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![Time's A Changing [P, CD] Empty](https://2img.net/i/empty.gif)
Time's A Changing [P, CD]
Mon Jun 18, 2018 12:05 am
Genevieve had been enjoying her day alone in her home. She wasn’t doing much, and she was taking pleasure in that fact. She had given herself a nice, long soak in a sea salt and fragrant bath, done all her laundry (what little she had of it), and had cleaned her home to perfection. Her calm day came to a intermission as her home phone rang downstairs, near the kitchen. She had already been meandering down the staircase and she added the extra chore to her trip as she went and picked up the phone, “Oasis Residence.” She voiced and a cheerful voice arose on the other end.
“Good morning, daughter!” It was the voice of her father, who she hadn’t heard from in a few days, “I have a favor to ask of you today.”
At the time of her being selected to assimilate out of the church, her family had already been preoccupied; causing a bit of a rift within her family regarding the situation of her being tasked with being a bridge between the Church and the Shinobi who protected it. Her father thought that the church had taken advantage of the situation, being that her family was all away (in their own ways) to give her the task- in short, her Father was against it. Her mother, Uu’Dakai, was a Priestess of the Church in a division different from Genevieve’s and was currently on both a mission and a pilgrimage, meaning communication with her mother was extremely scarce even at it’s best points. Her elder sister had been excommunicated and exiled from the Church’s grounds and teachings long before the Shinobi came to check upon the prospect of church worshippers benefiting their cause.
“The Church has given your mother permission to return- intermittently- as her pilgrimage is apparently over.” Her father voiced and Genevieve smiled happily, but her voice was tinted with concern.
“What of her mission? Is her pilgrimage truly over this time?” She asked and there was a sigh on the other end of the line.
“The Church Officials are a bit- uncooperative- but from what they are getting at, it seems her mission has hit a bit of a stalling point.” Her father vocalized before adding on, “But, before she comes home- I need you to mend the terms between you and your sister.” Genevieve frowned and rubbed her temple as she continued to hear him out, “Look, I am aware things are… tense… between you two, but I would appreciate it if you worked on things before your Mother returned to us; she won’t take well to it if you are on bad-terms with your last living siblings, Genevieve. You and I both know that.”
She bit her lip lightly as she thought about the scenario her father was hinting at; that her mother would probably return from the 3 years she had already been gone, dealing with a stressful and excruciatingly difficult situation (from what her letters ot their family said, anyways), and seeing her daughters fighting would probably push their mother past her temperament point and straight into her fiery temper. Their mother was a good woman but she was also two other things; big and loud. The uproar she would cause would not be welcomed kindly by the villagers, even if it was understood by the Church for her frayed nerves. Genevieve sighed and her father was patient, adding on, “Yumi.” She closed her eyes, “I understand that I’m asking a lot from you; but I know that, between the two of you, YOU understand the weight of this the most.” Genevieve frowned, “I know that last time you said would be the last time, but try once more for me; please.”
“...I am uncomfortable with your request, papa.” Genevieve said softly, “She’s always mean to me and she is so… condescending. I have such difficulty dealing with her.” She admitted, letting it be known to her father. Normally she kept quiet and bit her tongue but she was growing bolder day by day and today she was just as bold.
“You were selected and chosen for something greater than what she has ever accomplished, Yumi- and she knows that. That’s why she is so cruel and bitter. I am hoping that you spending some time with her will soften her before your mother becomes aware of what is going on and she steps in herself.” Genevieve bit her lip once more, “You know she won’t take lightly how your sister has been living. She’s already asked me to look into convents- your mom hates those places, but she told me that a convent is the only place for your sister.”
“So, if I don’t talk to her and spend time with her, she’s going to a convent?” Genevieve clarified and her father agreed with a firm ‘yes’; something out of the ordinary for the outgoing male. She sighed again and forced a smile on her face, “I...will try once more, papa…”
“That’s wonderful! I’m so sorry for this Yumi- oh, Genevieve. I really appreciate it.” Her father said and she smiled, “Why don’t you come over today, and I could help you grocery shop or something? We can work out a plan of action, hm?” She smiled warmly, “If you have the time- I don’t want to impose if you have plans- your sister says you’ve been going around with someone.” Her smile dropped as her charity for her sister’s future plummeted. In that moment, if Geni could have been standing next to her sister and and on-coming train, she would have viciously kicked her sibling onto the tracks.
“She did?” Genevieve inquired slowly and quietly, “No, I’m not busy today, papa. I’ll come over in a little bit- I need to change the laundry.” With a quick conclusion, Genevieve hung up the phone on it’s holder on the wall and gripped it as her positive and friendlier attitude was slowly overpowered with a warmer emotion- anger. Rage. Despise. She spared a moment to drum her fingers on the phone’s back in an effort to calm herself before going upstairs to pull on a pair of pants and a shirt, and heading over ot her father’s home. After all; her less glamorous emotions had to be contained. It was only ladylike to keep a smile on.
It, too, was owned by the church but it was much grander than Genevieve’s and larger. Her Mother’s position was higher, thus, the home was bigger. It also had a small garden in front- tended to by her father, who was watering the plants already. Today he was wearing a pale, long-sleeved blue shirt and a pair of trendy black pants. His dark hair pulled to hide one side of his face, and braided backwards into 4, intertwining strands- two of which held silver beads at their ends. It was a cultural aspect of his wife’s culture- each braid was for a child, and the beads were for those he lost. A pastel green eye looked up and he smiled warmly at her, though she was taller than him, “There you are dear! I was wondering if you had forgotten the way home.” Genevieve smiled as he set the watering can down and slipped his hands out of his gardening gloves, “Do you mind if we stop by the fabric store, maybe? I need some new fabrics.”
“Mhm.” She voiced and waited until he had locked the front door of his home before joining her in front of his own home’s little garden gate. He adjusted the gold and black scarf she had made him, a new one to replace her previous attempts, and she smiled, “You’re going to wear the scarf still?” She asked and he nodded,
“Of course, my daughter made it for me, so I wear it when I can.” He said and they headed off, “So, tell me of this boy- or does your sister lie to me once more?” Geni bit her lip softly as she thought,
“She doesn’t have a right talking about things like my life… or rather, making assumptions when she would be benefited more by reorganizing her own.” Genevieve said cooly and her father frowned, looking at her,
“How else is a mortal supposed to live?” He questioned, pulling up the scarf more to cover the thick and dark chakra seal about his neck- one of a pair. “Your mother called as you were on your way over. She has changed her mind about your sister’s… situation… yet again. She now asks that Yuki be given death instead of a prayer book.” Genevieve looked at her father sharply before looking away, “But we both know it was coming to this, given to how your mother is-”
“I… I don’t know…” The blue-haired woman said quietly, “I want to say that I don’t believe my sister deserves something as critical as that…” But she wasn’t going to stand up for her sister who had screwed her over more times than an immortal has lives. She wasn’t going to stand up for her last sibling as she stood up for her brothers. Her father sighed,
“What then, do you suppose we- as her parents- do for a daughter who cannot turn and had no chakra to her name? What do you suggest as a priestess of the Church?” Her father asked solemnly and Genevieve blinked a few seconds longer than usual,
“I no longer think that I am suited for the church life, Father… I have found strength as a Shinobi that was previously denied to me as a Priestess. More strength than the faith could ever grant me.” She said and her father opened the door for her when they reached the fabric store, letting her walk in first and he followed,
“Are you happy?” He asked and she looked at him questioningly, tilting her head, “Haha, how refreshing, your mom does that little head tilt too.” He laughed a bit as she frowned slightly and encouraged him to not tease her, “Are you happy being a shinobi? Are you happy being able to move about so freely?”
“I… do like the freedom and yes, I’m pretty happy, I suppose.” Geni voiced as her father shifted through fabrics, holding several parts against her skin to see how they would look. “I do not take for granted how hard you and mom have worked to give us this life, and I really do see and appreciate your efforts.” Her father smiled warmly, though the scarf around his neck and mouth covered it physically they could not cover the crinkling near his eyes.
“As long as you are happy, then I’m happy, ‘Yumi.” Her father voiced and handed her a few fabrics rolls to hold as he continued looking, “I had a much less constricting life than your mother did, and it was very important to her that we try and give you kids the same advantage. However, there are somethings we agreed that should carry over from her culture… such as arranged marriages.” Geni stayed quiet to herself but she knew where this conversation was heading- “It’s a hard subject to broach, but I would like to request that you be open-minded to the topic, when I ask you if you’d be willing to at least meet the candidates your mom and I have agreed upon and chosen.”
“You’ve already agreed on some?” Geni asked in bewilderment and her father looked away sheepishly, “And you couldn’t think to, perhaps, ask my opinion or even ask if I was possibly available?”
“Well, you’ve been quite busy as of late, and I have been busy narrowing things down… so I hope you’ll forgive me.” He voiced and then grinned at her, “I was thinking that, perhaps when your mother comes back to town, we could arrange a welcome-home party at the inn, and introduce you to the candidates there? Spend an hour or two with each of them, get to know them a bit, and then nothing more. Again- I am asking for your openness to the abrupt situation.” He voiced before looking at her, “I hope this explains why I was asking if there was merit to what your sister was gossiping about; should there be another partner in your life, I would be more than willing to try and convince your mother to call it off.” Geni looked away,
“Um…” A brief thought was spared for Kenshin Uzumaki, but she had different plans there and wasn’t sure if her feelings were returned. They had known each other a small time and had one date- it was too much to ask him to marry her so soon. She wasn’t going to force him into something he didn’t want to be in nor would she let her parents do it. “No...there’s no one like that in my life…” Her father looked saddened, but nodded,
“I’m so sorry, Izayumi.” He voiced quietly and she looked at him, “It must be so hard on you to be on so many planes of life; with your mother and I from two different worlds ourselves and you in the church and in the shinobi world… things must be complicated for you.” Geni smiled at him warmly,
“So, um… these candidates you were talking about?” Geni asked softly and her father nodded,
“Yes, your mother and I have decided on a female and male candidate for each of us- four people in total. We did not want to pry into your preferences or personal life, so we decided it would be safe to have a choice of each gender-” “I’m not into women, Father.” “Well, then there’s two people in total now.” He said and laughed as Geni frowned a bit. “I have chosen a lycanthrope sympathizer as your perspective partner, I hope you don’t mind. Their personality requires a gentle touch, but they’re the mate-for-life types, so I thought the loyalty aspect would be a good foundation.” Her father voiced, “Your mother’s choice is a male of her culture- so, you may have to speak their tongue to him, but she assured me that he is a very capable fighter.”
Kenshin was a capable fighter and she didn’t have to speak some family-bound language to him, and she didn’t want to trouble him with the politics of her family’s games. It wasn’t fair to toss him into something that he wasn’t meant to be in, nor was it fair to Kenshin to let him be the target of their ‘playing’ and ‘teasing’.
“You still haven’t answered me question; is there merit to your sister’s words?” Her father asked again as Geni looked away, “Tell me what he’s like, this crush of yours. You haven’t brought him around, is there a reason?”
“...He’s quite busy and I don’t want him to meet you and mother just yet… I want to know if the feeling is mutual first…” Geni admitted quietly and adjusted the rolls of fabric she carried as her and her father walked through the store- pausing a moment for her father to question the validity of sequins as a returning fashion statement- before they went to the counter to get a few yards cut.
