The hardest part of the journey is starting it.

Sun Nov 24, 2019 1:20 am

The sun was beating down on the sandy training grounds. Lucky for Taichi, the battle didn't affect the training grounds too much. Knowing this, Taichi woke himself at around 5 am, before the sun began to rise, making the temperature did the same. He began getting himself ready for a full day of training. His mind did wander to his first coming back to Suna, and the man that he spoke with briefly, the one that sat upon the wall at the gates.

The man asked to be called Stark, whether or not that was really his name didn't really concern Taichi, but it was something to think about. He was just about to finish his breakfast when he saw the desert sun beginning to rise above the village walls. This was the sign that Taichi needed to get over to the training grounds. If he was going to make some money and not to mention, survive in this crime ridden village, he was going to need to become a killer in every way.

He walked through the village and headed straight for the training grounds. He warmed his body up and he began to think about what technique he could learn to prepare himself for his new life as a missing ninja. He found himself a nice open place. Some patches of grass and dirt, but mostly covered in sand.

WC: 231

Sun Nov 24, 2019 2:38 am

Outside the walls of Sunagakure was an almost unending sea of sand, dunes stretching out for as far as the eye could see with little to no greenery. Only a few hundred meters from the entrance of the village was one of the many training grounds of the village, and as one would expect it was made up of little more than a somewhat smooth layer of sand with some training dummies. But this particular training ground was in ruins, with both it and a good portion of the dunes that surrounded it having been completely scorched by what looked to be a gargantuan wave of flame, leaving what almost appeared to be a lake of still molten glass. Other parts of the field appear to contain what looks like the remains of a colossal swamp, massive craters and upended chunks of earth, what almost appeared to be a river bed, and what appeared to be the remains of an earthen dragon. And finally, in the middle of it all, at the bottom of a 40m deep and 80m large crater, sat the shirtless form of ‘Stark’, upper body coated in a light sheen of sweat as he sat cross legged and simply breathed.

It had been quite some time since he had truly trained, truly tried to push himself to his limits and surpass them… and while he hadn’t really managed to do that today, he had certainly accomplished more than he had since coming to Sunagakure. He had truly allowed himself to grow arrogant if he had stopped his training for so long. Thankfully he hadn’t left it for so long that he had begun to get rusty… but it was long enough for this, something that he would have previously considered to be little more than a warm up, to leave him short of breath and sweating… how utterly pathetic. His closed eyes would open as he heard the soft sounds of sand shifting, not quite enough to be the movement of a person, but certainly more than what was naturally trickling down into his crater. His red eyes would look to the right, just in time to see what appeared to be an abnormally large viper with pitch black scales come to a stop, its tongue flickering out as it simply seemed to watch him. The eyes of the creatures possessed an intelligence that was beyond that of a normal animal, which meant that it was likely a summon or familiar of some kind… but this one seemed more than content to simply watch him, something that told him it likely wasn’t here on any form of business.

The two would only break their little staring contest when the snake began to lurch forward, its mouth opening wide as its head lurched forward over and over again, almost as though it were gagging or choking on something… something that was proven to be indeed what was happening when a scroll was slowly pushed out of its gullet. Once the scroll was deposited on the sands between them the snake would push it towards The Reaper, who simply eyed the slimy scroll in distaste for a few moments before sighing and opening it. It was rather ornate in design, red and sandy brown in design, with what appeared to be snakes devouring their own tails around both the top and bottom, but other than that possessing no identifying writing. It was only when he opened it that he truly realised what it was, the empty parchment before him being almost identical to the Ryuchi Cave summoning contracts own scroll… except this one was completely devoid of names. The Raggedy Man would eye the snake for a few moments, wondering just why he was being offered the contract… but it was quite likely that he had been watched by these vipers since he arrived in Wind Country. And with his departure from Hoshigakure he was not exactly keen to be sharing the summoning contract of Valen, someone who had held the contract for far longer than he had and likely held a great deal more respect than he did… after-all, he had held the contract for well over a year at this point and hadn’t summoned a single snake.

With a small sound of acknowledgement Kenshin would allow one of his threads to pierce through the tip of his right index finger, and using his blood as ink and the thread as the tip of a brush he would lightly and elegantly write his name within the scroll, solidifying him as the first summoner of this obviously undiscovered contract. The Black Viper had been watching him rather carefully until now, and seemed far more at ease as it approached him and gestured its head towards the scroll. With a light chuckle The Ragdoll would roll the scroll up once more and hold it towards the Viper, who simply swallowed it again, and seemingly slithered off into the darkness of the night… trying to escape from the rather rapid approach of the dawns revealing light. With his Byakugan he was able to see the young Uchiha, Taishi, approaching the training grounds… meaning the boy had yet to be killed by one of the many more violent residents of Suna, something that was almost impressive in its own right… almost. In reality most of them were cowards that didn’t want to risk angering anyone that may be stronger than them, and considering they were little more than bandits, anyone with even the slightest bit of formal shinobi training would be able to handle them with their eyes closed.

