A universe of madness [P]

Kota was laying in bed sleeping peacefully. The witching hour was growing closer and the hunter was waking up slowly. His dream was peaceful earlier. He dreamed he was in a meadow sniffing flowers and enjoying himself. All of a sudden a dark shadow appeared over the place. The darkness gave him an inexplicable feeling of discomfort. Trying to flee from it was the reason Kota was waking up slowly.

When the hunter was fully awake he was up in a cold sweat. It was hard for him to describe what had just happened. He could barely remember what it was as is. Kota was a hunter by trade. He was used to trusting his instinct. It was trained over years of use. That was why Kota was feeling off. He could feel something had shifted. The fact that he could not see what it was freaked him out even more.

Getting out of bed, Kota decided to look around. He could not see anything out of place. He did some quick hands seals and used senses beyond. The archer pushed his senses to the max to see if there was anything he could notice. As far as he could still sense, nothing was out of place. The air was odd but Kota could not see any noticeable energy. Not like he could see chakra anyway. The archer made sure his door was locked before heading back to his bed. His sleep was restless. Some reason he could not bring himself to fully slumber.

WC: 254

The archer woke up to the brightly shining sun through the trees. He lazily got up out of his bed to check himself out in the mirror. The symptoms of lack of sleep were displayed on his face. His eyes looked baggy, and they had a darker discoloration to them. Kota was not happy with how messy he looked. He cleaned himself up to the best of his abilities and looked a lot more refreshed. The archer decided on going on for breakfast.

Kota made his way over to a lovely little coffee place. It was not a place that served something heavy, like pancakes and steak. It was a quant place that served little things like coffee, sandwiches, and small pastries. Besides the food being great. It was a nice spot to feel the pulse of the village at times, it was also relaxing with a lovely view of the gardens. The positive vibes from the place could lift the darkness inside of him. When his depression from his mothers job hit, this was a place he came to for the few moments he did not keep himself busy. It was a place even she enjoyed.

“Did you hear about it as well? They say darkness had struck at midnight. It was so bad that Willis had died from the shock.” The whispers in the place from some groups talking aroused his attention. From what he could gather the feelings from last night were not felt by him alone. The feeling was most likely some outside forces. Kota started channeling chakra through his body. Something this large gave him a suspicion of genjutsu. He wanted to make sure that it was so and wanted to stay safe.


WC: 288
TWC: 542

The lack of genjutsu working on him mildly allayed his fears. Those creepy arts were fun to use on other people, not on oneself. The impression it left made him fearful at times. It did help him to process his emotions and give him a chance to work on himself.

Kota started listening to the gossip around him with a lot more interest. The interest only lasted about thirty minutes as he did not hear anything of note. Just ghost stories in the middle of the day. He was not too keen on them. Ghost stories gave him slight nightmares. Monsters, people, even deadly animals can be killed. Ghosts on the other hand. Kota did not have any ghost killing arrows. Far as he knew it was not even possible. The undead came back like flies to poo. It was something about wanting to live, attracting them back. That was the research Kota could remember growing up as a kid. He had an interest in finding a way to hunt the unkillable. He was young and foolish back then.

Getting up, Kota went out and completed some missions for the day. By the time he got back home the sun was back to setting. It painted a beautiful orange sky across the dome. It was a shame the night wind started to bring back the feeling of eeriness. It was another point that Kota could not describe what he was feeling. It was just a feeling of growing darkness that was getting stronger.

WC: 253
TWC: 795

Kota was sleeping soundly in the bed. This time the scary dreams were more pleasant. At the stroke of midnight the air took on a chill. Even as he was snug as a rug in three blankets Kota could feel the chill. It was as if a Yuki had decided to practice Ice Mirrors or something in the room. It was a chill that was sinking into his bones.

“My little bird…” Kota jolted awake at the words. Taking a kunai from under his pillow he prepared for battle. “You still wake up like your father when startled.” A sweet melodic voice chuckled at him. The words may have been simple to Kota, it was like a tinkle of wind chimes on a warm breezy day. It was the tone, feeling, way that it was said created a film of moisture over his eye. He felt like he was gonna cry till he stopped. Weary of genjutsu he started running his chakra through his body again.

“What is going on?” Kota started to question himself. He believed he could have been going delirious over lack of sleep. There was no way he seriously wanted to think he could hear the voice of his mother from beyond the grave. He would have loved it if he could. He missed her so much more than he would mention. The hunter was alone.

A wind picked up in his room. It kicked back the covers and a pale blue light to the form of a smiling woman. “I came to see you again little bird. Don’t be so surprised.”

