A Journey Beyond [P]

Treating each of the zombies as a simple obstacle, Koutaku maneuver expertly through the halls, reacting nigh instantly when his companion would tap him with her scarf, directing him along. Eventually, she pulled him aside in to a corridor that he had almost totally glossed over. It was clear to him in that moment that the Yuganori had a truly formidable structure here, its halls not only unbelievably gorgeous in their adornment, but also serving as a maze within which anyone unfamiliar with the place could get lost. Honestly, he was grateful to have found his way to Takashi within the veritable fortress given what he now knew.

Glancing at her as they slowed their pace, Takashi presented an idea that he’d entertained earlier in their endeavor. Nodding in reply, Koutaku smirked a bit and turned his enviable focus to a new task: Bending the world to their whims.

Immediately, in response to their intent, the walls of the compound began to warp and shift under a power beyond the gentle wind slipping through the halls. As they approached the compound's exit, Koutaku snapped an image of a graveyard into focus and so it was that their step through the door’s threshold was more like stepping through a portal to another place than anything else. Emerging in the dead of night--another time shift that he took note of, the hold of the dream on him much weaker than it had been prior to his faux death--Koutaku glanced around.

He was met with the sight of what he figured could only be a wide variety of...dancing yokai? Some with red faces and long noses, others with wings and black feathers--likely Tengu, he figured--as well as the occasional zombie or large wolven creature. Yet, there was something subdued about them, as if they weren’t entirely happy with things.

Nonetheless, from some unknown source, music drifted through the air, and the demons moved to it, largely ignoring the pair who had appeared among them.

“I really shouldn’t be surprised at this point, but I still am,” he admitted as Takashi stepped up beside him.

“Also, is it just me or do they seem kind of...sad? Like this party isn’t entirely as it should be.” He looked over at her as he said it, his gaze questioning.

“It’s almost like...we’re supposed to do something about that maybe? I don’t know, what do you think?”

Spoiler:

As the environment once more bent and shifted beneath the will of the dream’s creator, Takashi girded herself for another combat scene, ready to react immediately to coming dangers as soon as she let herself believe that the protean jumble of information this place seemed to be composed of really was the graveyard. She suddenly found her stance quite out of place, however, as some catchy little tune played in the background of the night air and the general layout of things suggested that these beings were trying to have some sort of party in the graveyard here?

Takashi looked them over and her trained seamstress’ eye immediately darted to the state of their clothes--they were all wearing outdated and rotted costumes from years prior, looking more horrifying than festive… and festive seemed to be what they were going for, given how jaunty the music was. Takashi couldn’t help but sing along for a few bars before catching herself, which drew the monsters’ attention to them. Rather than charge at them with reckless abandon like the awful wolven monstrosity had, the Oni and Tengu seemed to just sadly incline their heads towards the pair and sigh miserably.

“It’s no fun partying when you look like last year’s garbage…” one of them sighed, and Takashi looked at Koutaku for a second with a little gleam in her eye and a rising kink in her mouth as a smile began to form.

“Hey now, why don’t I weave you a new outfit? Why don’t you tell me what you want to be and I’ll get a brand new costume for you, custom made!” she smiled, moving her hands together to begin creating a ball of silk in the air, wrapped in chakra and linked to her silk glands. She listened to the oni’s instructions about how he’d seen an absolutely thrilling werewolf costume but had been too busy devouring the souls of the living to get it. Takashi placed a sympathetic hand against its own while her other hand weaved a costume in the same likeness of the wolf that they’d taken down before. She figured that she’d be best off making something quick rather than focusing too much on the details given how many of the monsters there were (and they’d even begun to form an eager crowd around the pair), and after only a few minutes she’d finished a complete outfit for the oni--though it was currently bereft of colour.

“Why don’t some of you monsters go and get some paint and giant brushes, and we can colour in each other’s outfits while we party?!” Takashi suggested, and several of the creatures nodded excitedly as they lumbered off to go and find the requested supplies. Takashi’s scarf tapped Koutaku on the head once again, directing him over to her, as she began to ask:

“Hey… I think this’d go faster if I were able to utilise wind chakra. I think you mentioned something about wanting to teach me how to use it for some of your more interesting techniques anyway, why don’t you just teach me now? It should be quite easy in this dream world, right?” she whispered to him as soon as he drew close, hands still idly knitting away at new costumes for the increasingly boisterous and loud creatures of the night in the background.

