Putting together the pieces

Spoiler:

Rin sat within the wood log house that Emi and her had been using as their base of operations within the town. A plush leather armchair by the fire made for a comfortable place to rest and ponder the various discoveries she had made throughout her time in the town


The surprise blizzard had just been the start of things and the more they investigated the more oddities they had found. Rin thought back to the instruction she had given emi when the girl had asked about how she had known there was something wrong with the scroll that had transported them both her...


"You dont have much experience with space time techniques i take it." She had said, her words more a statement of fact rather than a question, "It's too be expected, techniques derived from space time are powerful and unique but take a lot more to learn than standard ninjutsu techniques. It's not common knowledge even amongst most space time users but the vast majority of techniques that warp space do so by defying the natural laws of the world, in most cases the technique user exercises their own will on the world forcing it to twist and obey what they believe to be the correct way of things. Some convince themselves they can drill a hole through the fabric of space, others believe they can fold space to do what they want, more still believe that by tearing open space they can gain access to a new layer of reality, another dimension if you will that exists below or above this one.



Most likely they all have at least some small piece of the truth, but what really matters is if their will is strong enough to overpower that of reality itself, the stronger the will the stronger the effect their techniques are able to impose on the natural world. It is, in many ways, a mirror image of how genjutsu works; a genjutsu technique will force your will upon another person, convince them that what you believe, or what you want them to believe, is the truth. With space time techniques you're applying the same principle only rather than overwhelming the mind of another person, you are instead trying to overwhelm the will of reality itself." Rin had said, her short lecture summarising her own understanding of how the various arts of space time manipulation worked.


Thinking back on her explanation tickled something at the back of her mind... there were so many inconsistencies and oddities in this town, but the one that was most glaring, the one that stood out the most was how the town seemed to exist within a bubble. Space time techniques functioned fine within the bubble, occasionally they would take the slightest bit more power but even that was erratic and could be chalked up to aberrant fluctuations in the natural chakra of the world, but as soon as she tried to open a portal to the outside world or tried to tear open a gap in space large enough to leave through... there was nothing, not even an indication of a failed technique. At first she had thought it the result of some sort of interdiction seals like the major villages used or some sort of similar disruption technique, but even those techniques gave some sort of feedback. This was almost... Rin paused trying to put words to the vague impressions and sensations she felt any time she tried to open a portal to the rice country. It wasn't feedback exactly, it was as if her understanding of the universe was wrong, as if her will was not strong enough to bend reality to her will, but that was not possible, her ability to use space time techniques within the village proved that to be the case. "Could it be that we're within someone else's technique? could they have somehow separated this land into its own dimension and are keeping us here simply with their own force of will?" She pondered to herself as she stared into the flames, the crackling fire. Something about that felt right, it might not have been the whole truth, but there was at least some piece of it there.


Rin heard the sounds of movement at the front door, their kind hosts were out and at first Rin thought it was just the sound of the couple returning; the man they had rescued from the blizzard, who's name had turned out to be jean as it happened, had been caught outside chopping wood in preparation for the oncoming blizzard the village had expected within the next few days, apparently the storm showed up each year without fault and with it a number of strangers and travelers from other lands came to visit, for some reason the storm had arrived a few days early this year and Jean had been caught out in the storm. At first that had seemed like a coincidence, but as she had learnt more and more about how the storm worked and just when it had appeared, the more she became convinced it's early appearance had been tied to her and emi's arrival in this land. Even now the blizzard raged outside the village, almost as if this little town sat within the eye of the storm, and that same raging blizzard prevented any hope of traveling far from the town. Rin pondered over that as she stared into the flames that lapped at the fireplace, her mind turning over the conundrum before she was interrupted by a sharp knocking at the door.


The sound was quick and practiced, like that of a politician or professional door knocker. The sharp and firm *tap tap tap* echoing through the wooden door and into the living room. Rin sighed as she stood from her resting place, the floor boards of the wooden cabin creaking underneath her feet as she did so. Making her way around the high backed armchair she had been using to rest as she pondered the oddities of the town she took in the room, the cast iron fireplace sat in the wall, a roaring flame within that had been freshly fed, flooded the room with heat leaving the building feeling nice and tosty, a freshly stacked stock pile of fire wood sat next to it, more than enough to last a few days if the storm flooded back in again, although from what jean had said it was quite rare they had to deal with a blizzard once the first one faded to the outskirts of the tundra.


Of course that small pile of fire wood, whilst enough to last a few days was not enough to sustain the household throughout the winter, Jean and his partner had enough fire wood to last the season stacked against the outside of the house, a neat second wall of wood braced against the log house's own rear wall. Rin had briefly considered showing emi how to create a fixed storage space for their generous hosts so that they could keep their seasonal fire wood stored inside, the pair had even discussed it briefly, it would have made for a great chance for Emi to practice some of the basics Rin had taught her about the manipulation of space time, but unfortunately with space time techniques so unreliable here the two had both agreed it was best not to risk creating a storage space here. There were too many unknowns and even if storage spaces worked right now there was no guarantee that they would continue to work in the future, there would be nothing worse than if they provided the couple with such a gift only for the storage space to cease to function one day when they were trapped by a storm, refusing to yield the couples stockpile to them when they needed it the most.