“What trait draws you most to him?” Her Father asked and Geni thought about all the traits she had seen from Kenshin before looking at him,
“He’s so devoted to his country and it’s best interests that I find it admirable; but… I don’t know much more about his interests or his hobbies.” Geni voiced as she put the bolts of fabric back when her father had gotten what yards he wanted or needed from them. “It leaves me with this sort of- quietly desperate need to know more… I don’t know what to do.”
“Perhaps talking to some of your friends or his friends, would shed more light on the situation for you, dear?” Her father offered and she looked down, “That reminds me- being a shinobi and travelling more, you must have made quite a few new friends, right?” His daughter shook her head in a ‘no’. “Oh but...you were put on a team, weren’t you?”
“...they’re more like… acquaintances…” She said quietly and he frowned, “So, I suppose.... The only friend I have outside of the family is the guy I like…” Even that term was a hell of a stretch. Her father glanced over spools of thread,
“I’ve met a few nice, young people- about your age. I’ll send them over to you- perhaps you’ll get along with a few.” He offered and Geni stayed quiet as her father smiled at her, “You’ve made such excellent progress this year, please try to keep it up and make some new friends.” He voiced before gasping and getting excited, “Oh, like Usagi! He’s a nice boy- he might not make a good husband but he’s make a nice friend, I think.” Geni frowned, “He’s a good listener and he’s quite attentive, would those be the types of traits you’re looking for?”
“...really pushing for the marriage, huh?” She asked and her father laughed sheepishly,
“Yes, forgive me, your mother and I were both very young when we got married; it’s best if you start a strong relationship now, so that you and your partner can grow as people in the future-” “What if we grow apart?” “Well, just remember that divorce isn’t an option and your mother and I will understand if you kill them. Just… don’t be a double-digit-widow.” Geni sighed and her father smiled,
“At the end of the day, your mother and I want you to be happy- but with you being in the Church for so long, we’re simply out of touch; we don’t know the woman you’re growing into, we don’t know your preferences or your morals… so I guess,, the both of us are just trying our best in our own ways, to reach you and make sure that you don’t leave us behind. Especially your ma- with the years long absences, she feels farther and farther away from you and more of a hindrance than anything else, but that also comes from the fact that she’s used to a battlefield instead of a village and being restricted.” Her father told her and Geni smiled, “I hope that… when she comes back into town, you will spend a lot of time talking to her and getting to know her more. Perhaps encourage her to speak the common tongue more frequently, help her self-esteem a bit.”
“Yeah… I’d like that too.” Geni smiled, continuing the day with him and talking, stopping by the grocery store for her to gather what ingredients she needed to display for him what cooking skills she had taught herself. She wanted to do better and be better… she wanted to like the person that she saw in the mirror. At the end of the day, that’s what she wanted, even as she packed up to leave her father’s home, he called out to her once more to remind her of her sister’s situation.
“Know that you must do this for the family, dear, and dwell on nothing else if you have to.” Her father told her and she frowned,
“Why- do I have to go out of my way to kill her?” Geni asked him and her father looked at her with a coldness and firmness to his green eyes,
“Because, you come from a world with strings, and you must live by those strings.” Her father said bluntly and she blinked in confusion, as the words’ meaning began to dawn on her and sink into her. Not just into her mind but into her memories like water overflowing from a cup. “It is your job to try and find someone to cut those strings; and it is my job to set the stage and the scene for you to do so.” He turned away from her and walked back towards his front door, “Should you wish, go ahead and bring that boy of yours to the inn; I’ll call you when the time comes closer. Good night, Izayumi.” He bade and shut the door behind him as she stood outside the little gate to his vibrant front yard. Bushes of dark green began to glow as petals opened- Jessamine, moonflowers, and night orchids… but her father’s favorite flower was vacant. She quietly drummed her fingers on the gate and went home herself, shutting the door behind her and sighing as she sunk to the floor. Putting her back against the door as she sighed.
Was there truly- genuinely- a difference between the church basement and the life she lived now? Was there really?
She walked freely and unhindered, but that never meant she was without burdens and without weights upon her shoulders.
Geni pulled her knees closer to her as the sound of a dark voice filled her head- one that belonged to her mother, full of her mother’s ancestral language; thick, slow and amberal as molasses with all the suffocating weight that disappointment and distaste could ever carry.
She closed her eyes to the voice even as it touched the water’s surface in her mind, briefly giving itself life in a darkness it had happily taken shelter in; no longer content with it’s abandonment and being ignored by Geni. In her mind’s eye, a pair of almond-shaped eyes opened up to glow like a predator’s. There was no need for words. The look they brought for a fraction of a moment was enough before they silently closed and slipped away once more. They did not belong to geni nor did they belong to any other family member who had her blood; they were the eyes of something unnamed and untamed, which quietly awoke around the presence of her parents. As if their breathing gave the visage the strength it needed to take form and take hold.
Eventually, Geni pulled herself up and put herself into the mundane tasks that needed her around her home, before putting herself to bed. She woke the next morning, blue-hair tussed and rough with bed-head with one thought in her mind; ‘How does one kill their sister?’. As she slowly blinked and her vision cleared, her mind began to offer up feeble propositions; poison, strangulation, exsanguination, and just plain murder. She touched her fingertips to her lips as the last one hung about in her head- who would know? Honestly, who would really know?
Geni had the body of water- she had never experimented much before, but she could perhaps go through her sister’s pipes. Come out of the kitchen faucet, kill her sister, and then just go back into the faucet like nothing fucking happened. If Geni wore gloves, she could use the Deranged Body Pathway and paralyze her sister; unless she had chakra to defend herself, she had to have a resistance build up and she had none of that. Perhaps… it was a shaky plan, but it was a plan anyways. Maybe she could try to… reason with her sister? As she thought about that, she wondered why. Why reason with her sister, what was the point? She was disappointing the family and her father had basically told Geni that her sister would die by Geni’s hands or her mother’s.
That morning, after a phone call to her sister, Geni stood in front of her door; hesitant. She had agreed to meet with her sister for lunch and as the time neared she wondered why her father didn’t go out of his way to do it. Geni knew the answer; it was rhetorical. He meant to get her to be bolder but… wasn’t killing her sister a bit- drastic? The more she doubted her decision and the cloudier her mind became with self-doubt, the more her father’s words from before rang out against the thoughts. Concrete and solid as all the evidence she needed as she put her hands on her upper arms-
Geni clenched her teeth and gripped her arms tightly, digging her nails into her skin. Her sister didn’t know a think and here she was- gossiping about Kenshin to their father. It bothered her almost enough to rile her temper, but Geni took a few deep breaths to calm down and relax before leaving the house to meet her sister. Truth be told, Genevieve- couldn’t stand her sister.
Even as Geni waited and saw her coming towards her, her jealousy over her sister and her hatred reared up as Geni waved to her with forced meekness. They were sisters by blood, but Yukihime, her sister, had one thing Geni would never have. A normal appearance and life. In stark contrast to Geni’s multi-colored hair, inherited from their grandmother, Yukihime’s hair was caught between ‘wavy’ and ‘curly’ in the form of an auburn brown that flared into a strawberry, golden blonde when the wind picked it up to catch the sun’s rays. She had been given the golden eyes of her father’s original clan and none of their strengths. No chakra. No Hozuki traits. Not even a trace of lycanthropy in her blood. She was as plain and profoundly unique as they came. Geni hated her for it. Her plainess, or rather her ‘worthlessness’ deemed her unfit for the church life by her haughty, rebellious nature, and no fit for the culture either of her parents hailed from. She was floating about happily living a normal life. They grabbed frappes and walked around the marketplace as people looked at the both of them for a few seconds too long, much to Geni’s anxiety’s dismay. “Dad says you moved into a house after your weird training stuff- do you practice magic there too?” When her sister said ‘Magic’ she meant all things related to the Shinobi life. “Did you grab any clothes? How about we go shopping-” “What did you tell dad?” Geni demanded as they stopped and her sister turned around to look at her.
“Dad was saying something crazy about doing an arranged marriage since you were coming of age and, well, since we all know how they feel about me being un-magick’d or whatever.” Yukihime said, smirking, “So I might have said that I saw you around with that tall guy you left the restaurant with.” Geni twitched, “He’s not that handsome, maybe a marriage candidate is-” “K-Kenshin is plenty handsome!” Yuki frowned,
“Did you knock your head while you were out and about, goofing off with your ‘teammates’? Or that tournament thing you were in? That guy’s eyes are all red and fucking crazy, he’s just creepy looking-” “Shut up!” “I’ve seen the pictures of the marriage candidates that Dad picked out? They’re fucking gorgeous, you really would be better off with any of them, seriously. Tall, dark and spooky won’t make any promising kids anytime soon.” “OH MY GODDESS, STOP.” As her sister turned away and walked off, waving a dismissive hand, Geni ran after her,
“Ju-Just because you saw him, doesn’t mean you have the right to say anything to Dad! You don’t know him like I do-” Geni said as her sister huffed in her direction, stopping by a store with small accessories,
“OH yeah, I bet MR.SPOOKTASTIC has a GREAT personality, huh?” Yuki said mockingly, picking up a headband with little wire cat ears and looking at it, leaning down to make herself eye-level with a mirror in the shop and tried them on, “Mr.Spooks looks like he has a pretty bland personality, maybe even dense. I’m sure he’s the kind of guy you’d have to be direct with and we all know how terrible you are at being assertive.” Geni stood next to her sister, blinking absently as the truth in her sister’s words finally dawned on her while her sister stood up. “So, like, be honest with me- is an arranged marriage all that bad? I mean, even mom is going out of her way to bring back some candidates- compatible guys are literally being brought to her with more willingness and attentiveness than Mr.Halloween-4-Eva can possibly muster.”
“...It’s Kenshin. His name is Kenshin…” Geni said as her sister huffed,
“Like, why spend the time getting to know him anyways? Mom and Dad have compiled everything about your perspective husbands for you, so there’s no need to waste time, right? Just get married and call it a day, you’re not going to end up with “Kenshin” anyways.” Her sister said, being realistic even as she paid for her finds and they went about with their day, “You know, I’d personally pick dad’s choice. I guess Mom’s bring back two guys now, too, but I bet they’re just going to be all war-torn and tattered, you know. Considering her tribe or whatever values scars and everything.” Yukihime pushed her hair over her shoulder nonchalantly before looking at her sister, “I mean, Spooks doesn’t have much to offer, you know? Maybe you can just go on a date or something with the candidates at least- they came a pretty far away, especially Mom’s.” As they walked back to Yukihime’s apartment, Geni had offered to help carry some of the bags into the apartment. It was a great opportunity to snuff her out like a candle flame, even as Geni shut the door behind her and Yukihime moved about setting her stuff down inside Yukihime’s apartment. Geni set the bags down on the couch near the door and made the hand seals for the Body Pathway Derailment technique, to paralyze her sister and make her death that much easier while her sister’s back was turned to her.
