Atonement

Sat May 21, 2022 8:40 pm

Fire crackled and hissed, breathing to life. Clasped in a thin hand, it illuminated the hannya mask adorned upon Yurei’s face and the walls closest to him in amber. He pressed his thin hand against the thick wooden door, opening it with a thrust of strength. It creaked open, the rusted hinges catching halfway and silencing the door with a halt. Yurei fell through the thin gap, raising the sconce high over his head. The flickering light grasped at the hallway, catching the interior in dwindling flame. He narrowed his eyes, looking at his surroundings. Sharingan afforded nothing in the way of night vision, but it could enhance small details he might have missed in such dim lighting, if only partially. Those two white orbs danced beneath his mask, scouring the tapestries and pillars as he descended into the hallway.

What little light emanated from the previous room flickered into darkness soon after Yurei passed the threshold, but this did not hinder the Uchiha’s progress. He pressed onward, nothing but the distant howls of wind and his own footsteps within his ears for a moment.

He paused, stopping suddenly. Yurei turned his had sharply, focusing his hearing. His narrowed eyes narrowed his focus, and he poured his mind into his ears, listening. Something had echoed throughout the room, a footstep unsynced with his own. For a long moment, he sat silent, focusing beyond the crackling fire held within his hand. He saw nothing, and the sound had silenced. Now more alert, Yurei proceeded slowly. His path became methodical, meticulous. Every step was deliberate. The end of the hallway was now halfway from where he stood.

Chakra flashed, and a sudden surge of energy charged into Yurei’s feet, propelling him forward. The sconce clasped within his had streamed through the air in an amber ray of light trailing behind him. He was almost there. He hastened further, darting his eyes to either side of him. The shadows from each pillar danced on their adjacent walls, flickering with the candlelight begging to extinguish. With a final thrust of his heel, Yurei reached door, drawing his kunai as he braced his back against the thick wood. His silver eyes darted across the hall, scanning each pillar and the dim shadows the fire created from them.

He held his breath. It was still. Quiet.

He called the kunai to the tips of his fingers.

What felt like an eternity passed, and, rising from his crouched position, Yurei stood. He felt the door behind him, pouring into it as he moved onto the next room. He was not alone.

The chamber beyond the hallway was two stories, lined with torches. The Uchiha clasped the door behind him shut, walking forward to light the first of many with the sconce held in his hand. Warm light feathered into the room, blooming against the bookcases and shelves carved into the wall. This is what he had hoped to find - a library, and, hopeful, and archive.

Many of the texts had been stripped. The fireplace, lined with more dust than ash, was smothered in black. Books stacked beside it indicated to Yurei that they had been burned - not out of malice but to instead keep warm - to stay alive. This had not spared the corpses calcified beside it. They’d likely starved. He eyed the door behind him once more before proceeding. He came to a small stack lined against the brick mantle. Plucking the first from the stack, he began reading. They were children’s stories, scrolls. Crude maps, manuscripts detailing nature from decades ago. He tossed them to the side, looking up at the second level. It, still shrouded in shadow, was cluttered with tossed books and dust. He drifted from the fireplace to the top of the staircase, lighting what torches he could. More corpses lined the walls, buried beneath books - impaled.

Yurei stood silent for a moment, detailing their deaths. When his eyes finally adjusted, they fell upon an open text laid out onto a table. Beside it, a quill and an overturned bottle of ink dried upon its pages. It was written in haste. Yurei ducked beneath the capsided shelves, stepping over the mounds of books as he came to his. He rose the torch over the page, tracing the words with his finger until he began to read. It was more than a manuscript - it was a diary. A record of someone’s last days.

March 26th

He is dead. The daimyo was killed before our eyes - his head paraded through the streets. My daughter was outside when it happened. I couldn’t shield her eyes. She won’t come out of her room now.

April 2nd

Kumogakure shinobi have overrun the streets, enforcing martial law. One of my neighbor’s, Yusuke, was taken out of his house and beaten in front of his boys. I haven’t seen him since. We stay in our homes, but they’ve started to take members of the village to the mines. Double shifts, I’ve heard. Since the daimyo was killed, food has been scarce. Most of it has been shipped back to Lightning Country, or so I hear.

April 17th

I saw Yusuke today. Skin and bones. Kei didn’t recognize him. I don’t know where they’ve taken his boys, but if he works any more he’s going to die. They’re bleeding us all dry.

May 3rd

Summer’s here, but it still feels like winter. They won’t let us out of our homes. We’re running out of food.

The next entries were scratched out.

August 27th

Kumogakure’s forces have pulled out. I tried to stop them, tried to take something, anything from their carriages. They took everything, all of our food. Our cattle. Our livestock. We have nothing left from the summer, and, with winter approaching, I don’t think we can survive.

September 1st

She’s gone. Kei is gone, and I can’t find her. I have to find her. I have to find her.

