A Stranger in a Familiar Land [Open to Hoshi]

Having been in Hoshigakure for quite some time Lucian was at last starting to feel at home. However, it was an odd feeling, because despite how natural the village seemed to him now many saw him as a forigener in more ways than one. On one hand he was a shinobi, which automatically made much of the civilian population uneasy. Sure, there were leaps and bounds in that regard, but they were slow as most progress is. Then, on the other hand, there was the simple fact that he was not originally from the village itself. In fact, from what he understood, he came from a village that stood as a polar opposite of Hoshigakure, Funkagakure. It was certainly a strange feeling.

Such thoughts of identity and where he came from muddled the Nazar boy's mind as he sat among the water gardens meditating. For whatever reason he could not shake such thoughts from his mind no matter how hard he tried until at last he finally stood up and gave a shake of his head. There was no point in continuing. The last thing he wanted to do was force himself into a state of calm, that was never the path.

With furrowed brow the chuunin made his way through the water gardens at a meandering pace. His goal was to reach the training grounds therein at some point, but found himself in no hurry. Garbed in his traditional white tunic accented by red undershirt and ragged brown pants, Lucian no doubt looked like any other holy man in Hoshigakure and that was the way he liked it. He found it much easier to go about learning about other when not labeled as a shinobi.

Yet today he knew it would be hard to escape such a label, because although his meditation had been less than successful he still wanted to work on a few jutsu he had been reading about. Betterment of self to the benefit of others was, after all, one of the pillars of the Nazar beliefs. One could never forget their beliefs.

In a matter of minutes Lucian arrived at one of the two places he felt comfortable to use jutsu, the training grounds. The other location was, of course, the academy, but beyond that one would garner strange looks at best and spark riots at worst. Luckily today the training grounds were fairly empty. A few genin practiced their aim on a few targets while some amused jounin watched, but there was nothing out of the ordinary and that was exactly how Lucian liked it, normal.

Finding himself a spot in the shade of some carefully manicured shrubbery the Funkagakure native took a seat and got out of the early afternoon sun. The jutsu he wanted to practice was not so much a physical one as it was a thinking man's jutsu in the sense that it jutsu required less physical strength and more chakra control.

Holding out both hands with the palms up Lucian began. The first step he recalled was to gather space time chakra in both hands. This of course would take the boy quite a while so as he waited and concentrated. And as he concentrated soft rays of golden light would emanate from his eyes as it was apt to do for all Nazars in a state of chakra flux. Now, came the waiting game. Like any new jutsu Lucian was ready to fail and fail until he succeeded. It was only a matter of time.

[WC: 587]

“Summoning Jutsu!” Kyousuke would yell with his queensguard jacket on. With a quick slam of his hand onto a rock a billow of smoke would arise. After a moment the smoke would clear a small slug would be left sitting on the rock no bigger than one of his fingers. The creature was tiny to say the least, it was his first summon attempt without aid though. This slug seemed lifeless though, it had yet to move. After lightly petting the creature with his finger the creature stirred raising its head to look at the ninja.

“Can you speak or do only some of you do that?” The creature didn’t make any noise or movements that would reflect an answer instead it began to crawl up Kyousuke’s arm which had been placed onto the rock. It climbed until it reached the opening of his jacket and crawled inside ready to go back to sleep. Well I guess I should give him some of the cabbage I brought. Spraying a piece of green leaf with water, the ninja handed the leaf to the slug inside his jacket. He then sprayed himself wiping off the slime on his own body.


The channeling of energy nearby caught Kyousuke’s attention, concealing his chakra he headed towards the area he had sensed it. Spotting Lucian in concentration, the man wished not to disturb him so he kept his distance waiting until Lucian had finished his meditation. Once done, Kyousuke would walk over and say hello.

WC: 250

Reaching inner peace was a tricky thing. One would probably have an easier time catching smoke with their bare hands as opposed to reaching complete peace. Yet complete inner peace was something every Nazar clansman aspired to. Was it a realistic goal? Who was to say really? It was the pursuit of inner peace that made each Nazar clansman a better person. So, in the end, did it matter if inner peace was ever attained?

Such questions really hurt Lucian's brain and thinking about them for too long gave him a headache. Sadly, these were the thoughts that populated the young boy's mind as he tried to form two orbs of chakra in either hand. Over the course of a few minutes he had gotten the shape down with raw chakra. Then when he tried to transform the raw chakra into space time chakra it went haywire and robs collapsed on themselves. The whole affair was really starting to grate on the Nazar's considerable patience.

Perhaps a break is in order?

Trying one last time to no avail the chuunin balled his hands into fists and stood up. Often times all one needed was a bit of perspective or at least that was what he kept telling himself. it had gotten him this far, so it couldn't be all bad, right?

