The Fate of a Traitor

Wed Dec 28, 2016 12:30 am

Kenshin would be keeping a very close eye on the newly healed Sir Florent as the two of them made their way to the royal palace of Hoshigakure, the two of them would have arrived earlier but they had been forced to make a little detour along the way, this detour being to the very room that Kenshin was renting. This detour had been taken so that the silver haired teen could both sanitize the wounds that he had inflicted upon the man when he had severed his hands, mainly due to the fact that the silver haired teen was not willing to risk the man getting an infection due to shoddy healing on his part, he took pride in his knowledge of the medical arts after all. Once the wounds had been sufficiently sanitized he had re-attached the limbs that he had severed earlier, the only piece of evidence left showing that his hands had been severed in the first place were the thin, pale white scars that were left on the man's wrists, each scar going completely around the wrist and contrasting greatly with the man's dark skin. After he had been certain the man's hands had been properly healed, which he had only done because he had been ordered to do so by the Queensguard Kyousuke, he had provided Florent with a set of pants and the two of them set off for the royal palace so that the traitorous man could stand before Princess Tehniyat to answer for his crimes.

As they had made their way towards the royal palace not a word was spoken by either the silver haired albino or the beast in human form, neither of the two monsters felt that they had anything left to say to the other nor did they have any wish to converse. When the scar faced genin and the fallen knight of Hoshi went to enter the palace grounds they would be stopped by the pair of guards that stood watch at the entrance “Halt, what business do you have in the palace?” one of the two armour clad men would ask, his tone even as he stared down at the shorter form of Kenshin. “I am here under the orders of one of the Queensguard, Kyousuke Snow, he has tasked me with bringing Sir Florent here before Princess Tehniyat so that he may answer for his crimes” the young albino would say, keeping an eye on the obviously agitated form of Sir Florent throughout the whole exchange with the guard. The scar faced Genin had left the man unbound as both he and Sir Florent himself knew that should the traitorous queensman attempt to fight or flee the experienced genin would disable him immediately, but that did not stop Kenshin was still keeping an eye on him just in case he tried something stupid. With his piece said the stitched and scarred youth would await approval from the guards to take the traitorous Sir Florent before Princess Tehniyat

WC: 502

(This topic is a continuation of A Dance in the Gardens)

Wed Dec 28, 2016 9:01 pm

The enormous walls of the palace of the City of Haven loomed above the lad’s slender figure. It was his first time seeing the official residence of the crown from up-close. There was a small portion of the palace is open to the public but he had never felt the urgency to visit before. Today however, his destination would take him to the deepest end of what lived within these walls. The throne room, the impressive setting the leadership of the City granted audiences from.

The perils of the court were not completely unknown to the Ayato, if truth be told. A parting gift, from the lad's short time with the Hyuuga of Kiri, even though their compound was nothing more than a hut in the woods compared to this marvelous architecture. Regardless, the Genin picked what he believed to be his best garment for the occasion. He donned a high-collared, black jacket over his white shirt. Black woolen pants for bottoms and on his feet a pair of dark blue sandals. His favorite piece of clothing, the dark red scarf his father had given him was not to be seen on his person. It was already in a bad shape, old and roughed but the battle in the Water Gardens had torn it to pieces. Ayato’s gray long sleeve coat also met similar destiny and was rendered impossible to wear. This left him with nothing in his wardrobe to shield his person from the cold other than the attire he was wearing today.

Yes, the battle. The reason he was here today. Ayato's actions initiated a shuffle in the Water Gardens with a fellowship of Queensmen. Other shinobi joined in the fray, his teammate Miyamoto Terumi, the stitched ragdoll whose name was revealed to be Kenshin Uzumaki from the lips of Ayato’s mentor and teacher Kyousuke Snow who was the last to arrive. One of the Queensmen had transformed into a bestial, mythical creature out of a storybook and he would have killed Ayato if not for Kenshin Uzumaki who put his body on the line, eventually even defeating the beast himself.

Upon the arrival of Kyousuke Snow things had not calmed down, in fact, if anything they had escalated further when the true identity of the werewolf was revealed. That of a highborn knight, from House Florent, one of the oldest and more powerful houses in the Country of Haven. There was no way for anyone to know but him since he was a member of the Queensguard and familiar with the inner circles of nobility within the city. The Queensguard faced the situation coolly, with no intent on harming Sir Florent for attempting to kill his students, even speaking to him at a polite even friendly tone. His only demand was for the nobleman to present himself in front of the Queen to answer for his actions. However, due to an unexpected mission for the man, the task to escort the noble there was left to Kenshin Uzumaki.

Ayato did not understand the merriment of Kyousuke Snow, believing it even to be feigned. Yet he failed to understand many other things. For one, what business did a member one of the most powerful noble house of Haven have in the Water Gardens hanging around with that fellowship of lowly Queensmen? Definitely not for testing his sword arm against them, he was so much better than them and when Ayato first entered the Water Gardens no one seemed to be going particularly hard at practice. The pleasure of their company was also very unlikely; nobles were known to be very snobbish and not frown upon the less fortunate, which makes them unwilling to spend their time with common foot soldiers. Ayato was adamant of both. Sir Florent himself casually mocked the other Queensmen fighting skills through the battle, going as far as to berate Miyamoto and Ayato for taking so long to dispatch them. The Genin wondered if he should let the thoughts spin into his head for longer, trying to make sense out of it all. Or instead simply brush it off as his mind overthinking things. He knew that how someone perceives events occurring around is not always correct and because one does not list them to his point of view does not mean they are not there. The whole thing made his head hurt.

