Reflections on the Starry Lake.

Zeo had much to think about. The time he had spent in many challenges. The chunin exams, the missions, the encounters with radical religious groups. So much had changed since he was brought to Hoshigakure. He had been grateful for it. There was much in his life he would of changed or wished he done differently, but he had no where else to go when he was brought here and was treated with respect and care. Given a home and a chance to grow as a shinobi.

Still it was days like today he could only just lay there on the small hill next to the gazebo that overlooked the beautiful lake that made Hoshigakure so beautiful. This has become his home. This village and he would defend it whenever he could. That was his path as a shinobi, but he felt he was lacking.

In power? Jutsu? No. He found all the power he could ever hope for. He was talented, skilled in ninjutsu and the arts of it to use creatively. He even discovered he possessed his own Kekkei Genkai-- an inherited power that came from his family. Though his family was gone, the power was his and he was making use of it. But he needed answers. Where the power came from, the history of his clan. He wanted to know and though he had gotten some, it wasn't enough. It all seemed to stem to something specific. A history, a truth that Zachary wanted to discover.

In the end, it came down to the answer of the night his parents were killed. Why were they killed? It was not a random event that sent him fleeing and almost dying in the river. Every part of his soul, his body, his mind-- told him he needed to find the truth. And the truth wouldn't be in this village.

He knew what he had to do. He had to go home. He had always thought he would return someday but not for this. He had no idea what transpired after he arrived in Hoshi. Now, he had to -- to learn about where he came from. To understand the gift his family had given him. The secret of the uchugan, and understand how to use it. And perhaps... learn why they died for real. All this time he presumed it was bandits raiding the village, but he never knew more than what he assumed. It was a lie he told himself to guard his heart from the pain of the loss. He couldn't live that way. All his successes and failures... had to become the material to forge a sword for him to cut through the lies he made for himself and what others have done.

His eyes could see things he never dreamed possible. The souls of others and their pasts laid bare behind every shroud or lie he ever heard. He could see the truth of the world. But what he needed to see was not in Hoshi. It lied in the land of rivers, his true home he had to see himself.

It was night time now as he looked up at the moon, the stars in the backdrop. He remembered the time he genjutsued himself and Enishi to the moon, a mental landscape depicting the wonders of space. He had accomplished a lot and he could of been happy with that, but it was a window to help him restore a sense of his most valued skill. His imagination. His creativity. Despite all the power he had, it was the one thing he truly treasured about himself and wished to maintain it.

But still the need for truth was what drove him on. A journey that didn't seem to end if he stayed there.

"If you want to howl at the moon, you actually need to do the howling..." A voice growled softly in his ear.

The voice was raspy, almost an echo of the mind or the wind... but Zeo heard it clearly. He didn't even seem startled as he sighed and let out a tired breath. "Most humans don't howl at the moon when they are meloncholy, Omega." Zeo explained.

To most, no one was there. Zeo appeared to be alone in the water gardens of the training grounds... however, he was not. An entity of the afterlife was there with him. Unless Zeo had applied mana-- or rather chakra to him, no one would see him and he couldn't interact freely with the world. To Zeo he saw the visage of a rather large black wolf. The wolf was of midnight fur with white markings along its body, giving it an almost divine feel to his nature. Outside of that his piercing orange eyes cut through the darkness like fell moons as it looked down at him.

After events in a derranged ghost world created by a mad omniyoji, Omega and Zeo had formed a contract to help one another. It was an odd contract but Zeo welcomed Omega freely, presuming that was his true name. IN reality he willingly called himself Omega, and the significance of that title was not lost on Zeo either. The wolf was a lone wolf. He had no other pack members or other spirits with him. He was in fact alone, and mere chance had Zeo and him meet in that deranged space.

"Yeah well you silently brooding is rather pathetic. I mean, I'd be tempted to make you a chew toy." the wolf cruely teased.

That was Omega's 'sparkling personality'. Dry, cynical, sarcastic, glass-half empty type to irk people. He wasn't a bad person, but his outlook was far darker than most. He was grumpy, judgemental, hot tempered too. It was odd that such a roudy wolf would suggest to be paired with Zeo of all people. Though in the end, the two had something in common. They were both loners in this world now...

THough Zeo had friends, and mentors to act as support, he felt alone with the responcibility of his clan and the uncertain truth of what happened to his family. He did feel alone now...

WC: 1024

Zeo looked up at the wolf glaring down at him. Despite the wolf's threats, their contract was solid and knew it just was the hot air the big, bad wolf liked to huff and puff every so often. Zeo had indeed gotten used to using fairy tail big bad wolf puns. If anything to get under the wolf's fur. In all, the wolf was loyal as he proven when they first met. He protected Zeo, under the pretense of the blood contract his clan had with spirits. Another thing that baffled Zeo. His kekkei genkai had a pact with supernatural beings unseen to the modern eye. It was facinating and had pressed to learn more about how the pact was forged-- but Omega didn't have such an answer. He only answered, it is law. That was it.

"It's not that simple to just go off somewhere," Zeo explained.