The name of the boy alone was likely enough to make them piss themselves in fear and run, despite the fact that as was the boy was quite literally an insult to both his name and his clan, his weakness clear to any that looked… but that could change if he was willing to train, and based on where he was, that was likely what he had planned.

But what would the presence of ‘Stark’ do to change his plans for the day.

WC: 1021

Sun Nov 24, 2019 3:00 am

Taichi had been walking toward the sandy training grounds when he stopped for a moment to marvel at the sun rising above the dunes of sand that covered the terrain. Feeling almost star struck just at the mere presence of the massive surge of light that hit the village of Suna. He continued to stare at the sin rise for a few moments, until the frustrating beckoning of reality continued. He'd realized that he had been just standing for far too long, longer than what would be deemed normal. He continued on his way. Seeing the anarchy that had unfolded in his once beloved home village, he sulked at the sight of it. He dreamed almost every night of what it once was, what I could be once again. That was a dream that he did have, to build up this village to its prior glory and not allow it to be run by lowly thieves.

But a conundrum had snuck into his mind. Would he either build it up as another village, to own the same ninja village system that had caused such havoc and wreaked it's own distasteful behavior unto those who lived in this once great village? Or would he instead grow stronger himself and grow this lawless, anarchist land into a powerful force that could take on all the other villages. Powerful enough to control them all, no matter the resistance?

Of course the answer to this was still in the air, with the only thing to decide the answer to be time. Take would make all things clear and have all questions answered. The answer to the question in and of itself was useless unless he had devoted himself to his training. Training would be the exact piece of the equation that Taichi would need to aid the fruition of either answer to his questions.

With this at the front of his mind, he refocused his attention on the training grounds. If his memory serves he should have been closing in on the grounds soon enough. Once there, the young Uchiha would begin his warn up and commence his training to begin his acceleration of power and strength.

He closed in on the sandy training grounds when he noticed a figure, sitting on the ground with a viper slithering away from him. Taichi found this odd, but decided not to think of it. He was only focusing on trying to recognize the man who sat before him. As he got closer he recognized the clothes that the man was wearing. This was the same figure he saw sitting on the village gates upon his first arrival in Suna!

"You're that Stark that I met at the gates, right?"

Taichi was sure it was him, but being that he was at such a great distance from him at the time. He couldnt know for sure. He walked up to the man, stopping when he was directly in front of his location. He had his hand stretched out as he waited for the man to reciprocate the gesture. He did know that this place had lost many things, but he had hoped that common courtesy wasn't lost among all of the new inhabitants of the desert village.

Wc: 540

Tue Nov 26, 2019 12:35 pm

The Reaper would continue to sit silently as the young Uchiha questioned whether he was indeed the man that he met at the gates, doing little more than giving a curt nod at the question as he continued to simply sit and breathe… something that he hadn’t truly felt the need to do in what felt like months. He wasn’t sure what had happened, whether something had made him suddenly need to start breathing, eating and drinking once more, or whether he had unconsciously started to do so after his transformation… but he had to admit, he had almost missed it. One wouldn’t expect the act of breathing to be something that could relax someone, they would not understand how a simple bodily function that most did completely unconsciously could actually miss it… but thanks to his rather unique body… Kenshin understood completely. For months he hadn’t taken a single breath save for when he needed to speak, for just as long he had completely stopped eating and drinking, surviving solely on the potency of his own chakra and the multitude of hearts that beat within his chest… and now that he found himself doing all of those things again… he could safely say that he missed it. Something about the acts simply made him feel more… alive. It didn’t necessarily make him feel any more human than usual, but it certainly made him feel more alive, and that was a feeling that he had been missing for much longer than a few months.

As the man continued to approach ‘Stark’ would simply continue to watch him carefully, his eyes having been deactivated before the Uchiha had actually reached the crater that he sat within in an effort to ensure that he wouldn’t see anything that could give away his true identity. When the strange Uchiha came to a stop before him and offered him a hand The Immortal would simply narrowed his eyes, before simply rolling back over his head, extending his legs as he did so in order to push himself onto his feet in a single fluid motion. He would give a light chuckle as he did this, before simply shaking his head as the obviously young and naive man that stood before him.

