First Drop In An Ocean

It was the next morning after her confrontation with Aufero and Zyarae that Kamiko found herself donning her Holy Vestments, along with the stone blade upon her back, wandering the streets of the Marketplace in search of a way in which to prove herself and her intentions to the world as Zyarae intended for her to do so. It was unfortunate, however, that such an opportunity to demonstrate her newfound resolve and recently acquired abilities would not simply wander into her hands -- or that was what she had originally thought, anyway.

A loud commotion, followed by clattering and a sputtering of curses signalled the arrival of a new individual who was approaching the Holy Woman during her walk; though judging by the aforementioned loud cursing and his occasional colliding with random objects along the way, the man was less than coherent and more than a little drunk out of his mind.

"Hey, You...!" The Man exclaimed, throwing a punch that went far past the side of Kamiko's head, but was enough to get her to turn around in order to acknowledge his presence. "Yeah, You! Ya' dirty little..." The man grumbled, standing up to his full height after having missed his intended attack. He was a little over six feet tall with fair complexion and an overall build that suggested most of his income likely came from beating on those smaller than him, or at the very least he was a local tough-guy. He had short yet messy brown hair which nearly covered his dark blue eyes that were currently glazed over due to his intoxicated state and had a tensed up demeanor that suggested he had been geared up for the fight he was attempting to instigate.

She had no personal recollection of the man, however, he seemed to have some sort of recollection of Kamiko due to the way he was staring at her with a look of utter contempt and anger, fists raised in a sort of contemporary battle position:

"You think you can go around, convertin' my friends to yer weird religion and get away with it? They ain't been the same since!" The man yelled, clenching his fists tightly as he threw another punch that missed by a mile. "I'll teach ya a damn lesson, that we don't like yer kind around here!" He continued shouting, throwing another few punches that were easily dodged by the much faster woman who kept her hands concealed within the sleeves of her Holy Vestments the entire time which only seemed to irritate the man further.

"Now, There is no need for that..." Kamiko would say with a faux gentle smile toward the man, locking eyes with him for but a brief moment, though that was all she needed in order to activate one of her recently acquired Genjutsu. Within moments, the man would find himself suddenly paralyzed with fear as Kamiko approached him with a grin spreading on her lips. "After all, We would not want to anger the Goddess with all this unnecessary violence of yours, now would we?" She would say quietly, making hand-seals beneath her sleeves in order to form several paper shurikens from her body which floated above the man in a threatening manner.

The Man was still in shock from his being frozen in place by the technique such that he could only manage to stammer out an unintelligible sentence in reply as Kamiko let out a soft giggle, raising a hand her sleeve and gesturing downward toward the man as the shurikens moved down and two pierced into the man's shoulders as the rest planted themselves firmly into his chest. "Ah, I am dreadfully sorry - I suppose that I could not understand what you were saying... That must be extraordinarily painful, hm?" She asked the man with a raised brow, as he only managed out a string of curses in response.

Kamiko would then pluck the Shurikens from the man with another gesture, returning the paper to her body as she then took the stone blade from her back and raised it, bringing it down upon the man's skull with a loud crack which would knock him to the floor in a pool of blood as the Priestess took in the sight for a moment with a sense of pride before a sudden realization hit her and caused her to falter in her momentary adrenaline filled bravado.

This was, honestly and truly, the first life she had taken with her own hands. Sure, he was a no-name thug and she was just another criminal in a city of criminals; but that did not make things any easier to cope with the fact that she had thoughtlessly taken a life and set herself upon a path on which there could be no return. The sudden realization, coupled with the intensity of the Spirits buzzing around in her mind caused Kamiko to begin feeling a bit nauseous; though she managed to not vomit or otherwise and instead wandered off back toward the Church she called home in order to process what had just happened.

Upon arriving back within the safety of the Church, Kamiko would place the stone sword of Aufero upon the altar and sigh deeply. The blade had definitely managed to find a way to corrupt her morals somehow, that young girl who had apparently been the previously Wielder was right in that Aufero would likely continue to use her until Kamiko no longer proved useful, at which point she would likely be consumed or discarded depending on the mood of the blade at the day.

She needed the guidance of Zyarae on the matter and so contacted the Spirit through her own mind, closing her eyes and kneeling at the altar as she beckoned the Spirit: "Goddess, I need your guidance..." She called softly within her own mind, followed by a secondary thought. "I know that I have a duty to you, and to Aufero, but I am not sure how to cope with taking lives in your name." She added, a moment passing before she felt the Spirit's presence on her mind along with a spiritual hand upon her shoulder.

"Ah, my poor disciple..." Zyarae's voice whispered as if in Kamiko's ear, such that she could nearly sense a grin upon the Goddess' lips as they spoke. "Mature of age, yet still so wonderfully naive..." The Spirit said with an air of condescension as they continued to speak. "Did you honestly expect to be able to keep your hands clean through all of this? Sometimes blood must be spilled in order to further our cause, whether it be that of an ordinary cretin or someone of more worth to yourself -- You must come to accept that if you are to survive, Kamiko." Zyarae would say, spiritual hand moving down the girl's cheek as she felt herself becoming a bit more at ease with herself and with the will of Zyarae. "You must not falter," Zyarae said after a short pause. "You must persevere through hardships such as these, or you will never become the Chosen that Aufero needs or the devout Priestess that I myself require you to be." The Spirit would say, eliciting a small nod from Kamiko as the Priestess forced herself to stand back up and speak quietly in response to the reassurances from the Goddess Zyarae:

"I understand, Goddess." Kamiko said truthfully, realizing now that if she were to continue on living and serving the two Spirits who now had complete control over her life, lives would need to be taken on occasion and she would need to learn to accept that fact. It was with this new realization in mind that Kamiko would then reemerge from her Church to return to the scene of the murder just mere minutes ago, forcing herself to observe the body of the man she had killed and etch the vision of it into her head. This was what would become of enemies of Zyarae and Aufero, this was their fate; in a pool of their own blood, surrounded by strangers with no one to care for them nor to weep for them -- they were as worthless as the ground they laid upon, Kamiko was now more than sure of it. 

With a now strengthened resolve, Kamiko left the scene with a much more casual pace than before, returning herself to the Church for the time being -- for there was much to be discussed.

[Exit]
[1,414 WC]
[1000 WC toward Flicker Movement = 1000/1000 = Claim Technique
[8 WC to finish training of Snatch Steal 
Other WC from Here = Claim Technique]
[406 WC toward Fuuinjutsu Breaking = 406/500 WC]
[Mission: Unfinished Business ]

Approved.