WC: 266
TWC: 1,061

“Mom!” Kota was shocked to see the spectral form of his mother floating in front of him. She had passed away some time ago. He could have never imagined in his life that he would see her again, let alone hear her voice.

The gentleness of her smile could not be hidden by her spectral form. She gave a loving look at Kota before she continued to speak. “My little bird, how have you been?” The gentle way in which it was said let loose the dam of emotion that was behind him.

“Sorry about that. It has been so long and I have been through so much. I don’t know where dad is. He left and I am all alone in this village.” Kota started to vent about various things to his mother. He was telling her all that was happening to him. The tears stopped but he still looked pitiful. If anyone was looking at the moment he would have tried to take them out. The only one that could see him cry was his own mother.

His ghostly mother listened with attentive and kind eyes. She looked a bit heartbroken about learning how her lovely son was left behind. “Your dad has always been one to travel. Maybe he went back to his own ancestral land. Not like he was ecstatic on coming back to Suna. We really only returned since I was born here.” Listening to the words from his mother was like a bomb shell. He never knew anything about the background of his parents.


WC: 260
TWC: 1,321

“Wait! What?” Kota could often be called quick witted. This was one of those times that he could be considered slow for the most part. How was he to know or expect that the current place of his isolation could also be called his maternal ancestral homeland.

The floating vision of his mother gave him a peculiar look. “Yes. I never told you about it. To be honest I never knew you would take up the post to work as a shinobi here. The first one in a couple of generations.” She stopped as if she was taking a deep breath to collect herself. “I was born here some time ago. Long before the current Sunagakure was built. My family here was a noble family loyal to the Kazekage back then. When the one called Kenshin rose to power slaughtering our kinsmen and rising to power. I was out at the time. Our clan fell due to the loss of the upper echelons of our people. I met your dad at the time escaping for my life. We fell in love and the rest was history. I tried to forget about the past but I always wanted to be buried with our people. Even if most of them did not get the chance of a proper funeral.”

Kota was sitting in shock upon this revelation. “What about dad’s story?” Kota was curious about his spartan father.

“He comes from the Soaring Bird Tribe if I am not mistaken. There should be a book about it somewhere nearby.” She answered the question with no doubt. Kota could not help but wonder if she knew he was gonna poof.



WC: 277
TWC: 1,598

It was a lot of information to digest. He was an actual ninja by blood. The entire time he just thought he was a hunter. It was weird to think he would have such a different identity then what he was raised to believe. The information had put a lot of things into perspective.

“How come you never told me this?” Kota could not help but ask. If he had known earlier maybe things in his life would have gone differently. He probably would feel like less of an outsider.

“My sweet little bird. We had no family left. Telling you would have only made you worried. I was scared that information getting let out would also lead to you getting hunted. You are my child and I never wanted you to grow up in fear. Life was already harder. I did not need to make it harder. Now you are strong. The enemy that wiped us all out is gone. You do not have to live in fear. Now it can be an ancient chapter in our past.”

Her words sounded sweet. Kota could just not help but think. It was not the current village's fault and all the grudges were already buried. The happenings just reaffirmed his budding belief. Power is the only true thing, being weak can get you wiped out as well. If his mothers clan was strong they would not have perished. Even she could have still been alive today. The last part may have been wishful thinking but it was still a possibility.



WC: 259
TWC: 1,857

“Anyways. I may have showed up to see you but I also have another reason I came.” His mother gave him a sad look. It looked like she was trying to say something that was on the tip of her tongue. Kota was looking at his mom with his golden brown eyes, full of concern and love. Even if she was a disembodied spirit it was his mother.

The spirit pulled out a stone. “I do not have a lot of time. Take this spirit stone. It is an important object. I can only count on you to keep it safe.” When the rock came out Kota could see his mom start to flicker. She looked like she was starting to fade away.

Kota quickly got out of bed and tried to rush. He wanted to give a hug but could only feel an icy cool sensation. She was not solid. Kota thought it would be the case but he still wanted to try. He was devastated about the fact that he failed.

“I didn't even get to see you for long. There is so much more I want to talk to you about.” Kota had cried too much earlier. He was sad but this time no tears started to develop in his eyes.

“I know babybird. I am always with you. Keep that stone safe. I came here to give it to you. Losing it will cause a lot of trouble.” That was the last words she had spoken as she flickered back out of existence. Where the soul went was beyond him, at least he had the chance to see her.




WC: 273
TWC: 2,130