“First rule of being a Mercenary kid, you don’t just trust people. You’d also be wise to not let anyone you don’t trust touch you… there are an awful lot of jutsu that can kill or incapacitate with a single touch, and most mercs are willing to do just about anything for some easy money.” The grizzled older mercenary would explain in the same gruff tone that most would expect from him, his dull red eyes gazing almost lazily at the young man that stood so steadily before him. The older man would simply sigh and shake his head, muttering illegible under his breath before starting to speak once more

“As an extension of that rule try to keep your clan name a secret… I don’t think you have any idea just how much some people are willing to pay for members of some clans. You’re an Uchiha, and Uchiha is one of the most highly prized bloodlines in the nations… most would be willing to kill you just to get your eyes and DNA, and even more would be willing to pay a fortune to obtain your corpse.” He would then explain, knowing this to be true thanks to a lot of his darker… and admittedly more profitable dealings. The Ragdoll would readily admit that he had half considered killing the young Uchiha in their first meeting, but he wished to see whether he could actually gain something from his life before doing anything rash. If he was anything like Kai then he would be easy to manipulate… and Uchiha were not exactly known for their sanity or brains, in fact, they were outright known for the opposite, for being ruled almost completely by their emotions.

“So… since I doubt you came to a training ground to speak to a tired old merc like me… why are you wasting your time talkin’ to me?” The man would then ask in a no nonsense tone.

WC: 702

Tue Nov 26, 2019 4:44 pm

As Stark gave him the pointers of being a merc, Taichi zoned out for a moment,

"A merc? Funny to think that before the battle in Suna I was one of the softest kids in the village. I was told so by many of the teachers and elders. Now look at me. A mercanary, killer for money. Almost impossible to believe."

Taichi continued to listen to Stark speaking to him. He spoke how clan names were to be kept secret for his corpse of all things would be worth killing and selling for parts basically. Taking Stark's knowledge in the subject, and his speaking of it so plainly, he was curious as to how Stark knew all this information on the trading of body parts and corpses. But he quickly quelled his thoughts and continued to listen.

His question as to his purpose in the training grounds seemed interesting. Why else would he be here if not to train. Being that this Stark seemed to be sure of himself and intelligent with hia knowings of the world, albeit the darker side of things, he was sure the question was loaded. But he decided to answer it just as plainly as it was asked of him.

"I have come here to train. If I'm going to be a merc, kill marks and make money. It starts with ones strength. I want to become a monster to be feared, I want even the Kage to know who I am, and acknowledge my power. I was here when the village was destroyed, and I ran because i was a coward. Watched my fiance and her whole family get crushed by their burning house and was too weak to do anything. I have decided that I will be weak no longer. So that is why I am here. You still seem to be quite fit and ready for battle to be an old tired merc, why are you here?"

Wc:325

Sun Dec 01, 2019 6:54 am

When the boy began speaking the grizzled ‘older’ man would resist the urge to scoff, chuckle and shake his head in tandem… the reason he was giving the boy this advice was because he obviously needed it… he was not a mercenary by any stretch of the word… at this point he was little more than a child playing at a very dangerous and often fatal game. He may not be quite as soft as he once was, but he was certainly still a child, at least in comparison to himself and those that were allied with him, and he would remain as such until he got a great deal more experience under his belt. At least he seemed to be willing to listen to those with more experience, as he simply stood silently and listened as Stark continued to explain some key points to him, the obvious questions burning within his gaze yet left unasked as he simply continued to listen to the valuable advice being imparted upon him. The final question, when asked, was almost instantly responded to by the young Uchiha… yet at the same time, despite the words that were flowing from his mouth… the question remained unanswered. It was honestly a simple question, yet it seemed that it flew right over the head of the young man… he had asked why the Uchiha was wasting his time talking to him rather than actually training… he had not asked what his goals were or why he was in the training grounds.

As callous as it may sound ‘Stark’ didn’t give the slightest of fucks about the kids past, about his future, or about him in general, he just wanted to know why the hell he was bothering him… and he hasn’t even received an answer, instead being questioned by the child in turn, something that earned little more than a light chuckle from him.

“I honestly don't know what it is with you young folk and trying to become ‘monsters’ like the boss… honestly he’d be the first to tell ya it isn’t what it’s cracked up to be… I get wanting to be strong, but ya don’t have to become a monster to do so. As for being feared… I mean, it can be useful I guess, but the trade-off is that it also earns you a lot of enemies and very few allies.” The Raggedy Man would explain simply with a small smirk, the enquiry doing little more than confirming the opinion that Kenshin already held about him.