“You’re so lucky, you know?” Her sister said and Geni hesitated, while her sister absently opened up her fridge door and looked around for something, “You, and our brothers; you all got chakra and all that stuff. You guys didn’t have to live like outcasts because, like, you guys weren’t ‘worthless’. I wish I had been born with that stuff too… maybe I’d see the world through their eyes.” Her sister grabbed a soda and shut the door, cracking it open and taking a swig, “Well- I guess our brothers see through different eyes now, but you and I are in two different worlds. So this marriage thing is a much bigger deal for you than it is for me.”
“Even if something happened to you and you died too, Mom would have another kid because she even considered me as a replacement.” Yukihime said and Geni moved her hands behind her back as her sister turned to her, “Sorry, I got carried away. You want a soda or something?”
Geni had left. Most importantly, she had let her sister live another day, and as she turned the corner to her Father’s home, she realized it was probably the wrong day to let her sister live. In front of the gate, stood a huge, black horse, 12 hands tall with a tired saddle. It’s long black hair was braided into four thick braids, and it’s tail’s hair had been tied and braided into an almost-cropped fashion. Geni swallowed and continued past the horse that looked at her suspiciously and snorted indifferently at her, before she knocked on the door and alerted her father of her presence. Her father opened the door and smiled, “Come on in, honey.”
The dinner was tense and slightly awkward as she explained her day to her father at the dinner table, while her mother finished up a shower. She was quick to tell him that she had failed to end her sister. Her father pursed his lips as the sound of the bathroom door echoed out, and her mother appeared, towel drying her hair, and the woman smiled at her, a thick, dark, and alluring exotic accent and foreign words pouring out that the woman’s family understood, from her plush lips,
“” The woman asked and Geni smiled,
“I’m not really working on my church duties right now, I’m focusing on the shinobi ways to better understand them-” “” Her mother interjected and Geni blinked,
“” Her mother waved her hand around dismissively in the air, “” The woman said and her father voiced,
“I told you in a few letters how Izayumi was selected to be apart of the shinobi world, didn’t you get them my love?” He asked and the woman looked at him, “She was selected for her abilities, which set her apart from the other priestess’, to do the job she is doing right now; to bridge religion and shinobi.” Her father explained as her mother dried her hair with the towel at looked at her daughter,
“OOO~H.” Her mother concluded before sitting down, “” Her mother asked as she picked up her eating utensils and began her meal.
“Can’t there be a different way than just killing her?” Geni asked and her mother looked at her sharply.
“anything.>” Her mother said firmly, “chose her path now. A swift death is most humane for a blind and deaf dog. There is no other option for your sister.>” Her mother said, passionate and firm about it, as her father kept quiet, “”
“Yukihime is only 19, barely into adulthood; I believe our daughter is trying to say that she is, perhaps, a “late bloomer”.” Her father voiced, “The chance of her being the way she is, is already slim enough- and yet, she lives. I suppose it’s karma for our actions in the past, don’t you think?” Iroh voiced and his wife pouted, “Besides- we are being vastly insensitive and inconsiderate of the things we are asking Izayumi to accomplish; Not only does she have to rise in the ranks of the shinobi world, but she has to decide where to place her loyalties, and we are rushing her into marriage meetings soon, plus you’ve just come home; surely, you can relax and let things play their course for a bit?”
“” Her mother huffed, but after eating a few bites of her meal and thinking about it, she said in a softer tone, “< … Perhaps we wait until after she’s chosen a husband … >” It was spoken aloud but it was a thought and she looked at Iroh, “< I have voluntarily given my life and freedom to the Goddess … surely, this cannot be karma? >”
“You started an inter-family war at 16. If this isn’t karma, then I am a lizard.” Iroh said ruefully and the tension was broken in the room by her mother’s lively and booming laughter, her family joining in. As they settled down, Iroh voiced, “Speaking of bad decisions and foolishness- what gives you the right to bring home another male candidate?” Her mother gave a lopsided, playful grin,
“” She answered cheerily and her husband frowned, “” “I’m not worried.” Her father said as he stood up from his finished meal, “Besides, with your terrible attitude and your amazon stature, I’d be more impressed than anything at this point.” “”
Geni smiled as her parents light-heartedly bickered, but her mother stopped to look at her, “” She said and Geni looked at her, “” Geni smiled before her mother added on, “” Her mother spoke before she grabbed her plate and put it in the sink where her husband was cleaning dishes, slapped him on the ass, and walked off quickly to avoid any backlash. Her father walked her towards the door as Geni made her exit,
“I’ll talk to her.” He reassured her, offering her a folder with several different files inside, “You know we’re just worried- right?”
“That I need a man to take care of me?” Geni asked and her father frowned,
“Your mother expects certain aspects of her culture to be upheld; one of them she wants you to do is a ‘binding trial’-” Her father said and straightened his back, “It’s one of the more important ones, but to translate it into the terms of your shinobi world, it’s a period of time where you seal your powers away and rely on your partner. Like a chakra seal with blood.”
Geni frowned, “That just seems ridiculous from a matriarchal society standpoint.”
“It’s basically a trust exercise that’s meant to be done with only your intended. There’s nothing that rings louder than saying you trust your partner completely.” Iroh said and smiled, pushing his long-neck sweaters collar up a bit higher on his own neck. “She’s worried that you being in the basement of a church so long, has crippled you in physical strength. So the exercise would be good to help you hone yourself a bit better.” Geni gripped the folder, “Just look over the files and think about it. We’ll introduce you, but you need to decide on one of them.” With that, she went home and made sure to lock the door behind her, putting the file on the table and sighed. She wasn’t interested in a marriage or these candidates but she stared at the file for several long minutes before going over to it and opening it. She pulled out three files and looked them over- each one had a small picture and a description of the people, who they are, and what they did.
Two were from her mother’s clan and their occupations were listed as ‘warrior’ and ‘builder’. Fucking lovely. She wasn’t particularly interested until she saw the third folder of a man with jet-black hair and gentle eyes. Genevieve set the other two files down, opening this man’s file and looking for the occupation- Banker. Safe and uninteresting, maybe even boring. He was a Uchiha too and had raised through a few ranks before he decided to become a banker, which was interesting to her.
She waited until the next morning to submit and call her father, informing her that she’d undergo the chakra process and that she was interested in the Banker; who turned out to be her father’s choice of candidate. However, it seemed that the training was to take a minimum of 6 months and when she returned, she would have to begin the ‘courting process’ with her chosen candidate. “Are you sure about this?” Her father asked and she frowned and looked down at the floor. She thought of Kenshin and rubbed her upper arm.
She was a Genin and he was a higher ranking. He would probably be a lot more content with someone of his own ranking and caste… not someone like her. Probably someone more intimately experienced and someone much more experienced in the shinobi ways; Geni was not a compatible match. “Yes.” She said into the receiver as she tilted her head back as her eyes watered. As tears collected on her lashes, she wiped away stray ones and confirmed, “I am sure.”
“What about that one boy?” Her father asked and Geni bit her lip, “As you wish. We will begin the courting process when you finish your training.” She nodded and finished the call, letting out a sob as she rested her head against the receiver.
*6 Months Later*
“Welcome back.” Her father greeted when Geni returned to the village and smiled politely when they welcomed her into the family Inn. “Take a load off and take a bath- We’ll set up the first meeting tomorrow.” The first marriage meeting with the possible candidate. Geni helped herself to a nice, long bathe in the hot springs her family managed in their Inn and she thought long and hard about the past 6 months which had been- frankly, uneventful, really. Though not she had marriage interviews to do. When she had rejected the other two men offered to her, her mother retrieved new ones to take their place as she also deemed them unworthy. The following evening was spent buying items that would be culturally appropriate as of her mother’s culture standing and Geni’s position as a potential bride. The first meeting was referred to as a “Viewing”; Geni would be dressed up, and she would be able to see the other men and they would be able to see her- but they were not allowed to address her unless she spoke to them first. It was a constant rule in the courting process; they were not to speak unless spoken to or out of earshot.
The following morning, under perhaps 30 pounds of jewelry and 12 layers of an elegant, silken, high-class kimono, and probably another pound of make up, the ‘Viewing’ began. It was a three hour process and Geni hated every second of it. Three. Fucking. Hours. Of sitting around in the most anxiety-creating environment; being stared at like a piece of meat on display. When it was over, the two men were sent home and the Banker remained in the room. Geni was helped out of the room by her father’s careful hand and into another bath to clean her off. She numbly watched as the weights were lifted and watched her own makeup, dirty the rag she used to clean her face and sighed. Was this it? Was this what her life was like now? It was so… so boring. She wanted adventure and she wanted excitement; she wanted a life where there was something interesting everyday… this did not seem like it was the path she wanted. Or rather, the one she had asked for. “You don’t seem happy, dear.” Her father commented and Geni smiled politely at him, “They seem to like you.” Iroh added as Geni ran her fingers over the surface of the hot spring water.
“They are thinking of my looks and my looks alone. I don’t want someone who looks at my face and things I’m beautiful; I want someone to look at every twisted and dark park of me and think ‘beautiful’.” Geni admitted and she sighed while she pulled her hand away and watched the ripples scamper off into oblivion, “I want to be more useful than just a housewife.” Her
Father frowned as she took a long moment before asking him, “What else is there to do?” His question was in regards to the process she had submitted herself to and they both knew it. Iroh took a breath before continuing on.
“I’ll be giving permission to the one you like to visit you and ask you on dates; you may accept or decline as you wish, but you are mostly obligated to entertain him.” Her father pointed out, “So… in your absence, your mother and I have heard that those big beasties you summon are no longer… adequate to your shinobi level- is that correct?” Geni sighed and looked down,
“I suppose you could put it that way.” She answered meekly, “I guess it’s mainly because I’m not accustomed to being assertive and giving orders… I don’t want to go ordering people around.” Her father listened patiently as Geni went on, “Because if I start ordering people around now, I fear I will grow accustomed to it, and then what will set me apart from the tyrants and the cruel kings of the world?”
“Summons come to you because I bring them to you, dear.” Iroh explained as Geni looked at her reflection in the water one more as the surface grew into not being unmarred. “There is a fine line between a leader and a Tyrant, bit it is based upon how you treat your subjects. A Leader works with them, fights with them on the field- not above them and away from them.” He took a moment to think, “Or, consider your Chunin Exam- instead of hiding out away from your companion on the field, you stayed near him, and even rode him into the sky- your presence on the battlefield gave moral. Your winning or losing is merely an addition; what matters is what you learned from that event the most.” Iroh concluded before starting up another conversation, “Your mother and I collected two summon contracts for you, that we thought would be good match for you-” Geni looked at her father, “I got you a Honey Badger scroll- because, you know what they say- ‘Honey Badger Don’t Care’!” He beamed before laughing and leaving her to her soak. Geni stood up and removed her robe before slipping into the spring with a relishing sigh of relief before sinking into the water to sit down.
She closed her eyes and slipped into the back of her mind, where she reached out and brushed her fingers against the link between her and her dragon summons- before ensnaring the link in her nails. In the same way lioness violently caught a gazelle’s throat in her jaws a moment after giving chase. Perhaps it was the uncanny ‘snapping’ of her thoughts, but a voice arose in the darkness, “You are displeased.” It held no form, this voice, but it rippled against her mind and at the same feeling that The Nameless One brought with him; a larger-than-life, foreboding presence. “You are unhappy?” The voice inquired but the tone suggested that it knew before she needed to say anything. Geni found peace and safety in that fact- in the fact of someone knowing what she needed or wanted, without her having to go out of her way to say something.