Spoiler:

As if to punctuate his statement, one of the yokai piped up, its voice bereft of any true joy, and instead filled with disappointment as it spoke. How helpful of the dream master to inform them precisely what they were supposed to do. Smiling slightly, Koutaku glanced at Takashi, only to find her mirroring his expression. Naturally, as any skilled seamstress might, she immediately took to the task of entreating the yokai as to what they’d prefer to wear.

Chuckling to himself and shaking his head, Koutaku watched while she worked, even going so far as to direct the entities to gather certain supplies so that she could effectively add further embellishments to their costumes. When she approached him, Koutaku was idly tapping his foot to the music--damned if it wasn’t catchy--and just watching with a subtle amusement and appreciation. Nonetheless, there was an edge about him, his eyes darting a bit too much for one to believe that he was truly relaxed. Clearly, he didn’t trust this lull in hostilities in the slightest and fully expected this nightmare realm to turn on them in a heartbeat.

Nodding in reply, Koutaku removed one of his hands from a pocket and focused as he spoke. “The first step is to call upon your chakra on its own, let it either rise up to the point you’re ready to release it from,” he demonstrated, fully expecting her to use chakra sensory to detect the difference in his chakra’s distribution.

“Then, you need to hold it there while you look deep into yourself, into your core, and seek out the resonance that dwells there. It’s easier to start with the element that you’re most familiar with. Once you’re tuned into that layer of things, you can expand your search until you can detect others. If you have the capacity to harness the wind affinity you’ll feel it.” He paused a moment, taking a deep breath and stirring that energy into action.

“At first it’ll be easiest to use your breath as a guide for the element. As you do that, you have to match the element’s resonance with the frequency of your chakra. By doing so, the two will merge, at which point you’ll have wind affinity chakra to utilize in techniques. Be careful though,” he warned.

“Wind is a wild element, just as likely to bowl you over as it is to cut you to shreds. So you have to be mindful it isn’t unleashed inside you while you’re moulding it.” That said, he finished the process internally, matching the resonance of his chakra to that of his affinity. Swiftly they coiled together within his chakra network and then blossomed. Quickly he released the power from his body, letting it press outwards from him in a gentle gust of wind.

“Ah, and don’t rush it. It typically isn’t quite as intuitive as your first element.”

Spoiler:

Takashi found herself entering that meditative routine of breathing so common to their clans and their ways of life as soon as Koutaku started trying to instruct her, her senses extending outward so as to properly envision what it was he was telling her. She nodded along while her hands worked at the cloth spinning from her wrists, reaching deep into the core of her essence and her being in order to feel that little thread of elemental affinity. She imagined it much like sorting through her familiar box of dyes, pulling at little threads of the colour that she wanted to imbue into her creations with her mind’s eye until she felt something shift and roil about inside of her. The element of wind answered her call from there, flowing through her delicate motions into the silk that she was weaving. With the speed of wind at her disposal she got into a rhythm of near-perfect efficiency, working through the various requests as quickly and skilfully as she could manage--within a scant hour she’d managed to get a wonderful ensemble of costumes of bright white silk tailored for the various yokai, each of whom was happily dancing along to the raucous rumblings of the music.

Shortly after that the yokai she’d sent off for the paint and brushes returned, their costumes already made and awaiting them. Takashi set up big pots of the paint in different locations around the graveyard, distributed the brushes, and whistled with the incredible force of her newly discovered wind chakra to alert the yokai it was time to begin the bash! She ducked down and to the side with Koutaku, conspiratorially whispering to him that they should leave and get to the bottom of this mysterious dream. With the yokai pacified they’d be able to exit from the scene without much incident, requiring only that they dance their way out in time to the rhythm of the music and avoid the splattering of the giant paint brushes flinging globs of colourful dyes every which way possible.

As they filtered their way out of the graveyard, Takashi was struck by a bolt of inspiration--she wove a quick piece of silk with that strange symbol they’d seen all over the place emblazoned in it, and set it out for Koutaku to look at.

“I think we have to focus on this. It seems to be key to whatever power ensnared us the first time--it kept showing up everywhere. Let’s see where it takes us if we focus on it, hmm?” Takashi grinned, eagerly awaiting Koutaku’s opinion.