Stretching just a bit the bald boy glanced around only to see a rather muscled man approaching with the telltale attire of a Queensguard.

"Good afternoon, sir," Lucian said politely with an accompanying bow in the Queensguard's direction. He was still a shinobi and that mandated the proper etiquette when addressing those of a higher rank. It was all a numbers game; the muscled man was higher on the ladder than himself, such was life.

From the back Kyousuke could barely make out the orbs of chakra. After a few moments the spheres disappeared collapsing on themselves and dispersing. At this point Kyousuke would make his approach it seemed something had happened to cause the disruption, maybe a break in Lucian’s concentration.

Lucian was well known around Hoshi as a respectable ninja and monk, his etiquette was surely there as he said good afternoon and bowed. “No need to do that just treat me like you would anyone else, I am pretty new to the guard and I’m still getting used to it.” Kyousuke added hoping to keep the conversation as light as possible.

“How is everything going today?” The ninja would ask. He shivered obviously as the slug in his jacket began to move away from its original resting spot. Okay, that feels a little weird. Reaching into his jacket he took the slug and let it crawl across his hand. “I think you wanted out of there, if not just feel free to crawl back in.” Knowing it was odd to talk to bugs Kyousuke had to defend what he was doing. “I kind of talk to animals sometimes, I have a knack for nature.” It was a joke as much as it was the truth, random animals did tend to approach the man.


WC: 221

Rising from his bow Lucian was rather surprised, or perhaps impressed was a better word, to find the man before him was not just bulky, but well muscled. Sure, he stood at roughly the same height as Lucian yet he looked so much larger owing in large part to his physique. It also probably helped that the man in front of him was wearing armor while the Nazar did not. All the same the Funkagakure native could not help tilting his head curiously at the freshly minted queensguard.

"Then I will help you get used to it, sir," Lucian replied with a playfully wry smile. "After all, you should start to get used to being treated with respect. Appearances along with etiquette, unless I am mistaken, are part and parcel of your position."

"Beyond that, my day goes well. The sun yet shines and birds still sing. I have no complaints--"

Lucain stopped talking to watch as the man in front of him trembled despite the rather warm weather and shining sun. For a moment the Nazar was a bit worried. However, that worry soon turned to confusion and finally transformed to wonder. Truthfully he had never seen anyone talk to animals. Then there was a the question of why one would talk to what appeared to be a slug of all creatures. Of course all these question would be suppressed in favor of a polite smile of amusement.

"A knack you say? Seems more like a gift to me. To communicate directly with nature is a skill more than a few people in this village would covet above all else."

Lucian, of course, referred to one of the local religious followings who revered nature and its creatures as holy beings.

"But where are my manners?" Lucian asked, more than a bit embarrassed. " I don't believe we have formally met. I am Lucian Nazar of Funkagakure."

Extending his right hand Lucian tried out a gesture that many of the merchants in Hoshigakure used to seal a deal, a handshake. As of late he had been spending considerable time in the marketplace and the habit had rubbed off on him. Plus there was something satisfying about a handshake that the impersonal exchange of bows could never match.

Lucian did have a point the queensguard had a long standing history of etiquette and procedures, probably one of the worst things about the job. “You would be correct, that is indeed part of it.” Kyousuke hoped the level of formality would be a thing for royals only, but the duties of a queensguard were in place whether or not the Queen was around or not.

Lucian trailed off as he explained how his day was going, it seemed the tremble was more noticeable than Kyousuke had thought. The slug stayed on the man’s arm as the conversation continued. It stopped moving after a moment returning to its sleep. It seemed this slug liked to enjoy its sleep.

Lucian seemed to praise Kyousuke for his ability, but it was something the ninja had always had. It was how he captured animals to eat before Hoshi had become a village. “There are a few people in certain sects who would enjoy speaking with animals.”

Even though the two had not formally met, Kyousuke knew a thing or two about the ninja. Most recently he had heard the man’s name during the meeting among all of the villages jounin. Lucian was to be part of the ceremony for the queen’s burial along with himself. Not sure if the other ninja had been formed Kyousuke kept that information to himself and shook the hand. “I am Kyousuke Snow. I am from here, but before it was Hoshigakure.”

“So, what is Funkagakure like? I have never been there.” Unlike many ninja Snow had never traveled far from the village. It wasn’t a matter of being afraid, but that nothing ever took his focus far from Hoshi. That changed recently though with Akihana’s handling of an outside threat, to find her he would be forced to leave the village.

WC: 304

Allowing his arm to fall freely to his side after the handshake Lucian found himself suppressing a grimace at the mention of Funkagakure. In truth he loved the land of volcanoes, but the same could not be said for the village therein. Lucian counted himself among the lucky few who could experience Funkagakure while also being away from the village itself. Living in the village though was not a hell the boy would wish on anyone.