“As for why I’m here… I’d still be training if I was decrepit kid, you’ll find that most shinobi have very little qualms about killing anyone, not men, not women, not children and certainly not doddering old folk… I’ve killed my fair share of each category… and truth be told I don’t regret a single one of them. Most were just business, a few were personal… all of em earned me a fair few enemies, and some of the people after my head would be more than willing to wait a few years to cash in on it.” The Immortal would then say, answering the question that he had been asked without any preamble or hesitation.

WC: 540

Sun Dec 01, 2019 10:23 am

As he listened to this Stark answer his question and saying how you needn't become a monster to be strong, it seemed to spark a thought in his mind once he said that he had killed old people, children, and women. "If one doesnt need to be a monster to become strong? Why is it that most strong people such as yourselves became monsters anyway." Taichi wouldnt ask this question aloud, but instead, ponder this question internally. He figured he would find out the answer on his travels and honestly it seemed to be a question better experienced than answered with mere words.

Enemies gained would simply be a by product to any type of life one lives. To Taichi if he was in the village system, he would still have enemies, but they'd be the village's enemies. At least in this life, he could earn them and pile up whatever bodies needed to get his point across to the rest. One thing that interested Taichi was the mention of a "boss". Who was this boss guy? Is there a leader to this entire village of lawless and evil intentions? If there was than that was someone Taichi wanted to meet, or was he? The thought of a boss was interesting to him, but he wasn't sure if meeting him was the best idea yet.

"Who exactly is this boss character you spoke of? Is there an actual ring leader to this village?" Taichi asked due to his honest sincerity. "Also, as I'm sure you can tell. I'm pretty new. I dont know much, but I'm willing to learn and will work harder than anyone. I dont know you, but you look to be one that knows a hell of a lot more than I do. Would you train me to become as strong as you?"

Wc:306

Mon Dec 02, 2019 9:24 am

When the young Uchiha began to question who exactly was in charge ‘Stark’ would simply stare at him blankly for a few moments, before his face fell forwards and his shoulders began to shake. It was only as he threw his head back in almost uproarious laughter that the reason why would be revealed… how truly foolish this boy was, entering the den of the beast without having any clue of what monstrosities lie within. What made this question even better was that he was unknowingly asking The Monster himself about the one in charge of this lawless dystopia… but the real question was just how had the strange Uchiha managed to hear so little about The Ragdoll and his conquest of Suna. Based on what he had said in this meeting so far he had been a resident of the village during the assault of Konoha and Kiri’s forces, since that was in reality the only time at which Sunagakure had been ‘destroyed’... but if that was the case then how did he not know anything about Kenshin? The more he thought about it the less sense it actually made to him… he could be lying about his past, but if so then he had done a very poor job of constructing a believable backstory. He truly had to have been living under a rock to have not heard tell of the man that had stolen both Wind and Rain Countries from Kumogakure, to have not heard tell of The Monster that haunted the husk of Sunagakure and had survived an assault from the combined forces of Konohagakure and Kirigakure.

This wasn’t simple arrogance on his part either… like it or not he was an extremely well known figure to the world at large nowadays, and he had long since stopped trying to hide from that. Sunagakure had become a true hotspot for the shadier elements of the nations ever since the failed assault, mostly because it had become clear to everyone that there now existed a Missing-Nin that possessed the power necessary to repel an assault from not one, but two of the so called Great Villages simultaneously. The knowledge that Xyxer Gyojin had fled from the battle like a wounded dog the moment that Kenshin had shown his face was not known to the world at large, nor was the fact that both villages had followed their leader in fleeing before he had a chance to truly butcher their forces… but it didn’t matter. What mattered was that, in the end, two villages had teamed up to end what they had rightfully taken to be a threat to both their rule and their power… and they had utterly failed in their goal, failed in a manner so spectacular that their dreaded enemy was now a figure known across the world at large and their failure was known to all. It was actually amusing to think about, because in his own mind the failure was his… they had completely destroyed everything that he had spent so long building, and escaped before he could utterly decimate them… but the world at large not only believed that they had failed… they believed that somehow he had actually WON.

‘Stark’ would allow his laughter to come to an end after almost thirty gut wrenching seconds, and with his right hand he would proceed to wipe the light tears that had begun to gather within his eyes.