Spoiler:

Smiling with satisfaction as Takashi once more aced the test--so to speak--Koutaku watched her work. He admired her skill as a seamstress, it was perhaps one of the primary things that had inspired his interest in using wire for combat. Even now, just watching as her fingers expertly wove between strands of silk, creating coils of cloth with practiced ease, he found himself almost enamored with the process. He’d tried his hand at it once, and while Takashi had told him he’d done well compared to the average person, Koutaku had never quite believed her. Watching now, he knew that it was beyond him to do anything like that physically. The closest he could get was in his manipulation of chakra, and even then he knew certain things would always come easier to her due to her background. He was okay with that fact though, comfortable with it. After all, despite his desire for such, no one could ever be perfect, and they certainly couldn’t be a master of everything they tried.

As she approached him and they made their way away from the joyous yokai, Koutaku whispered to one of the calmer demons to make sure that they made their way back to their own realm come sunrise. The demon eyed him strangely, but eventually gave his assent, making a promise to Koutaku on account of their help in improving the quality of their revelry. Satisfied with things, the young Iouchiryo let Takashi pull him along as they danced their way out of the throng of yokai. It was a nice moment, seeing her masterful work on every side, while they made merry so as not to draw attention. Unfortunately, it was marred by an undercurrent of sourceless malice that he couldn’t help but be aware of.

It remained, ever scratching at the edges of his mind like some malignant static that had etched itself into his mind. It was a parasite and a predator both, feeding on any fear he felt, and lunging forth at the slightest sign of weakness, seeking to control him, to guide him.

He wouldn’t let it and as such, it had shrunk down to a minuscule form. Only the prior incident had even let it remain at all, for without that it would have long since shriveled to a husk as it lay isolated at the edges of his consciousness, unable to penetrate his well-honed defenses. His family had taught him well, and in this, he could not fail them, let alone himself.

Leaning in, Takashi revealed to him her plan and he grinned, finding it to be a stroke of genius on her part--even as simple as it was. He’d been too distracted by all the individual details to really put them together to make a proper picture. In other terms, he’d seen the threads, yet missed the tapestry.

Clasping her shoulder, Koutaku met her gaze with a grin, and then let it fade to a more serious expression as he focused on the symbol she’d presented. Mumbling to himself as he focused, Koutaku commented, “I swear I’ve seen that somewhere....”

Then, with a sharp snap reality warped and bent around them. He didn’t let it affect him, having become utterly used to the once vertigo-inducing lurch of the world twisting as it changed all at once around them. Thus, with the next step they took, with both of them blinking at once, they found that they’d been transported to a shady rooftop, overlooking a building tucked away at the intersection of several shady alleys. Standing guard outside its door were two robed individuals, each had the strange symbol somewhere on their clothes, and the bore weapons openly. Narrowing his eyes as he noticed several strangers approach, Koutaku watched in silence as they presented something to the guards--the light was bad, and the angle was wrong so he couldn’t make out what they’d done exactly, nor could he hear the words exchanged--before carrying on into the building.

Gritting his teeth slightly, Koutaku glanced around, seeing if he could find anyone else who matched the description. Slowly a dreadful realization came upon him. Though the others didn’t know they were there, Takashi and him were surrounded. In numerous places, he sensed or saw hidden assailants, each bearing the symbol. They lay in wait for anyone foolish enough to attempt to enter where they were clearly not welcome.

Turning his gaze to Takashi, Koutaku spoke under his breath, quiet enough that only she would hear.

“They have people everywhere, too many for us to fight. If we want to get in and investigate that place...we’ll have to do so stealthily. Any ideas?” As he said the words however, something sprang to mind.

“Actually...hold that thought.”

Moving his hands in a blur, Koutaku performed handseals.

Immediately, one clone appeared on either side of them. They glanced inwards meeting their creator’s eyes, and then both of them performed the same handseal.

Immediately, each clone shifted in appearance. The one standing beside Takashi had its features shift such that they were identical to a random civilian they’d seen earlier, whereas the clone beside Koutaku changed far more drastically. Its body shrinking rapidly, the clone eventually was no larger than 3 inches in length. The clone had taken on the form of a rat. Nodding to his clones, Koutaku signaled once, then twice as if to count down, and then the clone that had remained human picked up the mouse clone and vanished in a Body Flicker.