Pacing past the fireplace and towards the entry way Rin passed the imposing fir tree that Rin and Emi had saved from kidnapping... or would that be firnapping? Rin wondered absentmindedly as she gave the tree a quick glance up and down. Rin could certainly understand why the small gang of thugs had wanted to steal the tree. The organic tree itself was impressive enough, a fine specimen it's branches stretched out, each branch perfectly even, the distance between them as close to identical as you could expect any tree to be, but that was not what the thieves and thugs were trying to steal the tree for. No doubt the team of ruffians had decided to try their hand at stealing the tree because of the vast array of ornate decorations that coated its branches, the tree itself was almost completely obscured from view by golden rope, brilliant orbs of hundreds of different colours, their golden frames inset with rubies, emeralds, diamonds and sapphires of all shapes and sizes. Dozens of red silk and velvet bags tipped with fine white fur of an animal Rin couldn't quite identify adorned the branches, each one stuffed with gifts of all sorts. The Couple had told them that it was tradition to exchange gifts in the lead up to the new year and that their family had always invited friends and kin over to pick their gifts from the tree, each bag holding gifts carefully selected from all over the town; but even that was not the end of the tree's decorations, Ribbons of silk as Red as crimson and trimmed in gold were tied neatly around the tree limbs, small bows scattered throughout it, each one keeping a skilfully crafted and carefully painted figurine attached to the tree, each figurine a bird renown for its beauty in its own right, a peacock, its gorgeous tail feathers inlaid with jewels, a song bird carefully crafted with a clockwork mechanism inside that had it singing a gorgeous tune every hour, a crane; the bow that held it to the tree gently wrapped around the creatures majestic tail feathers; and finally the crowning piece of the tree, a star that adorned the top of the tree, carved from a single diamond each facet reflected light of a dozen different colours, the object acting as a prism that wreathed the tree in a festive illumination even as the walls danced with all the colours of the rainbow.


Rin had considered stealing the tree on the way out herself as it happened, but some subtle questioning had revealed that the ornaments were all family heirlooms, passed down through the generations and protected by what their hosts simply described as powerful enchantments. The pair had expressed great surprise that anyone had been able to even move the tree without permission once they had gotten over Jean's return, of course Rin would have chalked that off to superstition and ignored it if she hadn't examined the tree and its heirlooms herself and found a working of techniques well beyond even her power. When she had examined it in her mind's eye she found the natural chakra of the world seemed to flow around the tree, its natural flow subtly disrupted in a hundred different ways to have it form the shape of one massive fuinjutsu array, she couldn't decipher even a hint of what the formation was supposed to do and even with codex's specialised help they had barely been able to establish anything other than that the formation utilised aspects of every specialty, genjutsu, ninjutsu, space time, and obviously fuinjutsu, and drew on aspects of every element available in the natural world, not just the five basic elements, but Yin, yang, wood, and a thousand other advanced elements.


That had prompted an even more thorough interrogation of the thieves and how they had managed to bypass such a barrier, but to Rin and Emi's surprise all three of them had keeled over dead shortly after their capture, and the only object of note on any of them was a broken amulet that looked like it had once housed the image of a stain glass star that was rapidly turning to dust even as the pair had pulled it off the corpse of the thief. That had been another oddity that Rin had been pondering, an inconsistency that she felt must have something to do with what was going on here.


Finally coming to the doorway that opened to the outside Rin opened the door to see a short looking man in a green and red suit, a white pompom toped bobble hat sitting atop his crown and the faint, pleasant hint of mint, mistletoe and sandalwood struck her senses. As soon as Rin opened the door the odd man swept down into a deep bow, even as Rin stared at him in surprise. "Greetings miss, would you and the young miss Emi be in" He asked rising from the bow. Rin simply frowned at the man, there was something off about him, something that scratched at the back of her mind, eventually it clicked and she spoke her suspicion aloud. "I've seen you before, haven't I?" she asked, frowning at the man as she tried to place him. The brief flicker of shock on the man's face gave him away and confirmed her suspicion, though it still took her a moment to remember where she had seen him... "You've been following us, I've seen you in amongst the crowds many times, a different outfit, and an almost completely different face, but you've always smelt like that each time." she said, certain of her conclusion.

The man seemed to deflate, his pompous attitude disappearing as he hissed at her "not here, inside" he said conspiratorially as he moved to squeeze past her. Rin considered denying him entry at first, but he was no threat to her and he did at least seem genuine in his paranoid behavior.
WC: 2317

Emi had developed quite a bit in the time she had spent with Rin. Examining the tree had perhaps been a bit of a profound moment, even.

Rin seemed... almost horrified by it.

Emi... did not have that level of ability. Frankly, she could not figure out what Rin was talking about. The tree felt weird, kind of, sort of, but... that was it. Maybe? She was not even sure it honestly felt weird. That may have just been sympathy for Rin and grasping for straws to make her feel better about the conclusion.

Emi had, one night when Rin was asleep, looked at the tree.

No in a special 'ninja-y' way, but just... looking at it.

It was quite a beautiful tree. The family heirlooms, the decorations... Hell this tree might have been worth more than her village's entire bank. Though a not insignificant amount of that value would be locked up in memory and reminiscence. A gold sculpture like the one that hung from a lower branch would be worth quite a lot.