“Good god kid, I know ya said you’re new and all, but ya have to have been living under a rock to have not heard about my boss, and honestly everything you’ve told me only makes me wonder just why you chose such an obviously made up backstory. Ya say ya used to call Suna home, but the only time it has been ‘destroyed’ was during the Konoha/Kiri invasion, and that was when my boss was the one in power… if ya really lived here at that time then you’d know exactly who he is.” The mercenary would explain, pointing out the very true and very obvious holes in this young man's story, all the while keeping his dull red eyes locked firmly upon his form and watching closely.

WC: 705

Mon Dec 02, 2019 9:47 am

Stark's reaction to almost any thing Taichi said was with a massive amount of sarcasm, that really wasn't much of a bother to him. Either way he was getting a lot of information that he couldn't believe he didn't know. The boss that he was referring to earlier was the last Kazekage. The thing that Taichi didnt know was why exactly a merc would call the last leader of Suna "boss." He didnt think he would be referring to the Kazekage as anyone related to him. But that could have been his ignorance of the evil and criminal deeds the Kazekage could have been doing behind closed doors. Or maybe he still really didn't know who he was talking to. All he knew what he was a man with the name Stark and the final Kazekage was "boss" to this guy.

Taichi's absence was quite obvious with his ignorance becoming more apparent every word that Stark has said to him. Taichi was still quote confused as to what had happened while he was gone. He figured if anyone knew, it'd be this guy. Preparing himself for the sarcasm to come, he asked his questions.

"So I wouldn't have thought the Kazekage would have been the one you called boss. Obviously I have been gone because I have no clue who you are and really what even happened after the invasion. Were you here during or after? Also, you still haven't told me who is in charge of this place, or if anyone is in charge. I know it's not the Kazekage, so who is?" Being sure the ignorance would attract more sarcasm, he readied himself for he actually found it quite amusing.

Wc:288

Wed Dec 04, 2019 8:06 am

As the young Uchiha talked ‘Stark’ began to truly wonder whether it would be such a shock that the same man the village knew to be the last Kazekage would be the same man to rule over it after the attack. Sure, on the one hand he had once been attempting to build Sunagakure into something more, a place truly worth living in and worthy of the title of Great Village… but this was still the same that had come to power in the first place by butchering all of its former defenders. Kenshin Uzumaki was indeed the last man to possess the title of Kazekage, he was the man that was in charge of the village before the attack of Kirigakure and their Konoha dogs… just as he was the man that was still in charge of the village as it was now. Sure, he had taken the title of Kazekage for himself… but it was a claim that had been acknowledged by all of the villages populous, and one that he had made to the Raikage himself when he had been sending the man taunting letters. He had been as much of a Kage as the late Youka Tau, and that man had served as the Raikage of Kumogakure for a great many years.

He supposed that he couldn’t truly blame the younger man from having difficulty accepting that Sunagakure was still ruled by the same man that it had been before… the village was an entirely different place after the attack of the other villages.

“Ya know… I guess I can’t exactly blame ya for being unable to accept that the man you knew as Kazekage is still in charge… the village was a completely different place before Konoha and Kiri attacked it… almost something that we could have been proud of, but they destroyed any hope of that. Kenshin Uzumaki… S-ranked Missing-Nin known far more commonly as The Ragdoll, The Last Kazekage… he’s still the man in charge of this little slice of hell, but he… and everyone else, have completely given up on making this place anything truly worth respecting." The Raggedy Man would explain, starting off his speech with a light sigh, pausing his speech here and there to give light chuckles, soft sighs and small scoffs, his face devoid of the smirk that Taichi would have come to see as usual for the ‘grizzled’ veteran. With his right hand he would retrieve his flask, expertly opening it as he brought it up to his mouth and heartily gulped down a portion of the contents, releasing a light sigh as he pulled it away and sealed it once more.

"Knowing him… he will end up laying down some ground rules for all residents and visitors to abide by, but it’ll be a set of rules more akin to those of the Black Markets than those of any of the more lawful villages or cities of the nations. In the end we are criminals… so why pretend to be anything else?” The despondent man would then say with a light chuckle, his dull and, more importantly, tired red eyes meeting the eyes of the Uchiha without either hesitation or fear.

WC: 535

The hardest part of the journey is starting it.

The hardest part of the journey is starting it.

Re: The hardest part of the journey is starting it.

Re: The hardest part of the journey is starting it.

Re: The hardest part of the journey is starting it.

Re: The hardest part of the journey is starting it.

Re: The hardest part of the journey is starting it.

Re: The hardest part of the journey is starting it.

Re: The hardest part of the journey is starting it.

Re: The hardest part of the journey is starting it.

Re: The hardest part of the journey is starting it.