Turning to Takashi, he explained what his plan was.

“Alright, they’re going to do a bit of reconnaissance. The first clone will approach the guards, acting drunk, but requesting entry.” He glanced down into the alley, watching the clone stumble its way closer to the guards, who shared a glance before gripping their weapons more tightly.

“The drunk clone will try to get more information out of them about entry. She can use the excuse of having forgotten it at home or the like, and see how they react. That sort of thing. The other clone is going to slip into the building and adhere above the door.” As he spoke, the drunk clone made first contact with the guards, her slurred words driving Koutaku’s lips to quirk upwards in slight amusement.

“Once there...we wait a bit and the next person to successfully gain entrance will have a rat drop on them. Once there, the rat clone can figure out if there’s a tattoo or something else that they’re carrying that could get them past the guards. Plus, he’ll be peering through the crack in the door to see if he can catch a glance at what they’re using as identification.”

The guards were grabbing at his clone now, abusing the fact that she was ‘drunk’ to get a bit more handsy than was necessary. As they did so, the clone flailed her arm out, allowing the rat to slip unseen through the air and land on a tiny windowsill, which it promptly crept into to take its place inside.

“Even if they fail to get any good information, the rat clone dropping on a guest will cause a commotion, forcing the guards to open and hold the door as it is, which should give us an opportunity to slip in unseen that way. So...in the meantime, can you make us some disguises? We need to fit in once we’re in the place otherwise they’ll all descend on us as soon as we encounter another person willing to ask even the fewest of questions.”

That said, he fell silent as his clones did the initial legwork for his plan. Quietly he hoped that Takashi wouldn’t think that this was an idiotic or needlessly complicated plan. He’d been told that sort of thing before.

Spoiler:

The sensation of reality unravelling itself and reforming once again was something that Takashi had actually found herself quite fascinated by. She’d always loved the abstract notion of space-time as a sort of cosmic weave, something that she could learn the mechanics of and eventually how to actually manipulate. It had always been something of a pipe dream for her, of course, even when she’d become a ninja--in her schoolwork she’d always shown more aptitude for the sealing arts than for anything that required that very refined and honed chakra control. As she trained more and more, however, she was coming to find that though speed was her primary attribute she was much more enamoured with the disciplines which required finer control. Something about the nature of the experience had piqued a curious thirst within her mind that she was not quite able to let go of--something that she knew would follow her into the waking world once this whole thing was over. As the scenery manifested from the abstract jumble in beautiful layers, Takashi found herself ready and waiting for what was to come.

Fortunately her first instinct was to duck down, keeping herself safely ensconced within the reach of the cover given by their height and the shade above them. Takashi looked down at the robed men with a very critical eye, unable to make out as much detail as she’d like but able to grasp the fundamentals of their outfits: dyed solid black with red stitchwork in that strange symbol on the back. Hooded… but it looked like a separate piece of fabric, rather than something stitched into the robe itself. Some robes had a red hem around the hood; some didn’t, instead having red hemming around the wrists. She compiled the details of the costumes mentally while she gathered her bearings and Koutaku formed his clones. She listened to his plan as he recounted it to her, nodding along for most of it but giving him a gentle ‘you may have overthought this’ stare with a little smile playing on her lips.

When he finished he’d notice her hands already going to work, using her skills with elemental manipulation (shakily adding in a few new touches with her rapidly expanding grasp of the wind element) to roughen up the silk just enough that it more closely resembled the fabric their robes were made from. Takashi did not have any dyes to hand, but a series of brief handseals later and she’d summoned a wooden box about a metre long and half as much tall with her clan’s symbol lovingly carved into the lid. She slid it open and began to apply the pigment to a few of the threads, waving her hands across the silk to coax the dye to spread with her Orinuno skills. It took a few minutes, with them having to look more closely at several of the passersby to ensure the details on the robes were correct to avoid arousing suspicion--but Takashi presented them with finished products in short order, beginning to don her robe before stopping suddenly and beckoning to Koutaku to do the same.