It would be worth quite a lot less, though certainly no small amount, when taking into account it was a sculpture of the maternal grandmother of the owner of the house in her childhood. The sculpture undeniably would have more worth from that than from the gold it was made of, even if one assumed it was pure, solid gold, both of which Emi had a hard time imagining.

The most expensive looking facet of the tree, to Emi at least, was undeniably the tree topper: the star made of a single diamond (or something of the like). The many facets, the light shining off and through it, the thing truly was a marvel.

Rin had spent quite awhile explaining the dangers of the tree but... Emi had been curious, and...

Well she had no intention to actually take it, right?

So, one night, while the rest of the household was asleep, she took the crowning jewel down to look at it closer.

And nothing happened.

No explosion of elements, no genjutsu traps, no suddenly released fuinjutsu. Just Emi holding the star.

Honestly it did make sense. The couple would have to take down the tree at some point. If it truly were booby trapped like that, it would have been impossible to take down for a couple that showed no real understanding of jutsu.

Emi did idly wonder if perhaps the only trap here was a trap for the cautious. Rin had said it was too difficult to figure out. Complex in ways that were beyond anything she knew.

What if that was the trap? Scare of any inquisitive enough to check it. But the complexity had no actual purpose.

Emi thought back to what Rin had said about how Space-Time techniques work. Or at least her theory on them. Specifically, that Space-Time works because the user wills it to work, despite what should or should not actually happen.

Perhaps this was similar. A complex weave of many chakras, made with the goal of deterring possible thieves, but without any understanding of how these things actually work. A thousand pieces willed into a tangled existence, knotting around the laws of chakra and reality itself, in ways far too complex to analyze, but in the end?

Harmless. Ineffective.

Complex. Scary.

A ruse.

A well crafted one, but a ruse nonetheless.

Of course, Emi had no real proof for this hunch, but... Everything seemed to have gone fine when she removed the topper from its position and examined it. She then put it back and would try to get back to sleep, pondering the mysterious nature of... whatever was going on here.

---

"Literally none."

Emi was laying on the couch, blanket thrown loosely over her legs, hands behind her head. She was staring up to the ceiling, thinking about all that had happened.

"Not until the other day when you started helping me figure stuff out. Damn fine teacher, gotta say."

It was true. Emi was still largely detached from a lot that could be done with this but, important to her, was the fact that she had figured out something big, powerful, and important.

The first time she had tried it.

Well.

It had worked.

But only on her.

And not anything she was carrying with her.

Or wearing.

Thankfully she had ended up in the shed out back and was able to yell for some assistance.

She tried to not imagine what had happened if she had ended up somewhere more public.

Tried, and admittedly failed.

But tried nonetheless.

Did that mean she had not believed enough in the teleport to work properly?

Or was it something else?

Emi was left pondering that when the rapping of a hand against the door pulled her attention away. Rin seemed to be getting up to get it, so Emi just sat up on the couch.

There was a brief exchange. Talk of a follower of the pair. In the creepy way?

Quite probably not as Rin let the individual in.

But with his entrance came the smell.

Not a bad smell. At least not to most people. But it left Emi with only one retort.

"Ugh, you're supposed to brush your teeth, not your body!" she said before gagging a bit and raising her blouse up over her nose. It would expose a bit of her stomach, but that was far more preferable to smelling that for the next several minutes.

"To be clear, you don't smell bad. I just hate the smell."

---

---

WC 927

Stepping aside Rin gestured for the man to enter, the harsh whiff of the man's scent assaulting her nose as he passed her. Shutting the door behind him Rin took a moment before, considering again, decided to lock the door with an audible click that might put the man at ease given his paranoid attitude to being overheard. Turning back to the man she was just about to question the man further when Emi chimed in. Rin had half forgotten she had been sitting there dozing, lost in her own thoughts as she had been. "Ugh, you're supposed to brush your teeth, not your body!" the girl said with a rather disgusted exclamation which, whilst perhaps a little over exaggerated, Rin couldn't exactly fault. Seeing the girl had pulled her blouse up with one hand, holding it over her mouth as a makeshift mask to filter the smell, Rin couldn't help but regret a little that her handicap left her unable to do the same without letting her guard down.

Rin was no fool, even if this man was no threat to her she wasn't going to let her hand stray too far from the band of kunai strapped to the side of her inner thigh... Even if that smell made it oh so tempting. 

"To be clear, you don't smell bad. I just hate the smell." Emi continued, and she had to wonder who had taught this girl her political tact, having once worked the stage of high society one of the first things Rin had learnt was that covering up an insult or blunder poorly only drew attention to the mishap more, the girl would have been served much better by letting the insult simply sit in the air; giving her an air of superiority that would mark her as a princess, heiress or other representative of a powerful enough force to be able to let such insults fly with disregard, Rin made a mental note to educate the girl on such things in the future, if they ever got the chance to get out of here that was.

Over the past few days Rin had found her fondness for the girl growing, though they were both rather cautious in giving away details about their own lives she had taken the girl on as something of a makeshift protege, teaching her some of the tricks she had picked up in her time, as well as some of the advice that she wished she had been given as a youth. She'd kept the specifics about her condition a secret of course, but after a few days she'd reluctantly given up the fact that a curse placed upon her limited her own ability to use her chakra.