“I want to be stronger.” She said in her mind to the voice, but didn’t turn and look around for it in her own mind; for its presence was everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It was all around her and had began to move around the edges of her consciousness the moment she grabbed that connection strand. “I don’t want to be useless.”
“We are aware.” The voice said, androgynous and absolute in it’s carefully selected words. “We are waiting here; in our corner. We are waiting for you.” Geni was confused as she continued the mental conversation and questioned the voice where ‘our corner’ was. “You know.” Was the voice’s answer.That left one possibility- The realm where she summoned her dragon from. There was a change in the air, the feeling of being correct given off by the presence, and it moved in the shadows. It was impossible to go into the summoned creature’s realms- “You are wrong.” The voice responded as all her thoughts were open to it. Like watching koi in a pond, the presence now had the same observatory access to her mind since she held onto the connection threads. She allowed the door to be open and opened it for the presence, so they happily slid in. “We cannot harbor fugitives. We cannot harbor those under persecution. We must remain… ‘neutral’.” The word had a certain smug, sliminess to it; the type of disgusting slickness one would find if they dealt with someone unsavior and known to be a double-crosser. “You will become vessel of our strength, embodiment of the best traits of our kind.” … was it referring to Sage Mode? The air changed once more to one of confirmation and she recoiled a bit. It was a fanciful thought, but wasn’t it asking too much?
“I need to… do actual requirements,I’m sure.” Geni said nervously and the presence merely observed, “I… I can’t do something like that. Those such abilities are not meant for people like me.”
“You place restrictions on yourself. Compare and overthink. Why, oh why me?” The voice responded in an almost mocking tone, but it was pointing out her irony, before that air of slimy smugness returned as the shadows began to form. It too the shape of a pale figure, but instead of soft skin, it has dark, greenish-purple scales that seemed to have a snake-like smoothness to them. The figure opened their eyes and spoke, “Why not you?” The figure took on the blue-hair that Geni had and her own eyes, before it smirked, “You find comfort in the shell but no solace in the escape from the shell.” Geni gulped as the figure walked towards her and the shadows pulled away as if by the figure’s dismissive will. From the temples along the sides of the figure’s body, down all sides but only coming to front at their knees the scales glistened where there was no light. From the knees down, the scales took a thicker form and ended in perfection-aspiring little clawed toes, as the figure walked on on the pads of their feet. Invisibly assisted by non-existent high heels to add to the elegance, they walked over to the connection Geni held on to, and placed their hand on it as well, before looking at her. “We want you to rely on us-” “I do.” “No, you do not. We ask for selfishness and greedy; we ask for our sustenance. You? You are happy to starve us.” When Geni thought of protests, the figure gave a rueful smirk, “Figuratively.”
“So… going to your domain and becoming a Sage of your kind will let me indulge you guys? How does that even work out?” Geni asked and the figure pouted slightly,
“We are the same; you and my kind. We wish to be ‘relevant’ and ‘seen’.” The figure explained, “We fade; from history, from memory, from song and from speech. You summoned us to the battlefield, and those people REMEMBERED. We want to be remembered.” The air filled with a solemn melancholy, as the figure added, “We are tied to beliefs; if we are seen as weak, we are weak. If you are seen as strong, unyielding; we will be remembered as well. People will find us… they will remember. They will give strength to us. We need you to become one of us so that when people remember you, see you; they will think of us.”
The air settled once more in level-headedness, as the figure looked her in the eye. “We shall wait.”
“Will I have to sacrifice a lot for such a thing?” Geni asked the figure mentally, as they placed a hand on hers, slowly untangling her fingers from the strands of the connection thread she had viciously grabbed. “Just- give me some time to think.”
“There is no need. We are one. We know your answer.” The figure said and intertwined their fingers with hers as the connection threads rested in their other hand, “We will be all that you ask when YOU decide upon the questions.” With that, the figure and the thread vanished as the connection was severed, and Geni opened her eyes to find herself where she had been the whole time. In the hot spring, barely a couple minutes later. She scrubbed herself down and ran shampoo through her hair with her fingers as she thought of what to do next, sparing a moment to dip her head into the water and get the shampoo out before resurfacing. Then, she turned her attention to the next trait she didn’t like about herself- her hair. When wet, it turned into a darkened, navy black but she still couldn’t stand it. She wanted hair of a solid color. She didn’t want to be looked at.
(1/2)
“Good morning, daughter!” It was the voice of her father, who she hadn’t heard from in a few days, “I have a favor to ask of you today.”
At the time of her being selected to assimilate out of the church, her family had already been preoccupied; causing a bit of a rift within her family regarding the situation of her being tasked with being a bridge between the Church and the Shinobi who protected it. Her father thought that the church had taken advantage of the situation, being that her family was all away (in their own ways) to give her the task- in short, her Father was against it. Her mother, Uu’Dakai, was a Priestess of the Church in a division different from Genevieve’s and was currently on both a mission and a pilgrimage, meaning communication with her mother was extremely scarce even at it’s best points. Her elder sister had been excommunicated and exiled from the Church’s grounds and teachings long before the Shinobi came to check upon the prospect of church worshippers benefiting their cause.
“The Church has given your mother permission to return- intermittently- as her pilgrimage is apparently over.” Her father voiced and Genevieve smiled happily, but her voice was tinted with concern.
“What of her mission? Is her pilgrimage truly over this time?” She asked and there was a sigh on the other end of the line.
“The Church Officials are a bit- uncooperative- but from what they are getting at, it seems her mission has hit a bit of a stalling point.” Her father vocalized before adding on, “But, before she comes home- I need you to mend the terms between you and your sister.” Genevieve frowned and rubbed her temple as she continued to hear him out, “Look, I am aware things are… tense… between you two, but I would appreciate it if you worked on things before your Mother returned to us; she won’t take well to it if you are on bad-terms with your last living siblings, Genevieve. You and I both know that.”
She bit her lip lightly as she thought about the scenario her father was hinting at; that her mother would probably return from the 3 years she had already been gone, dealing with a stressful and excruciatingly difficult situation (from what her letters ot their family said, anyways), and seeing her daughters fighting would probably push their mother past her temperament point and straight into her fiery temper. Their mother was a good woman but she was also two other things; big and loud. The uproar she would cause would not be welcomed kindly by the villagers, even if it was understood by the Church for her frayed nerves. Genevieve sighed and her father was patient, adding on, “Yumi.” She closed her eyes, “I understand that I’m asking a lot from you; but I know that, between the two of you, YOU understand the weight of this the most.” Genevieve frowned, “I know that last time you said would be the last time, but try once more for me; please.”
“...I am uncomfortable with your request, papa.” Genevieve said softly, “She’s always mean to me and she is so… condescending. I have such difficulty dealing with her.” She admitted, letting it be known to her father. Normally she kept quiet and bit her tongue but she was growing bolder day by day and today she was just as bold.
“You were selected and chosen for something greater than what she has ever accomplished, Yumi- and she knows that. That’s why she is so cruel and bitter. I am hoping that you spending some time with her will soften her before your mother becomes aware of what is going on and she steps in herself.” Genevieve bit her lip once more, “You know she won’t take lightly how your sister has been living. She’s already asked me to look into convents- your mom hates those places, but she told me that a convent is the only place for your sister.”
“So, if I don’t talk to her and spend time with her, she’s going to a convent?” Genevieve clarified and her father agreed with a firm ‘yes’; something out of the ordinary for the outgoing male. She sighed again and forced a smile on her face, “I...will try once more, papa…”
“That’s wonderful! I’m so sorry for this Yumi- oh, Genevieve. I really appreciate it.” Her father said and she smiled, “Why don’t you come over today, and I could help you grocery shop or something? We can work out a plan of action, hm?” She smiled warmly, “If you have the time- I don’t want to impose if you have plans- your sister says you’ve been going around with someone.” Her smile dropped as her charity for her sister’s future plummeted. In that moment, if Geni could have been standing next to her sister and and on-coming train, she would have viciously kicked her sibling onto the tracks.
“She did?” Genevieve inquired slowly and quietly, “No, I’m not busy today, papa. I’ll come over in a little bit- I need to change the laundry.” With a quick conclusion, Genevieve hung up the phone on it’s holder on the wall and gripped it as her positive and friendlier attitude was slowly overpowered with a warmer emotion- anger. Rage. Despise. She spared a moment to drum her fingers on the phone’s back in an effort to calm herself before going upstairs to pull on a pair of pants and a shirt, and heading over ot her father’s home. After all; her less glamorous emotions had to be contained. It was only ladylike to keep a smile on.
It, too, was owned by the church but it was much grander than Genevieve’s and larger. Her Mother’s position was higher, thus, the home was bigger. It also had a small garden in front- tended to by her father, who was watering the plants already. Today he was wearing a pale, long-sleeved blue shirt and a pair of trendy black pants. His dark hair pulled to hide one side of his face, and braided backwards into 4, intertwining strands- two of which held silver beads at their ends. It was a cultural aspect of his wife’s culture- each braid was for a child, and the beads were for those he lost. A pastel green eye looked up and he smiled warmly at her, though she was taller than him, “There you are dear! I was wondering if you had forgotten the way home.” Genevieve smiled as he set the watering can down and slipped his hands out of his gardening gloves, “Do you mind if we stop by the fabric store, maybe? I need some new fabrics.”
“Mhm.” She voiced and waited until he had locked the front door of his home before joining her in front of his own home’s little garden gate. He adjusted the gold and black scarf she had made him, a new one to replace her previous attempts, and she smiled, “You’re going to wear the scarf still?” She asked and he nodded,
“Of course, my daughter made it for me, so I wear it when I can.” He said and they headed off, “So, tell me of this boy- or does your sister lie to me once more?” Geni bit her lip softly as she thought,
“She doesn’t have a right talking about things like my life… or rather, making assumptions when she would be benefited more by reorganizing her own.” Genevieve said cooly and her father frowned, looking at her,
“How else is a mortal supposed to live?” He questioned, pulling up the scarf more to cover the thick and dark chakra seal about his neck- one of a pair. “Your mother called as you were on your way over. She has changed her mind about your sister’s… situation… yet again. She now asks that Yuki be given death instead of a prayer book.” Genevieve looked at her father sharply before looking away, “But we both know it was coming to this, given to how your mother is-”
“I… I don’t know…” The blue-haired woman said quietly, “I want to say that I don’t believe my sister deserves something as critical as that…” But she wasn’t going to stand up for her sister who had screwed her over more times than an immortal has lives. She wasn’t going to stand up for her last sibling as she stood up for her brothers. Her father sighed,
“What then, do you suppose we- as her parents- do for a daughter who cannot turn and had no chakra to her name? What do you suggest as a priestess of the Church?” Her father asked solemnly and Genevieve blinked a few seconds longer than usual,
“I no longer think that I am suited for the church life, Father… I have found strength as a Shinobi that was previously denied to me as a Priestess. More strength than the faith could ever grant me.” She said and her father opened the door for her when they reached the fabric store, letting her walk in first and he followed,
“Are you happy?” He asked and she looked at him questioningly, tilting her head, “Haha, how refreshing, your mom does that little head tilt too.” He laughed a bit as she frowned slightly and encouraged him to not tease her, “Are you happy being a shinobi? Are you happy being able to move about so freely?”