With another flourish of her hands and a brief expenditure of chakra she wove her chakra into the threads of both of the outfits, manoeuvring it into an Armoury Seal branded directly into the fabric’s weave with chakra. This would allow her to switch them between their disguises and their combat gear in an instant, and she nodded to Koutaku to begin the process of donning the robes once more. When she’d finished she awaited his clone’s pending distraction or dispensation of information so that they could prepare themselves to gain entry to the mysterious building.

Spoiler:

Keeping about forty percent of his attention on Takashi, and forty on his clones he remained aware of their surroundings and the numerous assailants therein with the remaining twenty percent of his focus. While his clones did their best to extract information, and await their opportunity, Koutaku kept a close eye on the chakra signatures and body language of the assailants he could perceive. Some had clearly become more alert, their chakra entering an altered state as they noticed the disturbance below. Others had seemingly dismissed the ongoing events as the guards seemed entirely relaxed about it all, honestly having far more fun than they had any right to with Koutaku’s female shadow clone. Idly, keeping the thought entirely to himself, Koutaku considered if maybe there was some part of him that was curious what it would feel like to be a woman, to have men fawn over you and paw at you.

Frowning at the notion, he dismissed it, finding that the idea kind of squicked him out if he was being real. Further...he didn’t really like the idea of men or women fawning over him at all. People getting too touchy tended to bother him if he was being honest, especially if he didn’t know them well already. Shaking his head he pushed his mind back on track, noticing that his human clone was giving subtle signals with their body language and hand gestures. She seemed to be getting involved with one of the guards, who was trying--and failing mind you--to put off her advances. Koutaku gagged a bit, knowing he’d have to process those experiences soon enough. “Dammit Taku,” he muttered under his breath, sounding one third disgusted, one third amused, and another third annoyed. Sighing and rubbing his temples, Koutaku side-eyed Takashi, hoping against hope that she wasn’t grinning. Fortunately, he was in luck and she wasn’t as her focus was elsewhere. Relieved, Koutaku went back to keeping track of everything in their surroundings.

When Takashi handed him his disguise, he gave her an impressed look, and then infused the Armoury Seal with some of his chakra, before performing the necessary handseals to replace his current garments--sans weapons...though the demon wind shuriken were just too big to remain on his back. Once he was done, he sent a mental signal to his two clones and the chaos begun. His human clone dialed up her flirtations, basically pinning the guard to the wall as she did something dubious to the man’s neck. At the same time, another ‘patron’--if that’s what they were--entered the building and then promptly let out a low yell as Koutaku’s rat clone dropped down on them and scuttled into their clothes. Grinning to himself, Koutaku signaled Takashi to follow him, and then dashed into motion, staying at a speed she could follow, remaining in a low crouch despite the effort of doing so.

Swiftly they made their way to a rooftop closer to the entrance, weaving about to avoid the many watchful eyes of the many enemy shinobi who had taken up hidden posts throughout the area. As they arrived several stories above the entrance to the building, Koutaku looked down and waited for the right moment. The second guard moved swiftly, opening the door just a crack to see what was going on inside, likely to ensure that nothing horrible had happened. However, as soon as he did so, the panicked man pushed the door fully open and several people dashed out, trying to get away from the huge rat that was running across the floor towards them.

Holding up a hand for Takashi to see, Koutaku slowly counted down as he tracked the rat’s movements, and then performed the Ram handseal as the rat passed the threshold and all attention shifted onto it.


Vanishing in a blur, Koutaku moved straight down the wall of the building even as his female clone noticed the rat and dashed down the alley, screaming. Her actions drew the attention of the hidden shinobi for the instant that Koutaku and Takashi needed to slip into the door. So it was that he--as an indistinct blur--entered the building at a tremendous speed, vanishing down another hallway where he didn’t sense anyone coming or nearby. Turning he made sure Takashi had successfully entered with him. That done, he closed his eyes, letting his two clones know that they’d made it.

With that knowledge in mind, the rat clone slipped into a sewer grate, fell several meters, and then dispersed in a puff of smoke as it struck the floor. His female shadow clone on the other hand just kept running, screaming about a giant rodent, tears running down her face and blurring her poorly done makeup. She would run until totally out of sight, at which point she’d cower behind something and poof into smoke, knowing that sight lines had been properly broken.