Emi having had her chance to comment on the man's olfactory impression seemed to have deferred to Rin to continue on the conversation, so with a mental shrug she figured it was time to begin questioning the individual, carefully shaping her chakra, she let out a pulse of energy that solidified the air around the three of them, keeping sound from passing outside and being easily overheard.

"That should keep us from being overheard since you seem so concerned, now perhaps you could tell us why you've been following us?" She asked, a rather serious look on her face as her fingers tapped on her leg, slowly creeping towards the hidden blades that she kept there.

The man paled, before lifting his hands placatingly, "I mean no offence miss togakawa" He said desperately, "I was merely observing you for my master, to ensure that you fit the character that he had thought you held."

Rin's eyes narrowed at his words further. "I have not used my last name in the time i have been here, indeed i have scarcely used it in the last year." she said ominously, her hand creeping ever closer to her blades. "So then pray tell how do you, and your master, know it" she asked, her look now glowering as she interrogated the man.

"Ah, well my master knows everyone's names, comes with the territory, need to know everyone to know whether to put them on the nice or naughty list." The man said, glancing to the side at emi anxiously before quickly continuing rather than let Rin have a moment to unpack his explanation. "He never actually intended to summon you, you see. He had intended to request help from the young kage of tanbogakure over there" he said, even as Rin had started to stride towards him.

That however gave Rin pause, "Emi... You're telling me that Emi is the ruling shinobi of the rice country?" she said incredulously. She considered pointing out the absurdity of such a young and inexperienced individual being put in charge of an entire village, she considered pointing out how the gate guard that had first accepted her into the village was clearly the stronger of the two, and honestly before coming here she would have, but now she was a little more cautious of hurting the girl's feelings, at least when it was unnecessary. So she turned to the girl and asked her directly "He's talking out of his ass right?"

WC: 871
TWC: 3188

Rin watched the reaction's of the girl she had come to view as a protege closely, her on mind still half convinced that this must be some sort of joke. She saw the woman's face turn pensive, as she processed a number of thoughts, and that alone was enough to set Rin's hair's on end, she would have expected some sort of reaction from the woman, even if it was just to laugh off the question, but instead she was pondering .

She saw the shortest glimpse directed her way, her eyes meeting emi's for just a fraction of a moment before they skitishly darted back to the visitor as she spoke, "So wait, hold on, I'm finally putting things together that I didn't realize were a puzzle five minutes ago." She said, taking  a deep breath in, before speaking "Is you're master motherfucking Santa Claus?" the girl asked, and Rin frowned. A few moments before her own mind caught up, pieces of the puzzle clicking into place.

The legendary saint nick, more commonly known as Santa Claus, was a figure of myth and legend, one that most considered just that, a figure of myth. Supposedly he was responsible for the delivery of gifts all across the continent during the festive season. Supposedly his legend had existed since even before the great cataclysm, but in the time since then the legend had developed and evolved, branching tales transforming until there were a hundred different things that he could do, a hundred different explanations of who he was, how he traveled the world in only a night, and a million different details of which almost all could be true, or none of them could be.

Perhaps the legend that rung the most true here however was that the great saint nick was a retired shinobi, a master of the arts of space and time, who had developed skills far beyond that of even the most skilled of shinobi who existed within the world now. Rin had always thought of that as a tall tale, something to bring hope to children and give them joy during the festive season; but now she could feel pieces of the greater puzzle here in this town fitting together. The barrier that seemed to exist around the town would make a lot more sense if something of great power had cut it off from the rest of the world... or if this supposed santa claus was as powerful as the legends claimed, perhps this was something else entirely. Though she had never managed the feat herself she knew that some of the truely skilled masters of space and time manipulation techniques had, at least in the past, been able to move through seperate dimensions; or, in some cases, create dimensions to suit their own needs.

That would fit, Saint nick supposedly dwelled at 'the north pole,' at least according to the legends. Those explorers mad enough to persue the myth, brave enough to sail to the frozen wastes at the edge of the earth, and lucky enough to survive not just the journey there, but also the journey back, had always reported the same thing. That despite the myths and legends, despite the age old stories, there was nothing at the north pole but ice and death, travelers, archeologist's, scientists and shinobi had all made the journey, and all had reported that no matter how they looked, wether they dug through the ice, searched for signs of life below the ice, or hidden in the depths of the wastes, there was no evidence to suggest there was, or had ever been a north pole.

But that was all predicated on the assumption that the fabled 'north pole' referred to the so named location on their plane, if however 'the north pole' was the name given to saint nicks personal dimension... well that would explain a number of things... the odd behavior of the townsfolk could be explained by it as well, whether they were some facsimile of human life native to this dimension, or complicated constructs formed from arcane techniques well beyond the understanding of the world's current spiritual development; but even so, she was still not fully convinced, there was some theoretical evidence, some circumstantial evidence, and a number of questions that could be answered if this was the case, but it was still a big leap of faith to accept that what amounted to a children's nursery rhyme was in fact an actual person. Not just an actual person but one with god like powers. 'what next, should i start looking out for the easter bunny?' she thought to herself incredulously even as her hand relaxed a little, drifting away from the blade on her thigh.

Interupting her musing's the odd man nodded to Emi, confirming her question with an excited exclamation. "Oh indeed it is Miss Tanaka! Very good, i should have expected no less from the Young Mistress of the Rice country." he said clapping his hand in joy.