“I… do like the freedom and yes, I’m pretty happy, I suppose.” Geni voiced as her father shifted through fabrics, holding several parts against her skin to see how they would look. “I do not take for granted how hard you and mom have worked to give us this life, and I really do see and appreciate your efforts.” Her father smiled warmly, though the scarf around his neck and mouth covered it physically they could not cover the crinkling near his eyes.
“As long as you are happy, then I’m happy, ‘Yumi.” Her father voiced and handed her a few fabrics rolls to hold as he continued looking, “I had a much less constricting life than your mother did, and it was very important to her that we try and give you kids the same advantage. However, there are somethings we agreed that should carry over from her culture… such as arranged marriages.” Geni stayed quiet to herself but she knew where this conversation was heading- “It’s a hard subject to broach, but I would like to request that you be open-minded to the topic, when I ask you if you’d be willing to at least meet the candidates your mom and I have agreed upon and chosen.”
“You’ve already agreed on some?” Geni asked in bewilderment and her father looked away sheepishly, “And you couldn’t think to, perhaps, ask my opinion or even ask if I was possibly available?”
“Well, you’ve been quite busy as of late, and I have been busy narrowing things down… so I hope you’ll forgive me.” He voiced and then grinned at her, “I was thinking that, perhaps when your mother comes back to town, we could arrange a welcome-home party at the inn, and introduce you to the candidates there? Spend an hour or two with each of them, get to know them a bit, and then nothing more. Again- I am asking for your openness to the abrupt situation.” He voiced before looking at her, “I hope this explains why I was asking if there was merit to what your sister was gossiping about; should there be another partner in your life, I would be more than willing to try and convince your mother to call it off.” Geni looked away,
“Um…” A brief thought was spared for Kenshin Uzumaki, but she had different plans there and wasn’t sure if her feelings were returned. They had known each other a small time and had one date- it was too much to ask him to marry her so soon. She wasn’t going to force him into something he didn’t want to be in nor would she let her parents do it. “No...there’s no one like that in my life…” Her father looked saddened, but nodded,
“I’m so sorry, Izayumi.” He voiced quietly and she looked at him, “It must be so hard on you to be on so many planes of life; with your mother and I from two different worlds ourselves and you in the church and in the shinobi world… things must be complicated for you.” Geni smiled at him warmly,
“So, um… these candidates you were talking about?” Geni asked softly and her father nodded,
“Yes, your mother and I have decided on a female and male candidate for each of us- four people in total. We did not want to pry into your preferences or personal life, so we decided it would be safe to have a choice of each gender-” “I’m not into women, Father.” “Well, then there’s two people in total now.” He said and laughed as Geni frowned a bit. “I have chosen a lycanthrope sympathizer as your perspective partner, I hope you don’t mind. Their personality requires a gentle touch, but they’re the mate-for-life types, so I thought the loyalty aspect would be a good foundation.” Her father voiced, “Your mother’s choice is a male of her culture- so, you may have to speak their tongue to him, but she assured me that he is a very capable fighter.”
Kenshin was a capable fighter and she didn’t have to speak some family-bound language to him, and she didn’t want to trouble him with the politics of her family’s games. It wasn’t fair to toss him into something that he wasn’t meant to be in, nor was it fair to Kenshin to let him be the target of their ‘playing’ and ‘teasing’.
“You still haven’t answered me question; is there merit to your sister’s words?” Her father asked again as Geni looked away, “Tell me what he’s like, this crush of yours. You haven’t brought him around, is there a reason?”
“...He’s quite busy and I don’t want him to meet you and mother just yet… I want to know if the feeling is mutual first…” Geni admitted quietly and adjusted the rolls of fabric she carried as her and her father walked through the store- pausing a moment for her father to question the validity of sequins as a returning fashion statement- before they went to the counter to get a few yards cut.
“What trait draws you most to him?” Her Father asked and Geni thought about all the traits she had seen from Kenshin before looking at him,
“He’s so devoted to his country and it’s best interests that I find it admirable; but… I don’t know much more about his interests or his hobbies.” Geni voiced as she put the bolts of fabric back when her father had gotten what yards he wanted or needed from them. “It leaves me with this sort of- quietly desperate need to know more… I don’t know what to do.”
“Perhaps talking to some of your friends or his friends, would shed more light on the situation for you, dear?” Her father offered and she looked down, “That reminds me- being a shinobi and travelling more, you must have made quite a few new friends, right?” His daughter shook her head in a ‘no’. “Oh but...you were put on a team, weren’t you?”
“...they’re more like… acquaintances…” She said quietly and he frowned, “So, I suppose.... The only friend I have outside of the family is the guy I like…” Even that term was a hell of a stretch. Her father glanced over spools of thread,
“I’ve met a few nice, young people- about your age. I’ll send them over to you- perhaps you’ll get along with a few.” He offered and Geni stayed quiet as her father smiled at her, “You’ve made such excellent progress this year, please try to keep it up and make some new friends.” He voiced before gasping and getting excited, “Oh, like Usagi! He’s a nice boy- he might not make a good husband but he’s make a nice friend, I think.” Geni frowned, “He’s a good listener and he’s quite attentive, would those be the types of traits you’re looking for?”
“...really pushing for the marriage, huh?” She asked and her father laughed sheepishly,
“Yes, forgive me, your mother and I were both very young when we got married; it’s best if you start a strong relationship now, so that you and your partner can grow as people in the future-” “What if we grow apart?” “Well, just remember that divorce isn’t an option and your mother and I will understand if you kill them. Just… don’t be a double-digit-widow.” Geni sighed and her father smiled,
“At the end of the day, your mother and I want you to be happy- but with you being in the Church for so long, we’re simply out of touch; we don’t know the woman you’re growing into, we don’t know your preferences or your morals… so I guess,, the both of us are just trying our best in our own ways, to reach you and make sure that you don’t leave us behind. Especially your ma- with the years long absences, she feels farther and farther away from you and more of a hindrance than anything else, but that also comes from the fact that she’s used to a battlefield instead of a village and being restricted.” Her father told her and Geni smiled, “I hope that… when she comes back into town, you will spend a lot of time talking to her and getting to know her more. Perhaps encourage her to speak the common tongue more frequently, help her self-esteem a bit.”
“Yeah… I’d like that too.” Geni smiled, continuing the day with him and talking, stopping by the grocery store for her to gather what ingredients she needed to display for him what cooking skills she had taught herself. She wanted to do better and be better… she wanted to like the person that she saw in the mirror. At the end of the day, that’s what she wanted, even as she packed up to leave her father’s home, he called out to her once more to remind her of her sister’s situation.
“Know that you must do this for the family, dear, and dwell on nothing else if you have to.” Her father told her and she frowned,
“Why- do I have to go out of my way to kill her?” Geni asked him and her father looked at her with a coldness and firmness to his green eyes,
“Because, you come from a world with strings, and you must live by those strings.” Her father said bluntly and she blinked in confusion, as the words’ meaning began to dawn on her and sink into her. Not just into her mind but into her memories like water overflowing from a cup. “It is your job to try and find someone to cut those strings; and it is my job to set the stage and the scene for you to do so.” He turned away from her and walked back towards his front door, “Should you wish, go ahead and bring that boy of yours to the inn; I’ll call you when the time comes closer. Good night, Izayumi.” He bade and shut the door behind him as she stood outside the little gate to his vibrant front yard. Bushes of dark green began to glow as petals opened- Jessamine, moonflowers, and night orchids… but her father’s favorite flower was vacant. She quietly drummed her fingers on the gate and went home herself, shutting the door behind her and sighing as she sunk to the floor. Putting her back against the door as she sighed.
Was there truly- genuinely- a difference between the church basement and the life she lived now? Was there really?
She walked freely and unhindered, but that never meant she was without burdens and without weights upon her shoulders.
Geni pulled her knees closer to her as the sound of a dark voice filled her head- one that belonged to her mother, full of her mother’s ancestral language; thick, slow and amberal as molasses with all the suffocating weight that disappointment and distaste could ever carry.
“What use does my lineage have, for a worthless child?”
She closed her eyes to the voice even as it touched the water’s surface in her mind, briefly giving itself life in a darkness it had happily taken shelter in; no longer content with it’s abandonment and being ignored by Geni. In her mind’s eye, a pair of almond-shaped eyes opened up to glow like a predator’s. There was no need for words. The look they brought for a fraction of a moment was enough before they silently closed and slipped away once more. They did not belong to geni nor did they belong to any other family member who had her blood; they were the eyes of something unnamed and untamed, which quietly awoke around the presence of her parents. As if their breathing gave the visage the strength it needed to take form and take hold.
Eventually, Geni pulled herself up and put herself into the mundane tasks that needed her around her home, before putting herself to bed. She woke the next morning, blue-hair tussed and rough with bed-head with one thought in her mind; ‘How does one kill their sister?’. As she slowly blinked and her vision cleared, her mind began to offer up feeble propositions; poison, strangulation, exsanguination, and just plain murder. She touched her fingertips to her lips as the last one hung about in her head- who would know? Honestly, who would really know?
Geni had the body of water- she had never experimented much before, but she could perhaps go through her sister’s pipes. Come out of the kitchen faucet, kill her sister, and then just go back into the faucet like nothing fucking happened. If Geni wore gloves, she could use the Deranged Body Pathway and paralyze her sister; unless she had chakra to defend herself, she had to have a resistance build up and she had none of that. Perhaps… it was a shaky plan, but it was a plan anyways. Maybe she could try to… reason with her sister? As she thought about that, she wondered why. Why reason with her sister, what was the point? She was disappointing the family and her father had basically told Geni that her sister would die by Geni’s hands or her mother’s.
That morning, after a phone call to her sister, Geni stood in front of her door; hesitant. She had agreed to meet with her sister for lunch and as the time neared she wondered why her father didn’t go out of his way to do it. Geni knew the answer; it was rhetorical. He meant to get her to be bolder but… wasn’t killing her sister a bit- drastic? The more she doubted her decision and the cloudier her mind became with self-doubt, the more her father’s words from before rang out against the thoughts. Concrete and solid as all the evidence she needed as she put her hands on her upper arms-
“Your sister says you’ve been going around with someone.”
Geni clenched her teeth and gripped her arms tightly, digging her nails into her skin. Her sister didn’t know a think and here she was- gossiping about Kenshin to their father. It bothered her almost enough to rile her temper, but Geni took a few deep breaths to calm down and relax before leaving the house to meet her sister. Truth be told, Genevieve- couldn’t stand her sister.
Even as Geni waited and saw her coming towards her, her jealousy over her sister and her hatred reared up as Geni waved to her with forced meekness. They were sisters by blood, but Yukihime, her sister, had one thing Geni would never have. A normal appearance and life. In stark contrast to Geni’s multi-colored hair, inherited from their grandmother, Yukihime’s hair was caught between ‘wavy’ and ‘curly’ in the form of an auburn brown that flared into a strawberry, golden blonde when the wind picked it up to catch the sun’s rays. She had been given the golden eyes of her father’s original clan and none of their strengths. No chakra. No Hozuki traits. Not even a trace of lycanthropy in her blood. She was as plain and profoundly unique as they came. Geni hated her for it. Her plainess, or rather her ‘worthlessness’ deemed her unfit for the church life by her haughty, rebellious nature, and no fit for the culture either of her parents hailed from. She was floating about happily living a normal life. They grabbed frappes and walked around the marketplace as people looked at the both of them for a few seconds too long, much to Geni’s anxiety’s dismay. “Dad says you moved into a house after your weird training stuff- do you practice magic there too?” When her sister said ‘Magic’ she meant all things related to the Shinobi life. “Did you grab any clothes? How about we go shopping-” “What did you tell dad?” Geni demanded as they stopped and her sister turned around to look at her.