In a flood of sensation, Koutaku hunched over slightly, tilting his head and screwing up his features as he was forced to experience the full extent of both his clones’ actions. Grimacing as he had to endure the particularly gruesome splattering death of his rat clone--and the incredibly frustrating...lewd acts committed by his female clone, Koutaku was indisposed for a good thirty seconds before he could collect himself.

Glancing up at Takashi, he met her gaze for a fleeting instant then turned around and headed further into the facility. At the last instant, as he turned, she might notice the slightest bit of redness on his cheek.

Clearing his throat, Koutaku addressed her as he put up the hood of his disguise. “I overheard names that we can assume now that they’re not in the building. I’ll take Kaseki, you can be Airi.” That said he performed the Dog handseal, thus activating the Transformation Technique and changing his appearance to match the man he was impersonating. With sunken eyes, thin features, and dark brown eyes he was...not the most pleasant to look at. It didn’t matter, this was just to keep a low profile for the moment after all. Pushing long blonde hair from his face and deeper into his hood, Koutaku tested out a few lines and noises under his breath, too quiet for her to hear. Then, as he spoke again his voice was utterly unfamiliar to her.


“Alright, let’s see if we can find the source of all this nonsense. I think Airi was higher ranked among these two. So you lead.”

That said he paused in place, letting her pass him, before he followed.

Spoiler:

Takashi had, in fact, seen the lasciviousness of Koutaku’s shadow clones and had wiggled her eyebrows in that universally recognised gesture that clearly meant ‘what the fuck did I just witness on this day?’, but had made sure to do so only after when she knew Koutaku would habitually look over his shoulder to catch a glimpse of her when he was feeling insecure. She knew all of his little neuroses like checking behaviour very well at this point, able to keep the reactions she knew he wouldn’t want to see away from his gaze so as to let him adjust on his own terms and feel comfortable. She knew there’d always be some disconnect between him and other people because his brain was so… different, but it wasn’t like he was particularly hard to understand if you understood the environment in which he’d grown up.

She permitted herself the slightest smile at his antics before she had to react to the signal, having already summoned the gear onto herself and prepared to follow Koutaku’s movements precisely. She also used Shunshin to travel directly down the face of the wall and through the door amidst the commotion that they’d engineered. Once inside, the pair dashed down a nearby hallway and ducked into a shadow-laden alcove to recover with their time. Koutaku had briefly indisposed himself during this time, and during his moment of wild-eyed reflection Takashi had taken the liberty of running wind chakra through their robes to make them much lighter and more aerodynamic so as to aid in their stealth mission. Takashi acquiesced easily as Koutaku told her the name that she’d be using, but she had a few words to say to him on that front:

“I don’t think we should bank on being able to act like these… cultists, or whatever they are. We should just stay out of sight and not give any of them an opportunity to know we’re here or what we’re going to do. This is the time for a purely pragmatic approach, simple and direct--we have to search for some kind of information as to what’s going on in this weird place. Have you noticed that it feels more… anchored here? Like… like this is the epicentre of the dream?” she whispered into his ear, noticing just a glint of redness on his face as she leaned in.

She took over from him and escorted them down one of the many side corridors that branched off from this one, ebony-black doors without handles evenly interspersed on either side of the hallway. The more she walked down it the more she was unnerved by the way her feet hit the ground, and she looked down to notice that they were standing on some kind of fabric that had been thoroughly soaked in a sticky, congealed substance that been allowed to dry--and that there was a particularly metallic tang to the fragrance in the air. Freezing in motion for a second, signalling with her hands for Koutaku to do so with her, she looked around and up a flight of stairs some 10 metres further down the hallway. Flanking either side of an open stone archway were two unnaturally pale and gaunt sentries. Takashi pressed herself flat against the wall, heavily obscured by flickering shadows and the covers of large hanging flags emblazoned with bloody symbology--she made a single handseal with her right hand and summoned a handheld tailor’s mirror into it, taking a few moments to surreptitiously alter its angle and position so as to get a better look around the corner of the arch--but to her surprise, she couldn’t see the sentries in the reflection at all!