Looking at Emi with a look that very clearly said she had noted the lack of a reply and expected an answer in the future she turned back to their guest. She considered voicing her thoughts on the matter, questioning if this was some sort of bizare joke, but that seemed rather pointless, the man was either an exceptional liar or he really believed what he was saying; either way questioning the existance of this 'santa clause' would hardly be productive, she would be served much better waiting for him to slip up in a way that she could actually prove... or if he was telling the truth, as slim as that chance might be, then she at least wouldn't have made an enemy of what would then be one of the most powerful people in the world... or at least, adjacent to their world.

"I can't say I'm fully convinced that this 'santa claus' exists, nor that you are a messenger of his as you claim, but i'm willing to suspend my disbelief for the time being, if only because the young kage...." she paused, stressing the word as she looked back, at the young girl she had been tutoring, with a meaning glance. "Seems to believe you. Now perhaps with that aside you could tell us why you're here... and more importantly why you have been following us around town" She said, her face softening enough that it was at least not outright hostile towards the man.

As she spoke the man bounced back and forth on the balls of his feet in some almost comical dance as he nodded along, barely seeming to pay any attention though he certainly had heard enough to form a reply. "Ah yes, well as it would so happen Miss Togakawa, I have not in fact been following the Young Miss Emi; rather I have been following you." He said, looking her up and down in a way that made her feel like a piece of meat, though to any outside party it would no doubt look like a simple glance; Rin's own traumautic experiences did have a tendancy to put her on edge with such things at the oddest of times.

She had to supress a scowl as she replied in turn. "Me? You were following me alone?" she said incredulously. "What possible reason could you have to be following me around?" she said, a frown crossing her face as she pondered the question herself.

"Ah, quite simply because unlike our young benefactor here, you were not invited, nor as we understand it do you have any connection to her. How you ended up able to hijack the transportation scroll is beyond me, but I could hardly approach with my master's request without first verifying the quality of your character." The man said, nodding along to himself as if he had just said something incredibly profound.

Rin couldn't help but furrow her brow at the man's explanation, her frown deepening until it could almost be called a scowl. "So let me get this straight, your master, the esteemed Saint Nick, one of the supposedly greatest manipulator's of the fabric of space and time, and arguably one of the most powerful people on our plane of existence... sent a scroll with the power to teleport whoever opens it and the closest few individuals around them... to a kage with no explanation, leaving her to just open the scroll and be swept away with no warning."

The man opened up his mouth to continue but she held up her hand, cutting whatever he was about to say short as she continued. "Not only that but this scroll that he provided her was simple enough that I was easily able to detect the nature of it. Frankly I'm surprised that the scroll made it to her at all, if anyone with training in space time manipulation had examined it before the... kage recieved it you would have caused a panic. Though i suppose that didn't matter to you and your master since we've been here for day's now and Emi's village has, apparently, been left leaderless for that entire time. What possible reason could your master have had to cause such a panic?" She asked, a stern look on her face as she examined the man, carefully watching his expresions as she spoke for any tell that might give him away as some sort of charlatan or deciever.

To her surprise the man's expressions were... well they weren't exactly what she expected, but they also didn't seem in line with what she would have expected of someone caught in a lie either. Rather than reacting with confusion, compassion, sympathy, rather than showing that tell tale moment of worry as one realises their lies are unraveling, rather than any of the tells she had learnt to look for when trying to entrap a liar, he seemed perfectly calm, disinterested even, something that his reply reinforced.

"You summed it up perfectly Miss Togakawa, my master's need far outweighs that of one tiny village, and the need was urgent, as it stand's your presence here has already set us back days, had you not interfered the young mistresses village would have been without her for no more than an evening. Instead we had to make sure you were not a threat before we approached her." the man said, his own voice taking on the faintest hint of annoyance as he spoke. "As for the lack of obfuscation on the master's scroll, incase you were not aware, the scroll was delivered directly to the young lady and was designed such that only she could open it. There was hardly a need for more complex measures, especially when the master's current state makes such things taxing at best." He said, trailing off with those last words.

'There it is, theres the thread that he was hiding' Rin thought to herself, even as she plucked the thread and began to gently pull at it, unraveling the details from the man. "Ah and what condition would that be prey tell?" she said, feigning genuine compasion as she spoke.

The man sighed, a hesitant look crossing his face for a moment before he spoke. "I had hoped to allow my master to explain that himself, but if you insist on knowing then i suppose i cannot stop you. Saint Nick has been poisoned, rather severely too i might add; given time he will recover of course, Saints and other greater powers are not so easy to remove, but for the time being at least he is confined to this realm. Whilst the affairs of the greater powers are normally well above the domain of your world, in this instance at least, Saint Nick has need of assistance." He said, turning and bowing towards Emi as he said the last part.

Rin could recognise the slight, wether an intentional choice or simply a result of poor training a noble or diplomat could take such an action as a sign of inordinate disrespect, but rather than rise to the bait as the man no doubt expected she simply strode over to the comfortable arm chair she had been using a moment ago and sat herself down. Insult or not she had little enough dignity left at this point, an insult from a madman or an insult from a herald of a saint, it did not matter to her, little more could be done to damage the reputation she had left at this point.