Harming a noble was different from harming a commoner and had already managed to turn public opinion against them. The word on streets was that the shinobi were vandalizing property in the Water Gardens and when the local authorities arrived to apprehend them. They claimed Sir Florent who got wind of the situation stepped into the Queensmen defense putting his body on the line to protect them, the shinobi chopped off his hands, wrapped them around his neck and had him walk half the city naked. The tale of the event had changed. Ayato knew that’s what happened to gossip it grows in excitement over time. It grows in excitement over time. Now, the second tale was a lot less fantastic than the original, but a lie nonetheless. The vile werewolf became a hero of justice and Kenshin a sadistic freak show dressed in black who maimed others at his pleasure. That was why he had come here, even though his sensei had not instructed him to do as such. Ayato felt the need to testify as a direct witness to the event, and hopefully if pulled himself together and observe things, he would be able to make sense out of this all.

He found them nearby the entrance trying to get entry to the palace. Ayato gave Kenshin a simple nod as to greet and the knight the cold shoulder. Barely resisting the urge to flick his middle finger or worst punch him the face. He had to be calm, being impulsive got them where they are. Threading into some mighty thin ice that in the end could be them the ones to fall over rather than Sir Florent.

WC - 1010

Thu Dec 29, 2016 2:55 am

Another sweltering hot day graced the city, drawing a slight smile on the Princess' face as she took her customary place at the royal library. This was exactly how she preferred Hoshi, dry and scorchingly hot, the unforgiving sun beating down on the ground as a testament to how strong the land of her city, her country, was. The windows of the library were once again thrown open, tempting in a nonexistent breeze and Princess Tehniyat Bukhari, first of her name, daughter of Princess Azra and Lord Bukhari, Regent to the Throne, was as comfortable as she could be. No beads of sweat marred her carefully constructed visage, no sign of strain upon her her slender, perfectly postured frame and no mark of worry on her smooth, pale brow.

A golden eyebrow rose in inquiry as Ser Atem entered, bringing with him a request for an appointment and causing the royal heiress to put down the file she was studying. There were ninja out in the palaces here on the orders of Ser Snow. Moving the file to the side, the princess nodded, leaving her personal guard to take care of the rest.

A few minutes later, the doors opened once more, the chunin escorting a ragtag group of people into the royal library under Tehniyat's keen emerald gaze.

"Presenting Ayato Hyuuga, Kenshin Uzumaki and Ser Axwell Florent," the young knight bowed before moving to a corner of the room where he would stay out of sight unless called upon. The mere fact that he was not leaving the room denoted that there was danger present.

"Good morrow," the princess greeted. "Welcome to our palaces, may I ask the reason for this pleasure?" her tone remained polite, her face impassive and her posture straight, aloof. The princess would let them speak from here on.

Sat Dec 31, 2016 5:25 pm

The silver haired teen would wait patiently for permission to enter the palace so that he could bring the traitorous Ser Florent before the regent to face justice for his actions, the attempted murder of two young shinobi in the water gardens with a group of his queensmen compatriots. It may be ironic that Kenshin thought of Ayato and Miyamoto as young when he himself was not much older than Ayato, but due to his life he had been forced to grow up a lot faster than most, and as such he considered them to be young not just due to their physical age but also due to their lack of life experience. As he waited the scar faced albino would look down at his attire, when he had taken Ser Florent to his room in order to sanitize the lycanthropes wounds he had also taken the time to clean the blood from his form and change his clothing, as due to Ser Florent’s attacks on his person earlier he had been left naked from the waist up while the rest of his clothes having been soaked in his own blood.

The new attire was quite a bit more formal than he was used to wearing, simply because he had been asked to take the traitor before Princess Tahniyat within the royal palace of Hoshi, but much to his surprise he actually found himself liking the new clothing, not only did he like the new look that it gave him but he also enjoyed the feel of the new clothing, perhaps he would start wearing clothing like this more often. He was wearing a white dress shirt and a pair of dark grey dress pants, his worn grey sandals had been replaced by a pair of black dress shoes and he was also wearing a pair of white gloves, over the white dress shirt he was wearing a black vest and to complete the look he was wearing a black tie and a formal black jacket. It was only at this point that the silver haired teen would sense the chakra signature he recognised as Ayato’s heading towards the palace, something that would bring a small smile to Kenshin’s scarred face. He knew that with one of the two victims of Ser Florent's attack here it would probably be easier for the princess to pass judgement on the traitorous man, especially if she took into consideration the ages of the two genin the man had attempted to murder, well 3 if she took Kenshin himself into consideration.

Out of the corner of his eye the scar faced teen would see the form of Ayato arrive at the gates of the palace alongside both he and Ser Florent, he would see the brown haired genin send a small nod of acknowledgement in his direction while at the same time managing to give the traitorous queensman the cold shoulder, something that brought a small smirk to Kenshin’s pale lips. He would return send a nod to Ayato right as he felt yet another familiar chakra signature come into range of his sensory, yet this time the signature was actually coming towards the rag tag group from the direction of the palace itself, a development that Kenshin himself found to be rather interesting, mainly because it had been quite awhile since he last felt the chakra signature of Atem Chasseur. As he studied the chakra signature of his fellow shinobi one thing became glaringly obvious to the genin, Atem had grown quite a bit stronger, he knew that his own reserves had grown quite large in the time since he and Atem had last met, very large in fact, yet Atems own reserves surpassed his own by a decent margin, something that caused the smirk on Kenshin’s face to grow just a little larger.