"Well, it is nice to meet you Kyousuke Snow," Lucian said with a nod. "As for Funkagakure, hmm, how do I say this? The land itself is beautiful with warm weather year round, massive fields of cooled lava dominate the landscape and beautiful beaches ring the island itself."

A brief pause as Lucian picked his next words carefully.

"The village, however, is much like Kumogakure insofar as there is something evil there. Here in Hoshigakure we encounter cut purses while in Funkagakure you would meet cutthroats and...cannibals who would kill you for sport and nothing more. I would not suggest visiting unless absolutely necessary. The world is not as kind a place as this village here; that is why I chose to stay here for the foreseeable future instead of moving on."

Another pause as he reflected on what he had said. Unfortunately everything he told Kyousuke had been the truth. Funkagakure and Kumogakure were scars on the planet that one had to see to believe. Mere words did not do them justice.

"What about yourself? What was this area like before Hoshigakure?" Lucian asked gesturing widely to the village around him. It was rare that Lucian found someone willing to talk about the land pre-Hoshi and he was pleased to have a chance to, at the very least, ask.

“It is a pleasure to meet you as well.” The man would say after saying it was nice that they had met. Hearing for the first time about the hidden volcano village it was a shock to learn that an evil presence lurked there, Lucian even went as far to compare it to Kumogakure. A place ruled by a tyrant, but the tyrant didn’t seem to be the lands problem but the people itself.

Cutthroats, purse snatchers, and cannibals sounded similar to what Hoshi had been like before Akihana had arrived… A thought popped into the ninja’s head as he pondered that. Could Akihana have gone to change one of those villages as she had changed Hoshi? If so it limited places to search, but he had no solid information yet just a hunch.

Listening more to Lucian it seemed he had no idea how things could be changed, so when the man asked what Hoshi had been like Kyousuke took the opportunity to tell him. “Before the village was established anyone found using chakra was killed. When I was five my parents were killed in front of me. People were tortured, killed, among other terrible things.” He paused just to reflect on past events. “It wasn’t a good place by any means, but Akihana and Denkiteki changed it for the better. Maybe all hope for your home isn’t lost, maybe it is just waiting for its hero.”

It was very cliché of course, but maybe the evil in Funka could be stopped and be changed just like Hoshi had been. To force Hoshi to change though a lot of people were killed, those who rebelled were wiped out or forced to leave. One side thought they fought for good, while the other viewed themselves as good and their opponent evil. It was an awful cycle.

WC: 306

"I'm sorry to hear that," Lucian replied with a fast developing frown. "Too often loved ones leave us before their time."

Of course, Lucian's own words rang hollow within him. He had never lost anyone; never needed to grieve;  never needed to bury anyone. To the young Nazar's knowledge both his parents yet lived safe and sound on the outskirts of Funkagakure. He was merely repeating a mantra once repeated to him.  

"Akihana and Denkiteki, yes, I suppose they have done quite well by the village," He agreed. "Though some places are not meant to be saved. There must be balance in the world, good and evil. Dark and light. One way or another the world will balance itself."

A brief pause as the chuunin cast his gaze to a few of the genin near the targeting range.

"However, I doubt you came here to talk philosophy with me," Lucian stated with a weak smile and a shrug. "Come to think of it, what brings an newly minted Queensguard such as yourself away from the palace?"

Oh, yeah, the training.

In talking to Kyousuke Lucian had almost forgotten why he was here himself. The jutsu he had been working on was a simple one, in theory. Too often things were easy in theory and near impossible in practice. The young boy's goal was simple: link two places with a door of sorts. The book he had drawn the idea from called the concept portals, fittingly enough. The trick was stabilizing the space-time chakra, he was sure of it. The rest was child's play.

In theory...

To be completely honest Kyousuke didn’t remember anything about his parents besides their final moments. As if the trauma was etched into his mind and the act left such a significant impression upon the child, it wiped out any pre-existing memory. The ninja wished he could remember more about them, but after they passed he didn’t even have time to mourn. From that point on it was him and his split personalities each one taking care of him. Of course they were all gone now, after finding the cause behind them he learned to control it better.

Some places aren’t meant to be saved? “I do not mind talking of philosophy, I am a priest. Most people view some of the things as I say that way.” He would give a quick smile knowing Lucian was also a priest and would maybe take interest.


Pulling out the sleeping slug Kyousuke answered Lucian’s question. “I am just here to make friends with Fondant here, but he sure likes to sleep. Maybe I should let him get some rest.” With that the slug with disappear in a puff of smoke. “So, how about you I saw you working on something before I came over. If I am bothering you I can leave.” The man would say to be polite, the queensguard knew he was being quite distracting to Lucian’s training. 

WC: 228