance to the building would stop Kozan and tell him not to rush in the halls, provided he told them that Raikage was expecting him; otherwise he wouldn't have passed to begin with. The boy's silhouette would be recignized by the lord of death but he would say no word. Only a smirk would be barely visible on his rather unhealthy looking face as Kozan so casually took a seat in the jaws of the dragon. His insolence was almost adorable.

Mortarion's silence would last another half a minute until it became a chuckle which sounded more like a cough. When it ended he would speak again. "I've made Kumogakure able to withstand any attack and detect any intrusion. Now it's time to make sure no other village can withstand us. And the three of you will be my lieutenants. Cooperate with each other as needed, rally and prepare the Cloud-nin, the village must be ready for war. Don't fail me." That last bit would be added more casually while glancing at both Li and Kozan. Then Youka would gesture towards the exit. They were done here and he was to be left alone in the light of candles.

[Exit]

The eyes of Youka would soon stop on Rikaro's face as the man said "I offer opportunity. What do you with it, the benefits you reap or the price you pay, that would be up to you." What the man said was quite vague, many thiings could be interpreted from it. He saw that Mortarion's eyes would soon lead to the blond man on Rikaro's side."I've cleansed this corner of the world but my crusade is far from complete, there is much more out there." What exactly did that mean! Was Kumo going to war soon with neighboring countries? If so Rikaro would need to prepare. Soon the door was being opened and it was quite loud.

It caused Rikaro to turn around as light filled the room causing him to forget his enjoyment he had with the darkness. Standing there smirking was Kozan possibly the ninja who had took his rods. If the situation was not so dire Rikaro would have already charged at him. But he knew that the kid was some what stronger than himself seeing as either him or his partner knocked him out with out landing a finger on him. The voice of the raikage soon gathered him from his thoughts as he said  "I've made Kumogakure able to withstand any attack and detect any intrusion. Now it's time to make sure no other village can withstand us. And the three of you will be my lieutenants. Cooperate with each other as needed, rally and prepare the Cloud-nin, the village must be ready for war. Don't fail me." The words had caused Rikaro to become quite dumbstruck. He could understand why he was chosen seeing he has trained with the raikage on several occasions. But to lead the village onside of his as one of his subordinates.

He would look to the man next to him who he would adress in the future as Blue Eyes and then to Kozan. Looking back at the Raikage he would say " It will be an honor sir." he knew the man did not like bowing so he would simply leave the room before giving a nod to Blue Eyes and Kozan.

exit