‘Perhaps Atem and I should have that spar sometime soon’ the albino ragdoll would think to himself, recalling how on two separate occasions he and Atem had agreed to spar and how both of those times the spars had ended before they could truly begin, the first time was the threeway spar between himself, Atem and Sasuke, in the end he had chosen to leave the spar because he felt the demise of Keito. The second time they had agreed to spar was when he had met Atem and Aoelus in the Gazebo after an extremely long and tiring training session, the three of them were on their way to the training grounds when Aoelus managed to sneak away from the duo undetected, and after the unexpected disappearance of the third party Kenshin himself was hit by a wave of lethargy and was forced to go home lest he pass out mid fight. By the stitched and scarred youth had finished recalling both of those situations Atem had arrived at the gates “Hmm, Kenshin Uzumaki isn’t it? It’s been some time” Atem would say with a small smile on his face “Indeed it had Atem, I see you’ve managed to become a Chunin, I will endeavour to catch up” Kenshin would say with a smirk on his face, having determined that Atem rank due to his Flak Jacket

“I am actually the personal bodyguard of her grace Princess Tehniyat, speaking of whom I have heard you require an appointment with? At the orders of Ser Snow no less” Atem would ask in a questioning tone, looking over the unusual group with slightly narrowed eyed as he no doubt tried to work out what was going on right now. “Indeed, Snow has tasked me with bringing Ser Florent here before the princess to answer for his crimes, he attempted to murder two Genin in the Water Gardens, I was forced to intervene and when I did he also attempted to take my own life” the albino would explain to the pale skinned bodyguard of Tahniyat. “I managed to disable him with little trouble and afterwards Snow, who had been watching the altercation from the sidelines, ordered me to take him before the Princess” Kenshin would explain, knowing that there was no harm in telling Atem of the situation. “I see…” Atem would say simply, sending Ser Florent a harsh glare, before flicking his eyes over towards Ayato “And who are you?” the Chasseur would ask as he scanned over the younger Genin’s form, obviously trying to determine if he too was a threat to his charge. The stitched youth would stay silent and allow Ayato to answer the question of the Chunin, as the question had obviously been directed towards the slightly younger genin rather than at Kenshin.

“Follow me, I shall take you to her grace” Atem would say simply, turning back towards the palace and leading the three towards the royal library where Tehniyat was currently residing, all the while he would be keeping his senses honed in on Ser Florent in case the man tried to do anything suspicious or downright stupid. As the group walked through the doors to the library Kenshin’s unique silver and red eyed came upon the form of Tehniyat, the moment his eyes came upon her form he would recognise her as the one who had watched over his Chunin exams so long ago, but other than that he knew nothing about the blonde princess of Haven, the only piece of info he had on her was that she was the acting regent, nothing more. “Presenting Ayato Hyuuga, Kenshin Uzumaki and Ser Axwell Florent” Atem would say, formally presenting the three of them before the princess before giving a bow and moving to a portion of the room where he would be unseen and yet able to intervene quickly should something happen. “Good morrow” the princess woud say in greeting “Welcome to our palaces, may I ask the reason for this pleasure?” the scar faced albino would hear the golden haired princess say in a tone that conveyed the utmost of politeness, her face itself a mask of impassiveness and her posture perfectly straight.

Deciding that he should be the one to start this off Kenshin would give a very formal and polite bow to Tahniyat “Thank you for receiving us your grace, it is our honour to be here” Kenshin would say, trying to call upon the lessons in respect that his father had drilled into his head back when he was living in the Senju compound of Konoha so many years ago. “I am here under the orders of Kyousuke Snow, he has tasked me with bringing Ser Florent here before you to face justice for the crime of treason” Kenshin would say in a tone that conveyed the utmost of politeness towards the royal “Ser Florent attempted to murder two young genin within the Water Gardens not one hour ago” the silver haired teen would say, dropping the proverbial bombshell.

WC:1481

Thu Jan 05, 2017 11:10 am

Looking at Kenshin’s appearance with his new set of smart clothing, he could almost be mistaken for a noble himself. Ayato came to an understanding of something else by looking at him. Everything that occurred kept his mind so preoccupied he had barely spared any of his thoughts in regards to the silver-haired nin. A parallel imagery between their clothes and their shinobi arsenal could be made for starters. Ayato’s current, clean attire was evidently garment that could make any man look comely enough, yet comparing ti to that of Kenshin Uzumaki it paled in comparison. Same way Ayato believed his skills to be at the level of a season shinobi to this point, Kenshin Uzumaki’s own skills, as showcased during the battle of the water gardens far outclassed that of Ayato. It was thanks to those skills that Ayato was still breathing at the moment.Judging from the wounds on his back and torso that were exposed for the entire world to see the moment his vest was sliced apart; he had seen his fair share of battles in his past. Perhaps that was where the difference in skill deviated from.

But weighting Kenshin's valiantly and battle prowess was only scratching the surface of what could be a bottomless pit of a moral dilemma for Ayato. “I used to prey on anyone I wished to, the weak, the strong, the young, the old, the brave, the cowardly...the heroes and the villains, it didn’t matter to me, I wanted nothing more than to see this world burn” Ayato was half conscious back then but he heard it clearly enough. And he did not have black pudding into his head instead of a brain, he understood what that meant the moment he said it. At some point in his past, Kenshin was a criminal, a cutthroat or bandit. A reformed one no doubt, one who had realized the error of his way and strived to create a path where he could correct them and atone for them. “...I regret a great many of the things I have done in my life…more than any words could ever hope to explain” A moment of sincerity and honestly no doubt and his action proved that nonetheless.Kenshin, always in the short amount of time Ayato had seen him operate, had he had spared Florent’s life, obediently follow Kyousuke’s snow order even though he had no reason to and when the crowd belittled him rather than setting his threads to lose on them he answered them with silence. From that could be established that Kenshin was evidently a pretty nice guy. End of story.

Well not really. The conflic was bound to be a lot more complicated than that. Goes without saying the Hyuuga teen was not keen to forget the debt he owned to Kenshin after the events that took place today, a debt that he would strive with all his soul to pay back someday, even if that day never came. But he had to wonder if a good deep can truly wash out a bad one in a rigidly hierarchical world where everyone is obsessed with honor or is a deranged lunatic. If all of one’s sins are forgiven the moment he begins to submerge his self into humanity’s altruistic waters.

Thankfully someone accepted their call and came to meet them by the gate and put a temporary cease to Ayato's profiling. Perhaps a steward or a viceroy or whatever the name of the official appointed by the legal ruling monarch to represent them. Ayato paid little to no attention to the man at first, no more than he did to the rest of the guards who were stationed at the gate. However, almost immediately the albino exchanged words of camaraderie or companionship, revealing their host with the name Atem was a Chuunin and also a sworn shield of her grace. If Ayato could describe everything with one word, that word would be Queer. Regardless the paradox brought some solace to Ayato; The Queen keeping a shinobi at her side at all times to protect her instead of a knight native to Hoshi, signified Queen was pro-shinobi not only in name. Words are wind.