WC: 2095
TWC: 5282

Rin was about to open her mouth, pointing out the absurdity of summoning someone as... inexperienced as Emi to assist with curing what amounted to a poisoned god; honestly the girl had talent, Rin couldn't deny that but she certainly didn't have the sort of medical skill that would be needed to complete a feat of that magnitude. Emi however seemed to have finally reached the end of her patience, speaking before Rin had a chance to do so.

"Look, what the FUCK did you even drag me here for? I won't deny, having some time away from the stress of it all is nice. But I'd like to get back. Tanbo won't fall apart with me gone, they did fine without a Kage once, they aren't new to sudden disappearances. But there's other shit I've got to worry about." The girl said and Rin had to suppress a smile, irked as she was with the girl keeping such secrets from her she had to admit that it was a fair play, more than anything rin was just annoyed that she had fallen for it, this was the side of Emi she had grown to know, brash, youthful and impulsive, to think that such a girl had managed to keep such a significant secret from her, even for a few days, wounded her pride.

Before Rin could chime in Emi continued her tirade, the irritation she felt clear in her tone. "Part of the reason behind learning this shit from Rin was to try and find a way back. I figured that, maybe, I could figure it out. My connection to Tanbo is hypothetically stronger, just from a 'I grew up there and spent almost my entire life there' standpoint. But now, what, I'm apparently here to help some guy from a children's song I heard about for the first time two days ago, or something. AFTER I got here. With what?

Rin knows I'm a fucking weakling. There's no chance I'm skilled enough to heal Santa's poison" the girl said, and Rin felt a pang of sympathy for the girl, she had certainly been hard on her during her tutoring, but hearing the girl talk about herself that way... well it reminded Rin of how she often thought about herself during those dark times when the weight of her curse became too much to bare. She opened her mouth, about to intercede into the conversation, to offer some placating statement or provide the girl some comfort, but before she could think of something Emi continued on, and what she said only left Rin asking more questions. "unless you're, like, lying about it being a poison but actually it's the fucking chakra virus."

"Chakra virus?" Rin said quietly, even as Emi continued her tirade. Her curiosity already piqued, despite the camaraderie the two had shared after the fight with the wolf hound's and their subsequent exploration of the town it seemed the girl was still full of far more secrets. Of course rather than respond to her implied question the messenger simply stood there stunned at the tirade that had just been unleashed upon him, Rin couldn't help but chuckle a little. "I don't know what you expected to happen, you haven't exactly given either of us much reason to trust you after all." She commented wryly before Emi's already thin patience seemed to end.

"Well?" The girl asked, and as the man turned to look at her, a pleading look in his eyes, Rin couldn't help but admire the way the girl had played her role, whether intentional or not the counterplay between the two of them had left the man on the back foot.

"Ah, yes, Right, well, umm, i... sorry just... just give me a moment." He stuttered awkwardly as he tried to collect his thoughts. Eventually, taking a deep shaky breath he would reply, stuttering all the while. "It, It isn't that we need you to cure the poison, as long as he remains here my master will recover in time, but time is not something that is on our side for once." He said, wringing his hands awkwardly. "You see with Christmas Eve fast approaching the esteemed saint is expected to deliver presents throughout the world. Because of the poison however he is confined here, unable to leave..." The man paused, making eye contact with Emi again, completely ignoring Rin in the process. "That is what my master requires your assistance with, someone young and pure of heart." Rin had to stifle another snicker at that, Emi was lovely as a person, but pure of heart was definitely an overstatement. When she wanted to the girl had a hell of a mouth... Rin shook her head, bringing herself back to the conversation at hand.

"So what your saying is basically you want her to traipse around the world doing your master's job for him..." she said, glowering at the man as he stood there fidgeting.

"I That You, it's not..." the man paused, still flustered by the direction the conversation had turned, and Rin took that as her cue to continue. "If that was all we would already have ample reason to be suspicious, but on top of that you effectively kidnapped a kage from her home, and then when she came through with an ally you spend all this time, time you claim to have in quite short supply mind you, spying on us before eventually showing up at our door with the very obvious intention to separate her from her allies." Rin said, strolling over to the arm chair she had been sitting in and turning it to face the man before she sat back, crossing her legs in such a way that she could still easily react to any overt hostility from the man; her hidden kunai still well within reach.

After a pause the man seemed to wither slightly, visibly deflating until he seemed much more hunched over and tired. "Okay, you have made your point. The saint will not be pleased but I can understand where you are coming from, he really does need your help young miss Emi" he said turning to Rin's young protege with a pleading look in his eyes. "But if your... friend here wishes to join you then I suppose I can consent to that." He said, hesitating slightly at the word friend. Rin could feel her ire building at that, not the man's hesitancy, but rather the man's assumption that her issue was with the lack of her own inclusion in... whatever bizzare mission the man wanted to send emi on.