She turned around to look at Koutaku with marked surprise, pointing to the sentries and then pointing to their odd lack of reflection in her mirror before she leaned in to whisper again, voice so soft and low it was difficult for even him to hear without focus:

“They… they must be vampires. They’re as pale as my sister and they have no reflections. If we want to get past them we’ll have to discern how keen their senses are and find some way to bait them. Let’s get an aerial advantage…” she started, activating the surface climbing technique and climbing up onto the ceiling in an oddly spider-like motion so as to minimise their chances of being detected. They waited silently for a few moments, simply listening to the comings and goings of the cultists through the strangely intractable hallways. No matter what Takashi observed from her vantage point she couldn’t make sense of the layout of the building at all--it seemed like a veritable labyrinth of hallways guarded on all major entry points by these presumably deadly vampire creatures. They needed something that could distract the vampires for long enough that they could slip through and into a more central location to plan their next move--and serendipitously a dark thought came to Takashi as she heard footsteps below them. She clapped together a number of handseals in sequence, activating the familiar techniques of Weft Manipulation and Flying Swallow to animate her scarf. It slithered down along the wall, waiting patiently to strike as the cultist stepped directly below its reach. In a sickeningly sinuous motion it snaked through the air, edge glinting with wind-natured chakra, and slashed across the cultist’s jugular with an uncanny precision.

Spurts of blood sprayed from the open wound directly towards the vampires, whose unending hunger compelled them to the scene in a frenzied rush to feed on the ebbing lifeblood of the cultist gurgling their last on the floor. Utilising the distractions, Takashi quickly darted through the now unguarded arch towards another shady alcove, beckoning Koutaku along with her, before she came to a veritable nest of stairways leading this way and that. Thoroughly fed up with the state of affairs, Takashi made another piece of silk with that unholy symbol of Jashin (though she knew not what it was) and slapped it against the keystone of an arch above a set of descending stairs. The rock began to warp and twist, as though being overwritten, and suddenly there was a staircase leading upwards in an ominous spiral towards a distant entrance. The pair quickly snuck up, coming into contact with a set of stone double doors with the same symbol deeply carved into them. It glowed ominously with a crimson light, as if awaiting their arrival--they needed only to touch it...

Spoiler:

“Yeah, I did notice,” he commented in reply, shying away as she leaned in--some small part of him knowing that she was doing it to mess with him. Koutaku nonetheless nodded, his eyes averted as he followed after her. The two swiftly made their way through the halls, avoiding all manner of strange men and women as they did so. Slinking through the shadows--and occasionally along the ceiling with the surface walking technique--the two eventually made their way to a black arch, guarded by two unnaturally pale humanoids. As Takashi made the suggestion of using the ceiling, Koutaku nodded and matched her movements until he found himself inverted and looking down upon the hallway and its occupants. Watching Takashi’s mirror, Koutaku withdrew a kunai and used its well-polished surface to get a look for himself.

‘Well...that was, um, more than a little off-putting,’ he thought before lowering the weapon and shrugging in response to Takashi’s quiet exclamation. However, as they observed a thought occurred time him. Takashi had said cultists and that had tickled the same part of his brain that the symbol had. It took some time, but as his ally acted decisively to create an opportunity for them, Koutaku mulled over those two data points...and then realized a third as they passed into the hall of stairs.

“Cultists...they’re members of the Cult of Jashin,” he said with a form of quiet horror. It wasn’t fear, but it was insidious in its own way, making his skin crawl as he realized the true significance of this dream realm and all the bloody trappings and monstrosities they had encountered thus far.

With a grave look, Koutaku glanced at Takashi before steeling himself to lead the way up the stairs. As he was better in such close quarters than she was--and faster--it only made sense that he lead the way. Rising up the spiral staircase, the two would swiftly go much higher than the building had appeared when they’d seen it from outside, once again defying the laws of reality and revealing the true nature of this fell plane. Undaunted, Koutaku drew three kunai into his left hand, and laid his right hand on the hilt of his wakizashi, ready to draw at the slightest provocation.


Eventually, they made their way to the top where they found a massive gateway marked with the symbol of Jashin. Steeling himself, Koutaku pushed open the door, ready to strike as he did so.

However, as he entered, both his vision and 6th sense let him know that no one was nearly close enough for him to immediately eliminate. No, instead, a host of otherworldly entities, and pale shinobi sat in a circle denoted on the floor with a complex fuinjutsu. His eyes widening slightly, Koutaku noted that one of the figures was very clearly the elderly receptionist from their dream.