“And who may you be” He heard him ask of Ayato weighting him with his piercing gaze. Ayato turned to meet him straight in the eye and stood a little taller. “Apologies for not making a dramatic introduction, my name is Ayato. Ayato Hyuuga.” Ayato stated with cool courtesy and paused for a moment.“I figured my voice may be needed to the hearing since as it happens I can vouch for the sharpness in Ser Florent’s sword.” He finished and pointed with his right index finger the stitched cut upon his right temple. It was the only wound that did not demand of Kenshin’s healing jutsu effective immediately unlike the other more life threating wounds on his throat caused by the werewolf’s claws.

The knight gave a sadistic chuckle at that. “Oh? Looks this pisspot has some dry humor at least. Rest of you can learn from that. I’m inclined to say I suffered at the pleasure of your company, albino.” He said and brushed his hand through his messy oily jet black hair. Ayato decided not respond to that provocation; again he had to maintain his cool being impulsive got them where they are.

Atem proceeded to guide them through the magnificent Hallway of the castle, leading them to what appeared to be a study or a library. No throne room as Ayato initially believed no impressive setting where a monarch presides her majesty over official ceremonies to hold a council to grant audiences, to award high honors and officers. Their ragtag group was unworthy of such homage, but all things considered, they should be lucky they even got past the main gate of the palace. And that was due to Kyousuke Snow’s order and very likely Atem’s intimacy with Kenshin that lead him to believe his words to be true.“Presenting Ayato Hyuuga, Kenshin Uzumaki, and Ser Axwell Florent” Atem would say, formally presenting the three of them before the princess before giving a bow and moving to a portion of the room where he would be unseen and yet able to intervene quickly should something happen. “Good morrow” the princess would say in greeting “Welcome to our palaces, may I ask the reason for this pleasure?”

Kenshin immediately took the lead as it was expected. “Thank you for receiving us your grace, it is our honor to be here. Under the orders of Kyousuke Snow, he has tasked me with bringing Ser Florent here before you to face justice for the crime of treason” Kenshin politely and then with no need to soften the blow he threw the reason of a “Ser Florent attempted to murder two young genin within the Water Gardens not one hour ago”

Ayato immediately picked up from there, preferring to strike quickly rather than give time to the princess to process thing or Florent attempt to parry the verbal blow. “This is true your grace. My name is Ayato Hyuuga, and I’m a discipline of Kyousuke Snow and a member of Winter, his own team of Genin.” Ayato said as he took to one knee, understanding it was customary to kneel in front of the ruler when you come forth to speak, a sight of recognizing their authority. Ayato added ice in his voice before he spoke, his eyes looking on the ground not meeting the Queen in the eye. “A score of Queensmen, Ser Florent among them, set their selves upon me and my teammate, who lost consciousness during the battle and is unable to present and add his voice to our own today. The worst would have happened to me, though. It would if Kenshin Uzumaki had not arrived just in time to put himself between me and Ser Florent’s…“ Ayato paused for a moment and searched for words that did not come. “Claws, Fangs?” What did he plan on saying? For all the madness that enveloped the life of a shinobi, even Ayato had written off creatures like werewolves as nothing more than myth and fantasy. A wrong step and he could be disregarded as a boy’s whose imagination grew in excitement and made crazy accusations to support his claim. “Sword.” The word left softly from Ayato’s lips, to conclude his claim.

===

Then Ser Florent opened his mouth. “You grace if I may so apologize for disturbing your reading. All I did was stand on the defense for the men that were attacked by the shinobi, men sworn to your services. I protected the realm of Haven as I’ve done all my life and I would gladly do so again. I swear so by the old gods and the new.” Ser Florent paused for a moment and his eyes seemed to glisten under his brow.

“They even lack even the etiquette to address me properly. It is not Ser Florent, it is Ser Axwell. You may only address my lord father with his last name. Yet the initiate of this parody was your very own Queensguard Kyousuke Snow, your grace." He added emphasis to both names and left them to hang in there for a moment. Ayato could make an estimated guess what the pause was for. Snow is the name of a commoner and Florent the name of a noble.

"I have to wonder what they are accusing me of. Who did I try to murder? Both of them seem fine to me. Only a blind man may suggest otherwise, or a liar. I say they are the second. And robbers of dignity as well, it seems. They paraded me through the city half-naked, even presenting me in front of you like this. ”

“I see” Ayato mumbled under his breath. The man in front of them was not a novice when it came to the living and working within the subterfuge and perils of noble courts. He had introduced himself and then proceeded to disregard their case starting with a slight of his name and also any mistreatment he suffered at Kenshin’s hands. The Hyuuga understood what followed next. His own twisted version of the story.

“It is them shinobi who have committed crimes against the City of Haven and it's citizens. We were training hard when the black haired one arrived. We suggested sharing, but he demanded of us to leave, we refused and then he burned the wooden ragdolls with his fire magic, a property that your honorable citizens pay their taxes. The few of us we were, meant to put a stop to his madness even at the risk of our integrity...yet, in the end, we all suffered for it. They burned my arm, broke my badge of office and then this freak dressed in black maimed me at his pleasure. He stitched back my hands but not out of concern for my good fare. Perhaps he means to torture me once again.” He finished his case and rose to his feet, his gaze meeting that of the princess emerald one.

"In the name of House Florent and the authority bestowed upon me as an officer of the Queensmen, I demands justice for their crimes."

WC - 1800

Fri Jan 06, 2017 11:58 pm

The princess remained perfectly still, understanding the importance of posture in such situations. Any casual shift of an arm or nod of the head could make it appear as if she was favoring one party's grievances over the other. As it was, the heiress remained as she was while both sides stated their case. Aunt Shiera had always jested that ruling was often a balancing act, only now did Tehniyat realize how right the former Queen had been.