“Dad was saying something crazy about doing an arranged marriage since you were coming of age and, well, since we all know how they feel about me being un-magick’d or whatever.” Yukihime said, smirking, “So I might have said that I saw you around with that tall guy you left the restaurant with.” Geni twitched, “He’s not that handsome, maybe a marriage candidate is-” “K-Kenshin is plenty handsome!” Yuki frowned,
“Did you knock your head while you were out and about, goofing off with your ‘teammates’? Or that tournament thing you were in? That guy’s eyes are all red and fucking crazy, he’s just creepy looking-” “Shut up!” “I’ve seen the pictures of the marriage candidates that Dad picked out? They’re fucking gorgeous, you really would be better off with any of them, seriously. Tall, dark and spooky won’t make any promising kids anytime soon.” “OH MY GODDESS, STOP.” As her sister turned away and walked off, waving a dismissive hand, Geni ran after her,
“Ju-Just because you saw him, doesn’t mean you have the right to say anything to Dad! You don’t know him like I do-” Geni said as her sister huffed in her direction, stopping by a store with small accessories,
“OH yeah, I bet MR.SPOOKTASTIC has a GREAT personality, huh?” Yuki said mockingly, picking up a headband with little wire cat ears and looking at it, leaning down to make herself eye-level with a mirror in the shop and tried them on, “Mr.Spooks looks like he has a pretty bland personality, maybe even dense. I’m sure he’s the kind of guy you’d have to be direct with and we all know how terrible you are at being assertive.” Geni stood next to her sister, blinking absently as the truth in her sister’s words finally dawned on her while her sister stood up. “So, like, be honest with me- is an arranged marriage all that bad? I mean, even mom is going out of her way to bring back some candidates- compatible guys are literally being brought to her with more willingness and attentiveness than Mr.Halloween-4-Eva can possibly muster.”
“...It’s Kenshin. His name is Kenshin…” Geni said as her sister huffed,
“Like, why spend the time getting to know him anyways? Mom and Dad have compiled everything about your perspective husbands for you, so there’s no need to waste time, right? Just get married and call it a day, you’re not going to end up with “Kenshin” anyways.” Her sister said, being realistic even as she paid for her finds and they went about with their day, “You know, I’d personally pick dad’s choice. I guess Mom’s bring back two guys now, too, but I bet they’re just going to be all war-torn and tattered, you know. Considering her tribe or whatever values scars and everything.” Yukihime pushed her hair over her shoulder nonchalantly before looking at her sister, “I mean, Spooks doesn’t have much to offer, you know? Maybe you can just go on a date or something with the candidates at least- they came a pretty far away, especially Mom’s.” As they walked back to Yukihime’s apartment, Geni had offered to help carry some of the bags into the apartment. It was a great opportunity to snuff her out like a candle flame, even as Geni shut the door behind her and Yukihime moved about setting her stuff down inside Yukihime’s apartment. Geni set the bags down on the couch near the door and made the hand seals for the Body Pathway Derailment technique, to paralyze her sister and make her death that much easier while her sister’s back was turned to her.
“You’re so lucky, you know?” Her sister said and Geni hesitated, while her sister absently opened up her fridge door and looked around for something, “You, and our brothers; you all got chakra and all that stuff. You guys didn’t have to live like outcasts because, like, you guys weren’t ‘worthless’. I wish I had been born with that stuff too… maybe I’d see the world through their eyes.” Her sister grabbed a soda and shut the door, cracking it open and taking a swig, “Well- I guess our brothers see through different eyes now, but you and I are in two different worlds. So this marriage thing is a much bigger deal for you than it is for me.”
“Even if something happened to you and you died too, Mom would have another kid because she even considered me as a replacement.” Yukihime said and Geni moved her hands behind her back as her sister turned to her, “Sorry, I got carried away. You want a soda or something?”
Geni had left. Most importantly, she had let her sister live another day, and as she turned the corner to her Father’s home, she realized it was probably the wrong day to let her sister live. In front of the gate, stood a huge, black horse, 12 hands tall with a tired saddle. It’s long black hair was braided into four thick braids, and it’s tail’s hair had been tied and braided into an almost-cropped fashion. Geni swallowed and continued past the horse that looked at her suspiciously and snorted indifferently at her, before she knocked on the door and alerted her father of her presence. Her father opened the door and smiled, “Come on in, honey.”
The dinner was tense and slightly awkward as she explained her day to her father at the dinner table, while her mother finished up a shower. She was quick to tell him that she had failed to end her sister. Her father pursed his lips as the sound of the bathroom door echoed out, and her mother appeared, towel drying her hair, and the woman smiled at her, a thick, dark, and alluring exotic accent and foreign words pouring out that the woman’s family understood, from her plush lips,
“
“I’m not really working on my church duties right now, I’m focusing on the shinobi ways to better understand them-” “
“” Her mother waved her hand around dismissively in the air, “
“I told you in a few letters how Izayumi was selected to be apart of the shinobi world, didn’t you get them my love?” He asked and the woman looked at him, “She was selected for her abilities, which set her apart from the other priestess’, to do the job she is doing right now; to bridge religion and shinobi.” Her father explained as her mother dried her hair with the towel at looked at her daughter,
“OOO~H.
“Can’t there be a different way than just killing her?” Geni asked and her mother looked at her sharply.
“
“Yukihime is only 19, barely into adulthood; I believe our daughter is trying to say that she is, perhaps, a “late bloomer”.” Her father voiced, “The chance of her being the way she is, is already slim enough- and yet, she lives. I suppose it’s karma for our actions in the past, don’t you think?” Iroh voiced and his wife pouted, “Besides- we are being vastly insensitive and inconsiderate of the things we are asking Izayumi to accomplish; Not only does she have to rise in the ranks of the shinobi world, but she has to decide where to place her loyalties, and we are rushing her into marriage meetings soon, plus you’ve just come home; surely, you can relax and let things play their course for a bit?”
“
“You started an inter-family war at 16. If this isn’t karma, then I am a lizard.” Iroh said ruefully and the tension was broken in the room by her mother’s lively and booming laughter, her family joining in. As they settled down, Iroh voiced, “Speaking of bad decisions and foolishness- what gives you the right to bring home another male candidate?” Her mother gave a lopsided, playful grin,
“
Geni smiled as her parents light-heartedly bickered, but her mother stopped to look at her, “
“I’ll talk to her.” He reassured her, offering her a folder with several different files inside, “You know we’re just worried- right?”
“That I need a man to take care of me?” Geni asked and her father frowned,
“Your mother expects certain aspects of her culture to be upheld; one of them she wants you to do is a ‘binding trial’-” Her father said and straightened his back, “It’s one of the more important ones, but to translate it into the terms of your shinobi world, it’s a period of time where you seal your powers away and rely on your partner. Like a chakra seal with blood.”
Geni frowned, “That just seems ridiculous from a matriarchal society standpoint.”
“It’s basically a trust exercise that’s meant to be done with only your intended. There’s nothing that rings louder than saying you trust your partner completely.” Iroh said and smiled, pushing his long-neck sweaters collar up a bit higher on his own neck. “She’s worried that you being in the basement of a church so long, has crippled you in physical strength. So the exercise would be good to help you hone yourself a bit better.” Geni gripped the folder, “Just look over the files and think about it. We’ll introduce you, but you need to decide on one of them.” With that, she went home and made sure to lock the door behind her, putting the file on the table and sighed. She wasn’t interested in a marriage or these candidates but she stared at the file for several long minutes before going over to it and opening it. She pulled out three files and looked them over- each one had a small picture and a description of the people, who they are, and what they did.
Two were from her mother’s clan and their occupations were listed as ‘warrior’ and ‘builder’. Fucking lovely. She wasn’t particularly interested until she saw the third folder of a man with jet-black hair and gentle eyes. Genevieve set the other two files down, opening this man’s file and looking for the occupation- Banker. Safe and uninteresting, maybe even boring. He was a Uchiha too and had raised through a few ranks before he decided to become a banker, which was interesting to her.
She waited until the next morning to submit and call her father, informing her that she’d undergo the chakra process and that she was interested in the Banker; who turned out to be her father’s choice of candidate. However, it seemed that the training was to take a minimum of 6 months and when she returned, she would have to begin the ‘courting process’ with her chosen candidate. “Are you sure about this?” Her father asked and she frowned and looked down at the floor. She thought of Kenshin and rubbed her upper arm.
She was a Genin and he was a higher ranking. He would probably be a lot more content with someone of his own ranking and caste… not someone like her. Probably someone more intimately experienced and someone much more experienced in the shinobi ways; Geni was not a compatible match. “Yes.” She said into the receiver as she tilted her head back as her eyes watered. As tears collected on her lashes, she wiped away stray ones and confirmed, “I am sure.”
“What about that one boy?” Her father asked and Geni bit her lip, “As you wish. We will begin the courting process when you finish your training.” She nodded and finished the call, letting out a sob as she rested her head against the receiver.
*6 Months Later*
“Welcome back.” Her father greeted when Geni returned to the village and smiled politely when they welcomed her into the family Inn. “Take a load off and take a bath- We’ll set up the first meeting tomorrow.” The first marriage meeting with the possible candidate. Geni helped herself to a nice, long bathe in the hot springs her family managed in their Inn and she thought long and hard about the past 6 months which had been- frankly, uneventful, really. Though not she had marriage interviews to do. When she had rejected the other two men offered to her, her mother retrieved new ones to take their place as she also deemed them unworthy. The following evening was spent buying items that would be culturally appropriate as of her mother’s culture standing and Geni’s position as a potential bride. The first meeting was referred to as a “Viewing”; Geni would be dressed up, and she would be able to see the other men and they would be able to see her- but they were not allowed to address her unless she spoke to them first. It was a constant rule in the courting process; they were not to speak unless spoken to or out of earshot.
The following morning, under perhaps 30 pounds of jewelry and 12 layers of an elegant, silken, high-class kimono, and probably another pound of make up, the ‘Viewing’ began. It was a three hour process and Geni hated every second of it. Three. Fucking. Hours. Of sitting around in the most anxiety-creating environment; being stared at like a piece of meat on display. When it was over, the two men were sent home and the Banker remained in the room. Geni was helped out of the room by her father’s careful hand and into another bath to clean her off. She numbly watched as the weights were lifted and watched her own makeup, dirty the rag she used to clean her face and sighed. Was this it? Was this what her life was like now? It was so… so boring. She wanted adventure and she wanted excitement; she wanted a life where there was something interesting everyday… this did not seem like it was the path she wanted. Or rather, the one she had asked for. “You don’t seem happy, dear.” Her father commented and Geni smiled politely at him, “They seem to like you.” Iroh added as Geni ran her fingers over the surface of the hot spring water.