September 8th

I’m so hungry. Kei is still missing, and I can’t help but worry she’s gone forever or alone and starving. I’ve held up in the daimyo’s palace, but I’m so hungry. I’m so cold. I’m-

September

I killed her. I killed her. I killed her. I killed her. I killed her. I killed her. I killed-

The ink spilled over the rest of the page. Yurei stood, flipping through the last of the book. There was nothing left. Slowly, he closed it, placing his hand on the cover. They were abandoned, bled dry and cast aside. It sickened Yurei, left him with a cold hate that burned in his chest and toiled in his muscles. A black abyss slipped around the book, and it sank into a puddle of the blackest ink. Yurei sighed, funneling the chakra out of his fingertips. He sighed, turning as he moved to leave the chambers. He’d found his answer.

And then he paused, the kunai slipped through his kimono and into his finger tips. He did not move, like a predator lying in weight. He was still, focused. He breathed slowly, in and out. He placed a foot forward, lowering himself, bracing his body with his backfoot. Ahead, the torches crackled, their flames tugging away from them as if a breeze had fallen through.

And then, it was dark. The faint smell of smoke filled the air, and the torch held within Yurei’s grasp flickered, dwindling. He narrowed his eyes, the three tomoe of his Sharingan swirling hypnotically. It was quiet, and, after a moment, so too was his light gone.

Books scattered, and the shelves above Yurei launched away from him. A figure, darker than the shadow around them, pounced at the Uchiha, launching forward. It was all Yurei could do to raise his hands in defense. It made contact with his kunai, sparks danced on the floor, and the Uchiha was launched over the railing. Yurei spun in midair, landing on one of the tables below. This chamber was too cluttered. Any use of his fire ninjutsu was off limits. As soon as his feet made contact, he launched himself backwards, creating distance. At the very moment, the table he had stood upon splintered, shattering in two. He raised his kunai, unsheathing another from his sleeve. He struck the two together, brightening the room with scarce sparks if only for a moment. It was enough to see a pale hand lunge for him, aimed at his throat. Yurei fell to his head, pushing off with his feet as he formed the handseals. He dashed, his eyes swirling in a brilliant white, glowing as he burst through the chamber door.

His feet slid as he turned, kicking up dirt around him. His eyes darted around the room, scanning for anything. The doorway before him was pitch. Even as his eyes began to adjust to the darkness, that room yielded no light. Instead, he had to rely on his ears. There was a crunch, a snap, and the sound of stretched parchment tore through the air. Yurei broke off, moving in a blur as he proceeded to the next hall. The hand pursued, rising upward and then slamming into the ground. Wood shattered, pelting the Uchiha with splinters and shrapnel. He raised his foot and body into the air, crashing through the next door. Rolling in recovery, Yurei turned to face his assailant. It was gone.

The next room was frigid. Holes were left gaping in the ceiling, and, through levels and rafters, snow fell through, swiftly gathering onto the wooden floor. Yurei’s head did not move, but his eyes scanned the room. It was brighter here. The snow gave off a vibrant white in contrast to the hall, even with the dwindling sunlight amidst the blizzard. He rose, his cloak parting over the snow and gathering upon himself as he stood. The rafters above him twisted, bending with the weight of something massive. Yurei’s eyes rose, and, peering out the window, he saw the figure leap to the next building over before disappearing into the blizzard.

Another attack could be fatal, especially at nightfall, and, with Komon barely strong enough to stand, they would be at a severe disadvantage, even with his byakugan.

Yurei leapt upward, channeling his chakra into his feet.

Atop the palace, Yurei had little view of Yukigakure. He only knew which direction the figure had retreated to. Raising his cloak to his mask’s mouth, he set off, leaping onto one of the adjacent buildings still standing as the winds tore about him. The village was blanketed in white, snow swirling around the buildings and gathering mercilessly. As he leapt from rooftop to rooftop, he continued to gaze out, but, even with his Sharingan, detecting the figure was difficult. It must have had some form of suppression or sensory technique to evade his chakra vision. This, combined with an emphasis on hand-to-hand, posed a considerable threat.

Yurei landed firmly atop a tower, no more than half its original height. He scanned his surroundings. Nothing, at first. His eyes, battered from freezing winds, narrowed, focusing in on a shade a glowing blue amidst the landscape. Then, it disappeared behind something. Upon closer inspection, the Uchiha recognized it as a house. He moved in, surveying it. It was dilapidated, but in tact, keeping out most of the snow forcing its way in. When Yurei reached the roof, he drew his senbon, leaping in the air, throwing them, and following their descent.

Immediately, the echoing winds grew muffled. He fell further and further down before reaching the base floor of the complex. Even amidst the boarded windows, the light made most of the house visible, at least in comparison to where the ambush had taken place. Yurei landed with grace, forming the handseals. The snow drifting inside began to fall, delicately landing upon his shoulders, the floor, and the furniture scored my fire and ninja tools. The silence was eerily similar to the chambers. Too quiet. Artificial.