Once they were done, she did turn her gaze to the two ninja, her tone quietly authoritative though her words were meant for Atem as well. "You will hereafter call Ser Axwell by his proper name. He is a knight of the court and a name is the last courtesy to be taken from an honorable man." The blonde paused, her face still polite and neutral. "As for whether he can still be called a man of honour, that remains to be seen."

This was by no means the first complaint she had received of a conflict between ninja and Shinobi. And for the most part, Tehniyat had found her own people lacking as much as she wanted to help them. It was unlikely that two Genin would have sought to instigate a battle with an entire compliment of guards but not out of the realm of possibility.

"There is an easy way to settle this," she suggested, emerald eyes trained on the small group. "Ser Axwell, are you aware of a simple mind reading technique shinobi can perform? If all of you subject yourself to that then we can clear this up in a matter of minutes. Unless anyone here feels it would be too intrusive in which case we will have to rely on eyewitness testimony. You are all seasonable men here so I leave the decision up to you."

A brief pause, then the princess added. "The third Genin? You mentions he lost consciousness. Has he received medical attention?"

Sat Jan 14, 2017 1:34 pm

The moment that the silver haired youth had finished talking he would hear Ayato continue with the line of speech where he had left off, something that Kenshin had actually been hoping the Hyuuga would do “This is true your grace. My name is Ayato Hyuuga, and I am a disciple of Kyousuke Snow and a member of team winter, his own team of Genin.” Ayato would say as he took a knee before the acting regent of Haven Country, the slightly younger Genin keeping his eyes fixed firmly upon the ground rather than on the blonde sitting calmly before them. “A score of Queensmen, Ser Florent amongst them, set their selves upon me and my teammate, who lost consciousness during the battle and is unable to be present and add his own voice to our own today. The worst would have happened to me, though. If Kenshin Uzumaki had not arrived just in time to put himself between me and Ser Florent’s…...sword.” the slightly younger Genin would explain to the blonde regent, leaving out any mention of the more beastial nature of the fallen Queensman, no doubt because he believed that mentioning such a thing would only serve to discredit their claims, which could very well be the case with such a crazy sounding accusation.

It was only now that Ser Florent himself would open his mouth to speak “Your grace if I may so apologise for disturbing your reading. All I did was stand in defense for the that were attacked by the shinobi, men sworn to your services. I protected the realm Haven as I have done all my life and I would gladly do so again. I swear so by the old gods and the new.” The lycan would say, his words making the heavily scarred albino suppress the urge to both roll his eyes and scoff at the blatant lies that he was telling the regent. “They even lack the etiquette to address me properly, it is Ser Axwell. You may only address my lord father with his last name. Yet the one to initiate this parody was your very own Queensguard Kyousuke Snow, your grace.” the noble of Haven would say, ensuring that he put quite a bit of emphasis on both his name and Kyousuke’s, no doubt because he believed that his name and status would grant him certain privileges just as he claimed it would back in the water gardens. Axwell was truly a fool if he believed that the fact he was born to a noble house would protect him from the consequences of treason, the true power in Haven was held not by the nobles of the country but by the crown, and while the nobles could try to protest Axwells arrest and punishment there was not a single thing they could do about it.

“I have to wonder what they are accusing me of. Who did I try to murder? Both of them seem fine to me. Only a blind man would suggest otherwise, or a liar. I say they are the second. And robbers of dignity as well, it seems. They paraded me through the city half-naked, even presenting me in front of you like this. It is them Shinobi who have committed the crimes against the city of Haven and its citizens. We were training hard when the black haired one arrived. We suggested sharing, but he demanded us to leave, we refused and then he burned the wooden ragdolls with his fire magic, a property that your honourable citizens pay their taxes. The few of us we were, meant to put a stop to his madness even at the risk of our integrity...yet, in the end, we all suffered for it. They burned my arm, broke my badge of office and then this freak dressed in black maimed me at his pleasure. He stitched back my hands but not out of concern for my good fare. Perhaps he means to torture me once again” the man would say, accusing both Ayato and Kenshin of lying to the blonde regent who sat silently before them, and at the same time trying to paint a picture of the two shinobi as nothing more than ill intentioned fiends. He would rise to his feet and look Tehniyat directly in the eye “In the name of House Florent and the authority bestowed upon me as an officer of the queensmen, I demand justice for their crimes.”

But the mans words only made a small smirk appear on the scarred face of Kenshin, each and every word that came from the man's mouth serving only to dig his grave deeper, the heavily stitched youth had known that the lycanthropic queensman would try something like this, so he had brought a few pieces of damning evidence with him. The evidence itself was not on him per se, in fact it was actually stored within a completely separate dimension via the Storage Displacement technique, but he could bring it out at absolutely anytime. Not to mention he could systematically dismantle every single argument and accusation that the arrogant man had thrown out up to this point. The reason neither him nor Ayato were injured despite their claims of him trying to murder them, Kenshin specialised in medical ninjutsu and had healed both of their injuries earlier, a fact that Florent himself had unknowingly confessed to knowing when he confirmed that the EGF user had reattached his hands. The accusation that they robbed his dignity by parading him through the streets in his current state, Kenshin would simply have to ask the man how he had come to lose his clothing in the first place, and should he try to lie Kenshin himself would not hesitate in bringing out his evidence, the shredded and blood soaked clothes that he had been wearing in the water gardens, or more specifically, the shredded vest that bore the marks of the queensmans claws.