“They are thinking of my looks and my looks alone. I don’t want someone who looks at my face and things I’m beautiful; I want someone to look at every twisted and dark park of me and think ‘beautiful’.” Geni admitted and she sighed while she pulled her hand away and watched the ripples scamper off into oblivion, “I want to be more useful than just a housewife.” Her
Father frowned as she took a long moment before asking him, “What else is there to do?” His question was in regards to the process she had submitted herself to and they both knew it. Iroh took a breath before continuing on.
“I’ll be giving permission to the one you like to visit you and ask you on dates; you may accept or decline as you wish, but you are mostly obligated to entertain him.” Her father pointed out, “So… in your absence, your mother and I have heard that those big beasties you summon are no longer… adequate to your shinobi level- is that correct?” Geni sighed and looked down,
“I suppose you could put it that way.” She answered meekly, “I guess it’s mainly because I’m not accustomed to being assertive and giving orders… I don’t want to go ordering people around.” Her father listened patiently as Geni went on, “Because if I start ordering people around now, I fear I will grow accustomed to it, and then what will set me apart from the tyrants and the cruel kings of the world?”
“Summons come to you because I bring them to you, dear.” Iroh explained as Geni looked at her reflection in the water one more as the surface grew into not being unmarred. “There is a fine line between a leader and a Tyrant, bit it is based upon how you treat your subjects. A Leader works with them, fights with them on the field- not above them and away from them.” He took a moment to think, “Or, consider your Chunin Exam- instead of hiding out away from your companion on the field, you stayed near him, and even rode him into the sky- your presence on the battlefield gave moral. Your winning or losing is merely an addition; what matters is what you learned from that event the most.” Iroh concluded before starting up another conversation, “Your mother and I collected two summon contracts for you, that we thought would be good match for you-” Geni looked at her father, “I got you a Honey Badger scroll- because, you know what they say- ‘Honey Badger Don’t Care’!” He beamed before laughing and leaving her to her soak. Geni stood up and removed her robe before slipping into the spring with a relishing sigh of relief before sinking into the water to sit down.
She closed her eyes and slipped into the back of her mind, where she reached out and brushed her fingers against the link between her and her dragon summons- before ensnaring the link in her nails. In the same way lioness violently caught a gazelle’s throat in her jaws a moment after giving chase. Perhaps it was the uncanny ‘snapping’ of her thoughts, but a voice arose in the darkness, “You are displeased.” It held no form, this voice, but it rippled against her mind and at the same feeling that The Nameless One brought with him; a larger-than-life, foreboding presence. “You are unhappy?” The voice inquired but the tone suggested that it knew before she needed to say anything. Geni found peace and safety in that fact- in the fact of someone knowing what she needed or wanted, without her having to go out of her way to say something.
“I want to be stronger.” She said in her mind to the voice, but didn’t turn and look around for it in her own mind; for its presence was everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It was all around her and had began to move around the edges of her consciousness the moment she grabbed that connection strand. “I don’t want to be useless.”
“We are aware.” The voice said, androgynous and absolute in it’s carefully selected words. “We are waiting here; in our corner. We are waiting for you.” Geni was confused as she continued the mental conversation and questioned the voice where ‘our corner’ was. “You know.” Was the voice’s answer.That left one possibility- The realm where she summoned her dragon from. There was a change in the air, the feeling of being correct given off by the presence, and it moved in the shadows. It was impossible to go into the summoned creature’s realms- “You are wrong.” The voice responded as all her thoughts were open to it. Like watching koi in a pond, the presence now had the same observatory access to her mind since she held onto the connection threads. She allowed the door to be open and opened it for the presence, so they happily slid in. “We cannot harbor fugitives. We cannot harbor those under persecution. We must remain… ‘neutral’.” The word had a certain smug, sliminess to it; the type of disgusting slickness one would find if they dealt with someone unsavior and known to be a double-crosser. “You will become vessel of our strength, embodiment of the best traits of our kind.” … was it referring to Sage Mode? The air changed once more to one of confirmation and she recoiled a bit. It was a fanciful thought, but wasn’t it asking too much?
“I need to… do actual requirements,I’m sure.” Geni said nervously and the presence merely observed, “I… I can’t do something like that. Those such abilities are not meant for people like me.”
“You place restrictions on yourself. Compare and overthink. Why, oh why me?” The voice responded in an almost mocking tone, but it was pointing out her irony, before that air of slimy smugness returned as the shadows began to form. It too the shape of a pale figure, but instead of soft skin, it has dark, greenish-purple scales that seemed to have a snake-like smoothness to them. The figure opened their eyes and spoke, “Why not you?” The figure took on the blue-hair that Geni had and her own eyes, before it smirked, “You find comfort in the shell but no solace in the escape from the shell.” Geni gulped as the figure walked towards her and the shadows pulled away as if by the figure’s dismissive will. From the temples along the sides of the figure’s body, down all sides but only coming to front at their knees the scales glistened where there was no light. From the knees down, the scales took a thicker form and ended in perfection-aspiring little clawed toes, as the figure walked on on the pads of their feet. Invisibly assisted by non-existent high heels to add to the elegance, they walked over to the connection Geni held on to, and placed their hand on it as well, before looking at her. “We want you to rely on us-” “I do.” “No, you do not. We ask for selfishness and greedy; we ask for our sustenance. You? You are happy to starve us.” When Geni thought of protests, the figure gave a rueful smirk, “Figuratively.”
“So… going to your domain and becoming a Sage of your kind will let me indulge you guys? How does that even work out?” Geni asked and the figure pouted slightly,
“We are the same; you and my kind. We wish to be ‘relevant’ and ‘seen’.” The figure explained, “We fade; from history, from memory, from song and from speech. You summoned us to the battlefield, and those people REMEMBERED. We want to be remembered.” The air filled with a solemn melancholy, as the figure added, “We are tied to beliefs; if we are seen as weak, we are weak. If you are seen as strong, unyielding; we will be remembered as well. People will find us… they will remember. They will give strength to us. We need you to become one of us so that when people remember you, see you; they will think of us.”
The air settled once more in level-headedness, as the figure looked her in the eye. “We shall wait.”
“Will I have to sacrifice a lot for such a thing?” Geni asked the figure mentally, as they placed a hand on hers, slowly untangling her fingers from the strands of the connection thread she had viciously grabbed. “Just- give me some time to think.”
“There is no need. We are one. We know your answer.” The figure said and intertwined their fingers with hers as the connection threads rested in their other hand, “We will be all that you ask when YOU decide upon the questions.” With that, the figure and the thread vanished as the connection was severed, and Geni opened her eyes to find herself where she had been the whole time. In the hot spring, barely a couple minutes later. She scrubbed herself down and ran shampoo through her hair with her fingers as she thought of what to do next, sparing a moment to dip her head into the water and get the shampoo out before resurfacing. Then, she turned her attention to the next trait she didn’t like about herself- her hair. When wet, it turned into a darkened, navy black but she still couldn’t stand it. She wanted hair of a solid color. She didn’t want to be looked at.
(1/2)
- BaliquisCitizen
- Stat Page : [url=statpage]Stat Page[/url]
Ryo : 500
Re: Time's A Changing [P, CD]
Mon Jun 18, 2018 12:06 am
(2/2)
She didn’t want to be stared at or looked at like some type of abomination. It wasn’t her choosing to be born with such abnormal hair- “Your grandmother has the same color hair.” Her mother’s voice rang out in her head with the same statement anytime Geni vocalized her opinion about her hair. Who the fuck cares? Who cared if it was her grandmother’s hair? She lived somewhere in a jungle with some old and stupidly archaic rules in a culture that had nothing to do with the one she lived in. As Geni sighed and grabbed handfuls of her hair in disdain, she glanced at the reflection of herself in the water’s surface. She remembered the look that the voice took- the scales. When it took her hair it seemed to look much more surreal and ethereal than Geni’s own hair made her feel or even looked to her. Could those scales really be hers? Her mind shifted to the image of her summon’s eyes; if she took on Sage Mode, could those be hers as well? People would be too distracted to notice her hair color. The figure had been so confident and their walk had been just as self-confident and absolute as their words had. She wanted that.
She wanted that confidence in her walk, she wanted that absolute ‘I stand by what I say’ attitude. Maybe it was jealousy or maybe it was greed; but she wanted it. She wanted to have that confidence… but would she be able to keep her temper in check with her mother around? She was probably one of the only people who could actually push Geni into losing her composure; it was disgraceful. She shouldn’t be bothered by anything her mother said but still, she had an innate and unfounded disposition to quickly lose her cool when her mother got ahead of herself. Geni sighed and massaged conditioner into her long hair, trying to calm herself down. There was no need for a repeat of Geni losing a good portion of her temper years ago. Maybe she could just… cut her hair? After another few minutes, she left the hot spring when her sister informed her of dinner, and joined them. “What type of hairstyles do you use to make your hair look shorter?” Geni asked her father at the dinner table and her mother glanced at her,
“I like to braid it and put it in a bun.” Iroh voiced, “I also like to a side braid to make it look a lot shorter, and then tuck the end of the braid into fractions I’ve braided.”
“” Her mother said callously before eating a few bites of rice, then picking up a piece of meat with her chopsticks and chomping it down, before adding, “” Even though she said it with the most absence and probably unconscious effort that Geni had ever witnessed in her life, her mother had once again hit the nail on the head.
“I’m just thinking about cutting it.” Geni said and ate a few bits more of rice as her sister looked at her,
“OH you should totally shave off half of your head too- just the sideburn area.” Yukihime said as the rest of her family looked at her, “What? It’s the next big trend! Colored hair is SO this year, you’ll be fine if you get maybe just a trim too.” She added and smiled, but their mother ignored her and started a new conversation,
“” Her mother asked and Geni blanched, almost mockingly horrified if she wasn’t used to her mother’s bluntness. “” Before Geni could even say anything to defend herself, her mother looker her sharp and square in the eye, “” Her mother pointed her chopsticks at Geni who frowned, “” “No.” Geni interjected and her mother glowered at her and lowered her chopsticks as Geni took a deep breath.
“This isn’t the old country or your clan; Im not just going to right off marry someone, I need to get to know them. No amount of pushiness from you or anyone else is going to force my hand. So if It takes weeks, months, or even years; I will decide how I will proceed. As for your Summoning Scroll and your choices?” Geni said as she stood up from the table and put her napkin over her plate, “You can keep them. I’m not interested.” With that, she left the Inn and went home, thinking about the situation as she walked home alone that night. She took in a deep breath before exhaling even deeper and looking up at the sky while she went home. Had she been assertive enough, or courageous enough? Was that confidence or just pure stupidity? Probably the latter but it was times like this where she didn't need the doubt. Or rather she shouldn’t have been doubting herself.
Could she really see herself with her father’s pick? What was his name again? Usagi Uchiha? He seemed night enough… but… didn’t ‘Usagi’ mean Bunny? What type of bastard names their child ‘Bunny’? Somewhere in the back of her mind, she could understand why. Why he decided not to be a shinboi anymore. It was probably because everyone on his team ragged on him for being named Bunny. It all made sense but then there was one thing that didn’t make sense- how her Father knew him.