Yurei spun, leaping into the air. The same hand aimed for his throat clasped into the snow where he had been standing, but now, armed with his sensory jutsu, he was able to see the assailant through the snow. It, in turn, seemed to notice this, recoiling its hand into shadow before leaping from the opposite side of the cabin. Yurei twisted his body, expelling the air from his lungs. The frigid air buried within him screamed, soaring forth in a blaze. The shadowed figure grew luminous, and, for a split second, the Uchiha saw his target’s face - his face.

The fire pressed against the cabin’s walls, its windows, before bursting forth. It shattered the brick and wood, pouring into the adjacent cabins in a destructive wave. Yurei’s feet found the snow as he waited for the smoke the clear.

The vapor froze, dispersing as Yurei walked forward. Amidst the howls of wind, he could hear the crunch of snow beneath him, and the scattered breathing of his assailant - an Oni.

Yurei fell upon him, the falling sun casting a shadow onto the creature. It snarled, but was clearly too weak to even recoil. The Uchiha stared coldly back, then, at his surroundings. It was said that oni were vengeful spirits or men shaped into demons following great evil. Trauma - or themselves. They were symbols of vengeance. It was for this reason Yurei had created his mask in Kumogakure, his new face. That the creatures had actually existed came as a surprise to Yurei, but a welcome one. What was more telling, however, was this location. Why had it come here? And so, Yurei asked just that.

“You fled here. Why?”

Again, it snarled. Yurei chuckled, smiling beneath the grotesque visage. Likely this place had some sort of significance to the creature in life - human life. Now, it appeared eerily similar to the Uchiha himself. Less ogrish, and more a beastly tall man with a face modeled after that of a hannya mask specifically, or, perhaps, it was the other way around.

“This place meant something to you, didn’t it?” Yurei glanced back at the creature. His voice was callus. “You are beaten. Cast aside your pride and answer me, demon.”

“Yes,” it said, finally - clearly disgruntled. “I don’t know.”

So, either it was unwilling to share, or, it simply did not matter. Undergoing such a transformation, Yurei suspected the latter, though stubbornness was a forte he shared with the creature. The Uchiha drifted from the creature, looking around. “You lived here?”

Again, it did not answer. Yurei nodded, looking around the house. His hand touched the wall, tracing it as he walked along the cabin’s interior, watching the oni from his side. “I’m sure you did,” he said, nodding. It was clearly a family home. Perhaps not the creature’s but the site of his first target. His first love. It didn’t matter.

“You are not oni,” the creature muttered.

“No, I am not,” Yurei answered. “Not truly. I am a man - a shinobi. Yurei Uchiha,” he said.

“Uchiha,” the oni echoed.

“So you know the name,” Yurei said. He glanced at the palace, or, rather, its looming silhouette towering above them. “Yes, I suspect you do.” He returned his gaze to the creature. “What is your name?”

The creature waited a moment before speaking. “Koshukei.”

Yurei did not suspect that had always been its name, rather something it had adopted after becoming an oni - if that was his origin. “Koshukei,” he repeated, nodding. “To strangle.” Yurei glanced down at the creature’s hands. They were clawed, massive. “Tell me, do you know why I wear this mask? To masquerade as an oni?”

“Oni are feared,” it said.

Yurei nodded, looking off in the distance. The snow had grown more dense. It was getting colder by the minute. “Partially.” He turned back, standing before the creature. “I chose this mask, this title and name, because they are feared - yes, but also because, like you, I know of pain. I know the bloodlust that courses through your veins. How badly you wanted to kill me inside those chambers. I know that revenge that burns within your chest. I am oni in everything but body.” He stepped closer to the oni, tilting his head. “You will become my summons, and you will serve me.”

The creature stared back at Yurei, bewildered. “Why should I allow you such a privilege?”

“Because I have beaten you. Proven myself your better. And because I will grant you the opportunity to exact revenge on those who did this to you.” Yurei gestured to the destruction around them caused by his jutsu. “And because I will kill you if you do not.”

The creature snarled, to which Yurei chuckled once more. “Do as I say and I will treat you well, Koshukei. I have held summons before. They failed to yield to me - a difference of ideals. Pacifists. They did not understand us, and the contract is now severed. But together you and I can do great things. I am no mere conqueror, but I understand you respect strength. The Gods have shown you little pity. I, however, am much more merciful.”

“What use have I for mercy?”

Yurei lowered his head, lifting the book from the library from space and time. “Atonement.”

WC: 2882
Claims: Oni of Calamity Contract 2000/2000
Facial Copy Technique 1500/1500 Previous claim here
535/4000 Koshukei

Sun May 22, 2022 6:21 pm

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Atonement

Atonement

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