It was only now that the princess spoke “You will hereafter call Ser Axwell by his proper name. He is a knight of the court and a name is the last courtesy to be taken from an honourable man” the emerald eyed regent would say, both her face and her voice being the perfect picture of neutrality. Before the silver haired albino could open his mouth to give an affirmative to her words Tehniyat would speak again “As for whether he can still be called a man of honour, that remains to be seen.” she would say, something that caused the small smirk on Kenshin's face to widen a little, that small remark giving him the impression that she cared little for the man's name or stature in this situation, and instead only cared about finding out the truth of the matter so that she could properly punish the one responsible. “There is an easy way to settle this” she would then say, eyes focussed solely on the three in front of her “Ser Axwell, are you aware of a simple mind reading technique shinobi can perform? If all of you subject yourself to that then we can clear this up in a matter of minutes. Unless anyone here feels it would be too intrusive in which case we will have to rely on eyewitness testimony. You are all seasonable men here so I leave the decision up to you.” The blonde haired regent would explain, something that caused a small chuckle to escape from Kenshin’s lips

“The third Genin? You mentioned he lost consciousness. Has he received medical attention?” she would then ask. “I am afraid I do not know your grace, I managed to heal the wounds that Ayato had taken in the fight but Kyousuke took both he and Miyamoto before I could properly examine and, if need be, heal the latter. Although from what I recall Miyamoto had not taken any injuries in the fight, Ser Axwell seemed much more interested in murdering Ayato than anyone else.” the silver haired teen would say, leaving the door open for Ayato to explain exactly what happened to Miyamoto. “Now, I personally have no problem with my mind being read in order to show the truth of what happened, but only on the stipulation that whomever enters my mind sticks to memories regarding what transpired in the Water Gardens.” the scar faced genin would say, he truly did have no problem with someone entering his mind to find out the truth of the matter, but the idea of someone poking through the rest of his memories truly disturbed him.

WC: 1438

Sat Jan 21, 2017 8:39 am

"You will hereafter call Ser Axwell by his proper name. He is a knight of the court and a name is the last courtesy to be taken from an honorable man. As for whether he can still be called a man of honor that remains to be seen. There is an easy way to settle this” she would then say, eyes focused solely on the trio “Ser Axwell, are you aware of a simple mind reading technique shinobi can perform? If all of you subject yourself to that then we can clear this up in a matter of minutes. Unless anyone here feels it would be too intrusive in which case we will have to rely on eyewitness testimony. You are all reasonable men here so I leave the decision up to you.”

“The third Genin? You mentioned..”Ayato barely heard the rest of it, his head was pounding. A mind reading shinobi technique, a key to unlock the door to someone's head. “No,” He thought as he shivered in disquiet. Everyone has his own world inside him. Recreating that world within one's mind to fit his own needs. Brag about it because it makes you look honorable with a sense of duty or funny and flirtatious. Other parts of this world, you keep them to yourself because it makes you feel pathetic.

There were five people within the walls of this study - Kenshin, Atem, Princess Tensiyat, Ser Axwell Florent and Ayato himself. And within each of them, there were just as many worlds. People do wonder what is like to visit a different person’s world. Yet it is not as simple as the sound of it may suggest. Ayato's own world was filled with passionate talk about becoming a great shinobi true to the Hyuuga family name. But there were parts of his world within him, reserved for his own thoughts. As a boy, even Ayato dreamt not to be a Hyuuga of the Byakugan, but an Uzumaki of the Leaf. The tale he had read a thousand times; Naruto, the Hokage, the legend, the savior of the world. Ayato idolized him and wanted to be like him, he wanted to be him.

However, if truth be told, legacies of heroes are built to impress upon a boy, and how insignificant he is in front of them. Many, who failed to understand this, were lead to their bloody deaths in search of valor and glory. This was the truth of the shinobi world, he had come to realize, and it was nothing but unspeakable despair. A crime we call victory, paid by the suffering of the defeated. Yet humanity had never recognized the truth. And the reason for that is in every era a dazzling hero has blinded people with their legends and prevented them from seeing the evil of bloodshed. The nature of shinobi has not advantaged a step beyond the dawn of days. Ayato didn’t want to be part of any of that. It was rough being a shinobi and yet he couldn’t reach out to anyone about it. This world is forbidden from sharing with anyone. This was his duty as a Hyuuga of the Byakugan. Ever onward, do not doubt, do your duty. Ayato was never really given that choice. Nindo, a shinobi’s way of life, all of it was a lie, yet it was all he could lean on.

“Now, I personally have no problem with my mind being read in order to show the truth of what happened, but only on the stipulation that whoever enters my mind sticks to memories regarding what transpired in the Water Gardens." Kenshin proclaimed with discomfort. As if that was possible. Could he really trust the one who entered his mind to be lenient about it? Curiosity is a beast not so easily tempted. There was a big possibility that Kenshin already knew that, yet addressed the matter to rouse himself. Elsewise he was indirectly treating the mind reader. Atem? Or...was there someone else in the room? Were they watched?

Once again, it made him disquiet to have someone enter his mind. "There is no other way." He reassured himself. If Ayato stepped back, then their case would be demolished and they could potentially look like liars. "Refuse and we are done for."Was that the debt he had to pay to Kenshin? If he viewed it such way then the price to pay for getting out alive from the water gardens did not come cheaply. For a moment everything turned to gray and only one sound enveloped the world that of rusty iron hinges muffling the desperate cries of a child. The memory disrupted him and sent a chill down his spine, the memory he had always tried to suppress within his subconscious.

====

“A Shinobi mess with my head? What you suggest is madness Queen Regent. Control over another human, the enslavement of one's mind. Turn him into a dog who has had all fight whipped out him. I'm not that keen to curl up and hide in a pit within my own mind where the shinobi's witchcraft cannot reach me. This is utterly disgusting.”

Ser Axwell had changed his pace a lot from his previous talk, instead of being polite he was brusque or even absurd. It was quite clear by the firmness of his response and the sternness of his expression that the Queens words had offended him. Ayato wouldn't feign surprise to that but honestly he never believed that Ser Axwell Florent was going to refuse, that would be an admission of guilt on his part since Kenshin's stated he was alright with it and in the end of the day, he could always claim the shinobi were lying regarding what they saw. But that was a lot of knowledge on Ser Axwell’s about the vast network of tunnels and minds. What was this about." You asked for eyewitness testimony, there were hundreds of eyes, thousands."