Letting out a low growl as anger pulsed through his veins, filling him with a chilling power, Koutaku noted the central figure, who sat with his eyes closed in the center of the room. The man was wreathed in a writhing aura of coruscating crimson energy, the mass wavering and dancing like a flame, but clearly possessed of a far more nefarious nature. With each jumping motion of its dance, the chakra took on the forms of howling beasts, and screaming men, before always vanishing in a flash as it shifted shape.

Noting that the room was roughly 20 meters in width, with a circle of pillars 3 meters out from the far walls, and the various figures arranged at the edges of the 5 meter diameter circle on the ground, Koutaku decided that this would be their battleground.

“Takashi, apply the Telepathy seal to me, quickly.” He whispered harshly. However, it didn’t seem to matter that he’d been quiet as one of the pale beings turned its crimson gaze upon them and then proceeded to let out an unearthly shriek, baring its many...many sharp teeth as it did so.

“Fuck,” Koutaku swore, swapping his kunai out for wirebound shuriken, and throwing them immediately before presenting the back of his hand to Takashi, hoping that she was ready to place the seal. Provided that she did so, Koutaku summoned his demon wind shuriken into his right hand, and then entered a crouched stance.

“Let’s end this,” he uttered, and then burst forth in a blur of motion. Meanwhile, two beasts that could’ve been twins to the massive wolven beast they’d fought roared and then surged towards them. At the same time, the shinobi in the circle rose to their feet and turned. Some wove handseals, while others drew weapons and fanned out. Other creatures still darted to the limits of the room and then began to close in from every direction except behind them.

Nonetheless, Koutaku rushed straight into the throng, the hand that had once been on the hilt of his blade moving off of it and drawing wire out to his right in a flash of motion.

It seemed he was pulling out the big guns.

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Takashi watched the scene unfold in quiet horror as Koutaku had pushed open the doors, kneading at her chakra impatiently so as to prepare herself for the coming conflict. She’d also activated her usual slew of techniques, causing her unnaturally long scarf to ominously slither ahead of her like menacing lashes, their edges scintillating with a rushing flow of gently green chakra. She took the lead on the upcoming skirmish, dashing forward to intercept the wolf-things from earlier, rushing off at maximum speed to intercept them. As she took off she slapped together a series of blindingly fast handseals and pressed her hand onto the back of his ear, leaving behind a small black dot there while she did the same to herself. Their thoughts suddenly brushed gently against one another, Takashi having successfully created a bond between them that allowed their thoughts to mingle in combat.

‘I’ll take care of the wolves--you try to throw some ranged attacks to disrupt the ritual. I’ll make my way there once I’ve dealt with these!’ she thought to Koutaku, dipping past him as her scarves whipped up along the ground behind her, scything menacingly along the ground in wide arcs clearly meant to intersect with the wolves’ paths. They both saw the opening to attack and lunged at her concurrently from loping angles on opposite sides. Takashi clapped together a number of handseals and used Kumonosu no Jutsu to shoot a thick cord of viscous silk upwards towards the ceiling, where it wetly stuck to one of the pillars holding the room up. Takashi kicked up off of the ground and used Adjustment to transfer her momentum directly upwards, retracting the silk back into herself so as to rappel herself up off the ground. She soared up just above the wicked rakes of the claws catching at her below, and while she had moved up her scarf had twisted and pirouetted in the air to scythe upwards just as the leftmost werewolf had started its lunge, cutting right through its claws and embedding itself about halfway through the thing’s neck. The scarf then curled its way around the thing’s neck, wrapping around it tightly, and Takashi withdrew a quick kunai while striking it downwards flatly to unleash a familiar CRACK! howling through the air as a blast of exceptional force crashed against the back of the thing’s neck. With practiced ease Takashi ripped the left segment of her scarf wrapped around its neck back with all her might, splitting the thing’s head clean off.

The right side of her scarf, meanwhile, had sliced into the other werewolf’s right hind leg and wrapped around it, yanking upwards as it was about to complete a bound through the air. It yelped in surprise as it skidded forwards, snout crashing into the ground with a sickening thud, and Takashi pulled her scarf back in a sweeping arc to send the wolf-thing hurtling towards Koutaku, neck and belly clearly exposed. ‘Catch!’ she mentally transmitted to him, awaiting his next move in their performance.

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