"She hasn't even agreed yet, indeed you haven't even actually told us what it is you actually want us to do, my involvement is not the primary issue here, but perhaps I'm not being clear enough." Looking to Emi briefly to check that she wasn't talking over the girl and that she was happy for Rin to continue controlling the flow of the conversation Rin waited for a sign from the girl, a quiet tilt of her head hopefully enough to convey the implied question. Assuming she received a nod or sign of affirmation in response she would continue. "So then, what exactly does your master require of us, how does he expect us to fill in his role?" she asked, leaning forward in her seat, her arm moving to sit on the arm rest, her hand placed under her chin for support with a casual grace that spoke of a competence that came with years of negotiating such missions; after all before her... indisposition at the hands of the Wraith in black, she had handled the day to day operations of one of the sand's largest bandit companies, before that her and her master had earned more than their keep as hired blades and mercenaries. Unlike the shinobi of the villages who had their jobs handed to them on a silver platter, the renown of the village drawing in jobs and the bureaucrats within negotiating the pay for such individuals, Rin had grown up having to negotiate such things herself, had grown up needing to survive off of her own name and the history of successful jobs that she had built up. 'Perhaps Emi could even learn a thing or two from the negotiation' Rin thought absently wondering how she had ended up swept into a god's pocket dimension and training a kage at the same time; the universe was certainly playing some sort of prank on her.

Still looking skittish the man spoke tentatively "Ah, yes right, well you see my master can open portal's from within this realm to the rooftop of any household that celebrates the festive season, unfortunately confined here by the poison as he is, he cannot deliver presents as he usually does; that is what we need you for, put simply we need you to enter the households unnoticed and deliver the gifts that have been assigned to that household before returning through the portal." The man explained. Rin could see a few issues with what the man had said, not least of which was the question of why his master couldn't simply send him to handle these 'deliveries' if they were so simple, but she was curious to see if Emi picked up on any of them, so turning to the young girl she spoke, "It's your call, I'm with you either way..." she paused before giving the girl a coy smile, unable to resist adding "Lady Kage" in a teasing tone, hopefully conveying that even if she was still a little irked at the deception she wasn't angry with her.
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"Thanks for helping out," Emi would say. She had genuinely enjoyed the help over the last few days. She and Rin had disagreements, absolutely, but Rin seemed dependable.

"If only I had this much assistance in the Kage position. There's supposed to be another one, to help handle the things I can't. But after they all disappeared, it is kind of fucked.

Emi would look to the the strange man. "Let's get this over with." Emi would follow if someplace was where they needed to go, so long as Rin was going as well.

---

94 words

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Rin watched as the girl leaned back in her chair, she looked small, scared, weary, tired, and worn; and yet she still perservered, that was what Rin had come to admire most about the girl, not her strength or competence, not her talent or potential, but rather her stuborness, stuck here in a foreign land, whisked away with no idea how, no clue where she had ended up, and now, as they had found out, stuck in a completely different plane of existance from the one they were native too; the girl still pushed forwards. She had her moment's, there was one night Rin had passed by the girl's room and could have sworn she heard faint sounds of the girl crying herself to sleep, but the next day she had been up and rearing to go, learning everything she could from Rin in an effort to bring them both back home.

Now she saw all of that in an entirely new light, the girl wasn't just homesick, she was stuck under a burden she had never been prepared for, left to bare the weight of an entire village, to fill a role that she simply wasn't equipped for; and rather than complain, rather than retreat or flee, she had borne that weight alone for... well Rin didn't know how long but even holding that weight for as long as Rin had known her was impressive. Despite curling up into herself a little the girl looked Rin in the eye, and Rin could almost feel the iron will there, her eyes softened giving Rin a faint sense of gratitude even as the girl spoke. "Thanks for helping out, if only I had this much assistance in the Kage position." she said, that resigned weariness evident in her voice even as she spoke." "There's supposed to be another one, to help handle the things I can't. But after they all disappeared, it is kind of fucked..."

Rin's mind stuttered at that point, the girls words were tired, worn, and there was a hint of something else there, her tone wasn't quite pleading and yet there was a hint of something more there... She wasn't sure it the girl was asking for her assistance, implying something more or simply venting her frustrations, moreover regardless of which was the answer Rin found herself conflicted, stuck between her long honed instincts moving about parties in high society, manipulating others to get what she wanted, and the desire to help her friend... Well friend might be a little too strong of a word, they had been thrown here together through coincidence and though they had grown close there was still many things left unsaid between them both.

Regardless she could see potential here, so very many paths she could take, so many potential outcomes, some ruinous, some glorious, some safe, and some laden with risk. With the weakness the girl was showing her here, the trust, albeit half forced out of her, that she had given Rin she could see the potential to ruin this girl for her own benifit... or to lift her up, give her the support she needed to thrive, something Rin wished she had been given at her darkest hour. In the end she didn't settle on a decision exactly, but she made a choice, regardless of what path that decision led her down they would be path's build on a mutual trust and understanding."

Turning to the man before Emi could respond to him Rin spoke, her voice firm and determined, though not as hostile as she had been before. "I understand your only here on your master's behalf, and i understand the need for urgency, but I'm going to have to ask that you wait outside for a short while, it would seem we both have a lot to discuss and I'm afraid much of it will be private information." she said gesturing to the door. "Vis and Codex will keep you company" She said, as the pair opened the door, stepping through, Codex bowing to the man with a polite flourish whilst Vis simply glowered at him, it's own bestial instincts still resonating with the hostility Rin had shown the man before. "They won't hurt you, but I'm afraid i must insitst on this." She said, even as the pair strode up to the man, each taking one of his sides, and escorting him out of the building.