Ayato found the opening there to outmaneuver him and decided to speak. He searched for his father's voice, a lord's voice. "Yes, and they will add their voices to your song. How you stepped in the Queensmen defense and we chopped off your hands. Trust me, Ser Worm, I know how that mummer's farce goes. I'm no stranger to the perils of noble courts." Ayato stated, took a deep breath and then continued. "Life's greatest illusion is innocence, yet we can dispel it. " Ayato added ice in his voice. "I'm also fine with the mind reading technique used on me, so the Princess can learn the truth." The bluff left Ayato's mouth as best as he could and Ser Axwell's yellow eyes turned to meet him, glittering. Ayato thought he would try to rebuff him once more, using the skills in eloquence he showcased before. But instead he turned back to face the Princess, but for a moment Ayato could swear he defined the faintest of smiles on the knight's face.

Ser Florent addressed the Queen once more. "The people you are sworn to protect need you more than ever. Yet you suggest using witchcraft unlock one's mind. That makes it seems the Shinobi are running this city and not the royal family. You should stop hiding behind shinobi’s skills and paper shields, your grace. It has to be your own verdict." So the stuck up noble decided forbid the Queen from doing something. That guy fell on his own sword, and at the same time spared Ayato from the fate of having his mind entered by someone else.

WC: 1250

Sat Jan 28, 2017 1:02 am

With Ser Axwell's refusal came a near admission of guilt, truth be told it was the purpose of the suggestion in the first place. The two shinobi gave consent right away, something Tehniyat suspected only lent to their credibility whereas the knight relied on his indignation to see him through. It may have even worked a few years ago but times were different now, and he was among those who would rather fall in battle than change a thinking cultivated over a lifetime.

"Very well good ser," the princess decided upon hearing out all three. "The privacy of your mind will not be breached, this does mean however that you are invited to stay at the palaces until we reach a conclusion through more conventional means." The word "prisoner" would never be used but implied so thickly that it would stifle the air around them. "If the investigation finds the shinobi guilty, they will be stripped off their rank and given the harshest punishment possible, and of course if the result was reversed, a man of your honor would demand nothing less for yourself, I am sure."

At her words the doors swung upon, Shina entering silently to stand beside the nobleman. "Ser, please follow Lady Shina to your rooms, I will endevour not to waste your time. Should you want company, I can attempt the find the men with you who were forced to partake in this little skirmish." Her words were perfectly polite yet icy enough to chill most people on the most scorching of days. Before escorting him out, Shina discreetly slipped a file on the princess's desk, taking her leave with Ser Axwell in tow.

Once they had left, Tehniyat turned to the two ninja. "Well that could have been handled better. Ser Axwell lacks not only any insight into shinobi techniques but also the foresight to predict a losing battle." Picking up the file, the blonde gave it a cursory read through before contemplating the two young ninja again.

"My Queensguard were already on the case as we stood here, and the conclusion lies on my desk. It says Ayato was the first to take action but it was certainly provoked. Unfortunately the games of court are more complicated than sentencing criminals. Ser Axwell will be kept here for a few days and a farce or two, then told of the results, then given time to seek atonement. Punishment is always easier when the one being punished believes it is their idea. As for you two..." The princess paused, flipping open the file once more.

"I misspoke, as for you three, Miyamoto Terumi included, I thank you for bringing a dangerous man to justice even if unplanned. I trust Ser Kyousuke and I see he is honing his students in his own image. I also see you are all on the fast track to becoming chunin."

Gazing at each one in turn, she finally added. "Let's see if we can make that track faster. I shall send my recommendations to Lord Denkiteki that in the service of stopping a criminal from further sowing dissent in our fair city, you be allowed to skip any one mission of your choice on your path to chunin."

Mon Feb 06, 2017 1:13 am

As soon as Kenshin proclaimed his thoughts on the matter Ser Florent seemed to bristle, something that caused a small smirk to appear on the pale face of the silver haired Genin. No matter what happened from here Ser Florents guilt was proven, if he chose to did not allow them to check his head then that was as good as admitting his guilt, and on the other hand if he did allow it then all he was doing was allowing them to see that he was indeed guilty. It was checkmate for the once noble knight of Haven, no matter what card he pulled now he had lost this small political game, and to think, the fool didn’t even know that Kenshin had indeed been bluffing. There was no way in hell that the stitched and scarred Genin was going to allow anybody he did not trust to go digging through his memories, and there was not a single person alive that he trusted enough to allow to do such a thing. “A Shinobi mess with my head? What you suggest is madness Queen Regent. Control over another human, the enslavement of one's mind. Turn him into a dog who has had all the fight whipped out of him. I’m not keen to curl up and hide within a pit within my own mind where the Shinobi’s witchcraft cannot reach me. This is utterly disgusting” the man would say, spouting words filled with the bluster and arrogance of a noble whose pride had been wounded, something that Kenshin had to suppress the urge to chuckle at.

The mans response to the acting regent of Haven had sealed his fate “You asked for eyewitness testimony, there were hundreds of eyes, thousands” the man would then say, trying to back out of what he just said and provide some form of proof, any proof whatsoever, that he and Ayato were the ones at fault. It seemed that just like Kenshin Ayato had heard enough of the man's words too, as before the more experienced Genin could get a word in the brown haired Hyuuga would begin to speak. “Yes, and they will add their voices to your song. How you stepped in the queensmans defense and we chopped off your hands. Trust me, Ser Worm, I know how the mummer’s farce goes. I’m no stranger to the perils of the nobles courts” he would say, taking a deep breathe before continuing. “Life’s greatest illusion is innocence, yet we can dispel it” he would then say, his voice having taken a particularly icy tone. “I’m also fine with the mind reading technique to be used on me, so the princess can learn the truth.” the Hyuuga would the declare, causing the smirk upon Kenshin’s pale lips to widen a bit, there truly was no way for the man to escape his fate anymore, the princess did not strike him as the type who would bow to the whims of others, but then again he could be wrong, and if that indeed prove to be the case then he had a plan in place to escape from Hoshigakure. Oddly enough, he found himself hoping that he would not have to enact the plan, that he would not be forced to flee from his new home as a criminal being hunted, as he had in the past.