Iroh Akari, her father, worked solely at the family Inn/Hot Springs. He wasn’t going out to find people- oh dear goddess, what if he had seen Usagi naked? What if he had seen it and just slipped his file into the pile of other marriage files and told her mom, “Look, he’s an Uchiha, they make pretty alright kids.” Geni hoped to the high heavens that it wasn’t like that and it was just some other explanation but really, there wasn't an extra explanation. As she was thinking, she felt a tug and stopped abruptly; her stopping made her aware of another tug in her consciousness.
Before Geni could mentally perceive even the slightest mention of what was going on, her surroundings vanished and there was the feeling of being abruptly pulled backwards; before a large cloud of smoke clouded her vision. Her surroundings changed and even the smell in the air changed from nothing to the almost overwhelming smell of jasmine and eucalyptus. She began coughing as the smoke began to dissipate and revealed, not only a vast change in surroundings- but a variety of different dragons of all sizes. “Hey there, girlie.” The familiar, guttural voice of The NAmeless One rang out and Geni looked around the thick ring of other reptiles to find the one she knew- but they all kept a direct back behind her clear. As she looked around she noticed they were in some huge cavern, carved from a strange dark bluish-black stone. “We welcome you.” The voice that called out came from behind her, and she turned to look down the clear path, to a figure rising from a seat-like crevice in the wall and walk towards her. “We did not mean to startle you.”
“So, I’m not going to use this term lightly.” Geni said as she turned to him, “But what in the actual fuck is going on.” She asked as the figure drew nearer- it was male. OR seemed to be male.
They were lithe and it seemed every time one blinked, they changed in gender, despite the long dark green and amber robes they wore. Their hair was mostly pulled back into a white blonde crown, held together with sharp slivers of whatever made the walls of the cavern; save for two almost floor-length bangs that framed their face and made their piercing orange eyes stand out against their petite face. From their temples spanned antler-like appendages that seemed to be wrapped in strings of very small rubies. However, as they drew closer, the antlers were more hardened and fossilized and sleek in nature like horns. And those ‘strings of rubies’ seemed more like crystallized threads of reddish-brown blood from up close.Their lips were lined in cold and slightly parted to give way to the reason they were parted; they possess larger than normal canine and incisor teeth. They stopped before her at 6-feet tall, but since she almost brushed that mark, they were only slightly taller than her. The figure put a hand over their chest and gave an unnecessarily toothy grin, “Welcome to our Domain, Izayumi Hozuki.”
“No, no.” Geni said and the other dragons looked at one another and let out little growls as she looked at the figure, “There’s no way I can be in your Domain; this is obviously a Genjutsu-” “Which you would be able to sense and automatically break.” Geni thought about it and the figure was right; but that was irrelevant. “I want an explanation for this.” The figure gave a playful smirk and nodded their head slightly.
“We summoned you here.” The figure told her and grinned, “We will help with your Sage Mode, lest you no longer want it?” Geni stood there for a moment and looked at the ground. Did she need this? Was this something that she wanted? She looked at the figure and looked around the room at the other dragons, then she smiled at the figure,
“I do. I want this and I want to be more comfortable and better set in my own skin. I want… I want to be confident in myself.” She told the other dragons and the figure, and the figure grinned, “So - I want you to tell me become ‘Memorable’.” The figure nodded as the other dragons growled and snarled their approval,
“We are at your full disposal.” The figure said and smiled at her, “For now, rest. You will need your strength.” With that, there was another tug against her person and another puff of smoke. This time, when it cleared, Geni was in her front garden, confused and dazed. She took a deep breath and exhaled before going into her home for the night.
[Word Count: 10,603 ]
[ Claiming: 53 Stats, 2nd Spec: Ninjutsu ( 3000 / 3000 ), Rain Tiger At Will Technique ( 4000/ 4000 ), Water Release: Rain Shark ( 3603 / 4800 ) ]
She didn’t want to be stared at or looked at like some type of abomination. It wasn’t her choosing to be born with such abnormal hair- “Your grandmother has the same color hair.” Her mother’s voice rang out in her head with the same statement anytime Geni vocalized her opinion about her hair. Who the fuck cares? Who cared if it was her grandmother’s hair? She lived somewhere in a jungle with some old and stupidly archaic rules in a culture that had nothing to do with the one she lived in. As Geni sighed and grabbed handfuls of her hair in disdain, she glanced at the reflection of herself in the water’s surface. She remembered the look that the voice took- the scales. When it took her hair it seemed to look much more surreal and ethereal than Geni’s own hair made her feel or even looked to her. Could those scales really be hers? Her mind shifted to the image of her summon’s eyes; if she took on Sage Mode, could those be hers as well? People would be too distracted to notice her hair color. The figure had been so confident and their walk had been just as self-confident and absolute as their words had. She wanted that.
She wanted that confidence in her walk, she wanted that absolute ‘I stand by what I say’ attitude. Maybe it was jealousy or maybe it was greed; but she wanted it. She wanted to have that confidence… but would she be able to keep her temper in check with her mother around? She was probably one of the only people who could actually push Geni into losing her composure; it was disgraceful. She shouldn’t be bothered by anything her mother said but still, she had an innate and unfounded disposition to quickly lose her cool when her mother got ahead of herself. Geni sighed and massaged conditioner into her long hair, trying to calm herself down. There was no need for a repeat of Geni losing a good portion of her temper years ago. Maybe she could just… cut her hair? After another few minutes, she left the hot spring when her sister informed her of dinner, and joined them. “What type of hairstyles do you use to make your hair look shorter?” Geni asked her father at the dinner table and her mother glanced at her,
“I like to braid it and put it in a bun.” Iroh voiced, “I also like to a side braid to make it look a lot shorter, and then tuck the end of the braid into fractions I’ve braided.”
“
“I’m just thinking about cutting it.” Geni said and ate a few bits more of rice as her sister looked at her,
“OH you should totally shave off half of your head too- just the sideburn area.” Yukihime said as the rest of her family looked at her, “What? It’s the next big trend! Colored hair is SO this year, you’ll be fine if you get maybe just a trim too.” She added and smiled, but their mother ignored her and started a new conversation,
“
“This isn’t the old country or your clan; Im not just going to right off marry someone, I need to get to know them. No amount of pushiness from you or anyone else is going to force my hand. So if It takes weeks, months, or even years; I will decide how I will proceed. As for your Summoning Scroll and your choices?” Geni said as she stood up from the table and put her napkin over her plate, “You can keep them. I’m not interested.” With that, she left the Inn and went home, thinking about the situation as she walked home alone that night. She took in a deep breath before exhaling even deeper and looking up at the sky while she went home. Had she been assertive enough, or courageous enough? Was that confidence or just pure stupidity? Probably the latter but it was times like this where she didn't need the doubt. Or rather she shouldn’t have been doubting herself.
Could she really see herself with her father’s pick? What was his name again? Usagi Uchiha? He seemed night enough… but… didn’t ‘Usagi’ mean Bunny? What type of bastard names their child ‘Bunny’? Somewhere in the back of her mind, she could understand why. Why he decided not to be a shinboi anymore. It was probably because everyone on his team ragged on him for being named Bunny. It all made sense but then there was one thing that didn’t make sense- how her Father knew him.
Iroh Akari, her father, worked solely at the family Inn/Hot Springs. He wasn’t going out to find people- oh dear goddess, what if he had seen Usagi naked? What if he had seen it and just slipped his file into the pile of other marriage files and told her mom, “Look, he’s an Uchiha, they make pretty alright kids.” Geni hoped to the high heavens that it wasn’t like that and it was just some other explanation but really, there wasn't an extra explanation. As she was thinking, she felt a tug and stopped abruptly; her stopping made her aware of another tug in her consciousness.
Before Geni could mentally perceive even the slightest mention of what was going on, her surroundings vanished and there was the feeling of being abruptly pulled backwards; before a large cloud of smoke clouded her vision. Her surroundings changed and even the smell in the air changed from nothing to the almost overwhelming smell of jasmine and eucalyptus. She began coughing as the smoke began to dissipate and revealed, not only a vast change in surroundings- but a variety of different dragons of all sizes. “Hey there, girlie.” The familiar, guttural voice of The NAmeless One rang out and Geni looked around the thick ring of other reptiles to find the one she knew- but they all kept a direct back behind her clear. As she looked around she noticed they were in some huge cavern, carved from a strange dark bluish-black stone. “We welcome you.” The voice that called out came from behind her, and she turned to look down the clear path, to a figure rising from a seat-like crevice in the wall and walk towards her. “We did not mean to startle you.”
“So, I’m not going to use this term lightly.” Geni said as she turned to him, “But what in the actual fuck is going on.” She asked as the figure drew nearer- it was male. OR seemed to be male.
They were lithe and it seemed every time one blinked, they changed in gender, despite the long dark green and amber robes they wore. Their hair was mostly pulled back into a white blonde crown, held together with sharp slivers of whatever made the walls of the cavern; save for two almost floor-length bangs that framed their face and made their piercing orange eyes stand out against their petite face. From their temples spanned antler-like appendages that seemed to be wrapped in strings of very small rubies. However, as they drew closer, the antlers were more hardened and fossilized and sleek in nature like horns. And those ‘strings of rubies’ seemed more like crystallized threads of reddish-brown blood from up close.Their lips were lined in cold and slightly parted to give way to the reason they were parted; they possess larger than normal canine and incisor teeth. They stopped before her at 6-feet tall, but since she almost brushed that mark, they were only slightly taller than her. The figure put a hand over their chest and gave an unnecessarily toothy grin, “Welcome to our Domain, Izayumi Hozuki.”
“No, no.” Geni said and the other dragons looked at one another and let out little growls as she looked at the figure, “There’s no way I can be in your Domain; this is obviously a Genjutsu-” “Which you would be able to sense and automatically break.” Geni thought about it and the figure was right; but that was irrelevant. “I want an explanation for this.” The figure gave a playful smirk and nodded their head slightly.
“We summoned you here.” The figure told her and grinned, “We will help with your Sage Mode, lest you no longer want it?” Geni stood there for a moment and looked at the ground. Did she need this? Was this something that she wanted? She looked at the figure and looked around the room at the other dragons, then she smiled at the figure,
“I do. I want this and I want to be more comfortable and better set in my own skin. I want… I want to be confident in myself.” She told the other dragons and the figure, and the figure grinned, “So - I want you to tell me become ‘Memorable’.” The figure nodded as the other dragons growled and snarled their approval,
“We are at your full disposal.” The figure said and smiled at her, “For now, rest. You will need your strength.” With that, there was another tug against her person and another puff of smoke. This time, when it cleared, Geni was in her front garden, confused and dazed. She took a deep breath and exhaled before going into her home for the night.
[Exit]
[Word Count: 10,603 ]
[ Claiming: 53 Stats, 2nd Spec: Ninjutsu ( 3000 / 3000 ), Rain Tiger At Will Technique ( 4000/ 4000 ), Water Release: Rain Shark ( 3603 / 4800 ) ]
KomoriCitizenSurvived 2021You've completed the Christmas Event of 2021 and qualified for the last reward, by partisan you are awarded this fancy badge!- Stat Page : Faded Glory
Clan Focus : Ninjutsu
Ryo : 23750
Re: Time's A Changing [P, CD]
Wed Aug 08, 2018 12:17 am
Approve a lil bit late
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