Once they were alone Rin would hold up her hand for a moment, indicating a request for silence from Emi, as she began to prepare a technique to keep their conversation from being overheard. She turned her attention inwards, cycling her chakra and gritting her teeth even as the corruption inside of her began to awake, writhing and twisting as its food source flooded through it's hunting grounds. Rin stiffled a pained grunt as she wove her chakra through her meridian's, imbuing it with the energy of the wind before weaving just a touch of yin and yang chakra within, altering the burgoning technique to flow with both the air and the nature of space and time; then with a sigh she released the technique, a small pulse of chakra emanating out from her and enveloping the two of them, as well of the arm chair's in a small bubble, the technique sealing them off from the rest of the world even as it stopped the sounds of their voices from traveling out of the bubble.

She wasn't sure it would work against the master of this dimension of course, the technique was intended to split the space they were sitting in from the flow of the natural world, locking it off from everything outside of the boundary without physically moving the space itself, but she had no idea how this Saint Nick's technique worked, if indeed it was even a technique. Still she had done what she could to give them both privacy and now she needed to show the girl the same trust she had been giving Rin. Walking over to the fireplace Rin picked up an iron poker, feeling the comforting presence of cold hard iron in her remaining hand even as she stalled for time, collecting her thoughts and collecting herself.

Even if Emi tried to speak Rin would simply hold up her hand as she prepared herself for what she had to say, poking at the hot embers of the fire as she stared into them, visions and memories of the past seeming to flicker and dance in the flames as she stood there. "There... is a lot you do not know about me..." she began, pausing as she carefully chose her words. "There is much I still do not know about you as well I am sure, but you deserve the truth, especially after... all of this." she said, gesturing with the poker a little towards where the messenger had been escorted outside. Pausing again Rin took a deep breath, deciding it best to just rip off the bandage in one motion rather than make this slow and agonizing. "Firstly, I am for all intensive purposes a missing ninja, I'm wanted in at least one country and theres likely bounties on my head in a few others for things i was forced to do just to survive after i was given that title. Moreover, I have an enemy... one who poses a threat not just to me but to the entire world, though he... it likely considers me no more than an annoying gnat. The Corrupted Sage of the sands is the one who did... this to me." she said waving the awkward stump of her arm, or at least what little remained of it, even as she continued. "I am marked by more than just title, the tremors and pain you've no doubt seen me wracked by an accursed gift left by the sage, no doubt some sick joke that the monster left on me... but despite all of that I am also strong and talented. I have moved amongst high society and low alike, growing up I learnt to play the role of a diplomat and a thief, working to manipulate those around me into taking the actions that would most benifit me and my companions."

Rin paused again, a thought flitting across her mind as she spoke, not used to telling the truth in these sorts of situations and so inexperienced with speaking from the heart she recognised that her words so far could be misconstrued or her intent mistaken, so she clarified. "I tell you this not because I intend to do the same to you, but so you can understand both my motivations, and how rare it is for me to speak the whole truth without embelishment or the intention to manipulate."

"I grew up on the streets of shanty towns and broken villages during the years when the land of wind had both no ruler and no village to protect it, I crawled up from the muck there, working my way from a starving urchin and thief, to a respected woman of high society, before eventually i was strong enough and respected enough that others flocked to me. I have lead before, ruled before, I once was the mind behind one of the countries strongest bandit forces, and when the corrupted sage came and declared the ruins of Sunagakure it's home..." Rin paused for a moment, her voice catching in her throat as the memory of her arrogance and folly floated to the surface. She was tempted to skip over the topic, tempted to jump ahead, but she had promised Emi the truth, promised herself she would give the truth, and perhaps she needed this just as much... she hadn't told anyone the full story of what had happened that day, she hadn't even been able to truly speak about it, even to herself.

Taking another deep shuddering breath she continued "I was one of the minds behind the great bandit alliance within the sands... I dont know that word would have reached all the way here of it, especially given its... brief life, but we gathered all the major forces within the ruined land, prepared to join the sage and offer him our services. Some wanted to use him to help rebuild the land, others to strengthen themselves, more still just saw an opportunity for profit; me... I honestly don't remember what my reason was, but I was young and foolish, overconfident and having thrived for years in the harsh sands though myself the sage's match... How wrong i was. The torture he inflicted on me for my hubris was... cripleing, it took me years to recover from the physical scars and even now the mental scars still remain, but I have long since sworn vengance against him, not just for my sake, though that is certainly a big reason for my vengance, but for the sake of all the others he has hurt." She said, finally turning to face the girl... the kage who sat behind her, watching and listening intently, her eyes seemed to reflect the fire and Rin couldn't tell if they showed fear, respect, or something else.

No matter she was committed now so she spoke, her voice soft, but there was iron in it, steel that had brought her this far. "I am no saint, nor am I a sage, I am wounded, weakened and scarred; but i am also strong, and experienced, and... despite myself i find myself trusting you, one of the few people i have found capable to watch my back and kind enough to confide in. If you need support I will offer it, If there is a second role that exists to support yours then all you need do is say the word and I will fill it. I cannot forswear my own goals, but I will be open and honest with you about them, I will give you the reins to direct me as you need and work to step into the roles that you yourself cannot fill." She said, taking a knee and offering the poker to the girl on a whim. She had never been one to pay much heed to tradition, but she had known the pendragon clan to take up such a position during times of great oaths. "ask it of me and I will be your sword and shield... I only ask that you keep my story to yourself, i don't share this easily and i worry what would happen should my goals reach the wrong ears." she finished, waiting for the girl to respond.

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