“The people you are sworn to protect need you more than ever. Yet you suggest using witchcraft to unlock ones mind. That makes it seem that the shinobi are running this city and not the royal family. You should stop hiding behind the Shinobi’s skills and paper shields your grace. It has to be your own verdict” the man would say, digging the hole that he had already dug himself into even deeper, one did not simply forbid the regent from doing something and get out without punishment. There was so much that Kenshin could have said in retaliation to the man's words, how the regent was placing more trust in the shinobi of Hoshigakure, they, the ones who were trained from childhood to be spies, infiltrators and assassins because the knights of her city were proving to be even less trustworthy, as shown by the man before her, lying to the very one he had sworn to protect and serve. The fact that he had the gall to try and order her around, simply because he was the son of some lowly lord of the land, the royal family were the lords of lords, and the man ought to know that considering things had been that way for a great many years before the shinobi had arrived. And finally, he could have brought up the fact that the only reason the shinobi village of Hoshigakure was created in the first place was because the knights of Haven had proved to be unable to even repel simple bandits.

The knights of Haven were the past, they were the relics of a bygone age, now was the time of the shinobi, and the people of Haven could either adapt to the times and change...or they could be left behind to die. In the personal opinion of Kenshin the royal family seemed to be the only smart people within the country of Haven, as they were embracing the change and growing stronger for it, noble houses like the Florents on the other hand were still denying the change of the times vehemently and as such were weaker than they had been in a very long time. If things continued the way that they were going, they would lose what little power they had left within the span of a few years before quickly dying out due to being unprepared for the state that the world was in now. Despite having all these things to say Kenshin simply chose to stay silent, there was no need for him to say anything more as the man had already dug the grave deep enough “Very well good ser” the regent would say as she gazed coolly at the three of them, her blonde hair framing her face perfectly and making her the very picture of a royal passing judgement. “The privacy of your mind will not be breached, this does mean however that you are invited to stay at the palaces until we reach a conclusion through more conventional means”

The moment that the words had left the lips of Tehniyat the very air within the room seemed to change, never had it been said but all the rooms occupants knew that the now disgraced knight of Haven would not be leaving the dungeons of the palace for quite some time. “If the investigation finds the shinobi guilty, they will be stripped of their rank and given the harshest punishment possible, and of course if the result was reversed, a man of your honour would demand nothing less for yourself, I am sure” her words were of course a formality, and everyone knew it, even the lycan, but there was nothing that he could say at this point. With the words said the Jounin who had proctored over Kenshin’s Genin exam would enter the room and stand silently beside Axwell, almost daring him to try something “Ser, please follow lady shina to your rooms, I will endevour not to waste your time. Should you want company, I can attempt to find the men who were forced to partake in this little skirmish” the blonde royal would say in a tone of pure ice, her tone making the Ayato's earlier one feel like a summer's day in comparison. Kenshin did not miss Shina slipping file onto Tehniyats desk as she escorted the wolf towards his ‘quarters’, and he had a good idea of the contents of the file, the very walls had eyes in a shinobi village, and there was no way the battle in the Water Gardens had gone down without being detected.

Once the two had left the room the regent turned towards Kenshin and Ayato “Well that could have been handled better. Ser Axwell lacks not only any insight into shinobi techniques but also the foresight to predict a losing battle” she would say before picking up the file that Shina had left upon the desk. As she flicked it open and looked through its contents the silver haired teen found himself studying the mannerisms of the blonde, she was...impressive, a word that Kenshin never felt he would link with royalty, but truly she was, she had been three steps ahead of all of them this entire time, and he personally considered that to be a very praiseworthy feat. “My Queensguard were already on the case as we stood here, and the conclusion lies on my desk. It says Ayato was the first to take action but it was certainly provoked. Unfortunately the games of court are more complicated than sentencing criminals. Ser Axwell will be kept here for a few days and a farce or two, then told of the results, then given time to seek atonement. Punishment is always easier when the one being punished believes it is their idea. As for you two…” the princess would pause, before once more opening the file. “I misspoke, as for you three, Miyamoto Terumi included, I thank you for bringing a dangerous man to justice even if unplanned. I trust Ser Kyousuke and I see he is honing his students in his own image. I also see you all on that fast track to becoming Chunin.” Tehniyat would say as she gazed at both Kenshin and Ayato in a calculating fashion

“Let’s see if we can make that track faster. I shall send my recommendations to Lord Denkiteki that in the service of stopping a criminal from sowing dissent in our fair city, you be allowed to skip any one mission of your choice on your path to become Chunin” the regent would then say, causing Kenshin’s eyes to widen momentarily, he only had one mission to go...provided Denkiteki accepted this recommendation, which was basically a formality anyway, he was now a Chunin of Hoshigakure. Feeling that he had to say something Kenshin would begin to speak “Thank you for this opportunity your grace, As I am sure you recall you proctored over my second Chunin mission with Shiro, meaning that with this I am now a Chunin of Hoshigakure” the Earth Grudge Fear user would say as he gazed at the regent in respect “Hoshigakure took me in back when I was weak and shrouded in darkness, and despite having many reasons not to trust me the village and everyone in it welcomed me with open arms...it meant a lot to me” he would say, as a small but true smile appeared on his face “I will ensure that this trust is not misplaced, and I shall protect the village and the people within it with everything I have” Kenshin would declare, taking a knee in front of Tehniyat, something that while not that strange for her, was more than a little strange for him, as he had never willingly kneeled for someone before

WC: 1869

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