Omega cocked his head as he sat himself down, still looking down at Zeo, his big head obscuring the moon. "What's so hard about it? I left my pack after being fed up being the last in their fucking group. I'm telling you, its simple. " the wolf barked rudely, "Just get up, tell them off and take off and not look back. That simple."

Omega sure liked to wear the whole 'lone wolf' act thickly. Zeo could tell that was not a decision the wolf made easily. Wolves by nature ran in pacts. While it was true the Omegas in packs were dealt a horrible hand, they were still part of a community. A family. To leave it was not something easily encouraged, or the individual could indeed die. Perhaps that didn't relate to spirits, but still such animals followed those pratices even by nature. He didn't know Omega long but he was a mystery Zeo was determined to learn.

"With all due respect to you Omega... its not that simple. Hoshigakure became my home, and becoming a shinobi to them, i took an oath. To serve and protect the village. " he explained. "There are laws about leaving the village. In doing so, it is seen as a clear betrayl of the village and the one to leave is branded a rogue ninja. Even should I leave and intend to return, its not so easy to just leave and do what you want. You need to have a good reason. Further, if I did leave... id be leaving people I care about behind?"

"Like that annoying red-head brat and that loud-mouth girl?" Omega replied with a soft bark of amusement. "yeah... can't live without them."

The sarcasm aside, Zeo rolled his eyes. "I have friends, mentors... people I care about Omega. I don't have any intention to abandon them. They are my home... and...." Zeo stopped there, realizing he still needed the answers. He still had to go.

The talk of friends and family was making Omega roll his eyes and his tail wagged impatiently. "Oh for the love of pack mother, JUST DO IT. You know you will eventually. " The wolf said. Zeo just kept quiet and sighed, realizing the wolf was trying to help in his own way. "Look, you know you won't get what you want here. You know where you have to go. If these people mean that much to you... they will understand."

"How do you know that?" Zeo asked Omega.

"If you care so damn much about them, then they'd--"

"No, i mean how do YOU know about that?" Zeo said slyly, looking to the wolf coyly to know that the wolf was now talking about caring about people.

The irony of the lone wolf wasn't lost on him as his eyes widened, and then he let out a snarl down at Zeo on the grass. "Watch it, kid. Spirit or not, I'll haunt your ass..." he snarled.

"Duly noted," Zeo replied, resisting the urge to laugh. "As you were saying?" he asked him to continue.

The wolf calmed down, knowing how Zeo was feeling about it. In truth, he did know that this village was the boy's pack and he didn't want to see Zeo give it up. "My point is... you have the facts staring at you in the face. You want the truth, but you will never learn it hiding in this village. You need to go out into the world, and see it . I will say this, I could of stayed with my pack, but I wanted more. So i went out on my own. And you know what, hardships aside-- i never regretted it."

Zeo smiled a little, hearing the wolf's words encouraging him. "Yeah... but would my pack welcome me back if I do." he asked.

"That I can't say... but if they understand your position, they will understand," Omega replied. "Even if they do brand you a rogue... living without the truth seems more unbearable. Not t hat I know, since I'm not technically alive."

Zeo looked up at the starry sky, seeing the stars shine through the darkness. I twas that view that made him happy, and proud to be a part of the star village. But each star was like a truth hidden in the darkness. He couldn't deny the lure of them. If the stars were like the truth, he had to seek them out. It meant something to him, more than anything. If he didn't he would live with regret forever!

"you're right, Omega. I can't stay here. Despite my intentions, i can't keep hoping the truth will come to me. I need to find it on my own. ANd there is only one place i can find it now. Back home in River Country..." Zeo said as he slowly sat up and looked out to the lake, seeing the starry reflection. "The place where my parents were murdered."

A flash in his mind showed the old scene... the flames that consumed his home and the explosion that threw him from the cliff to the river. Despite the odds, he alone survived... "I never understood why I survived that night. Despite my mother's warning to run, i never understood who attacked us and why. And back then I was too scared to question or go but now..." he mused aloud.

"Well now your a grown-ass young man, so suck it up." Omega said in a crass way. "Rules or not there is nothing holding you back from going but you. So I say do it."

WC: 1080

Zeo sighed at Omega's crass and vulger way of trying to motivate him. The big bad wolf was clearly someone who didn't hold any sway by the thoughts of others, but that seemed to reveal more about him than Zeo. He knew the wolf had a past-- most ghosts would. When he asked why he wanted to form a contract with him, the wolf had been evasive as hell with him, no matter how pressed he tried to be to get details. He even tried to use genjutsu or the 'retrocognition' with the eyes-- however, it didn't work. It was hard for him to 'touch' something that normally was etherial by nature. Omega being a spirit or ghost was enough reason for that point.

The wolf was a big mystery, but he did save his life and his allies. Despite his big-bad wolf attitude, the wolf hid a more caring heart than he would likely admit, or had a reason to protect Zeo that he wasn't willing to share. Either way, Zeo remained compassionate in the face of the grumpy canine.

"You made your point, Omega. Still, I can't just shed my responsibilities. But I am going to see if I can just leave temporarily to find out the truth. I can't keep hidden in this village forever. No matter what my goals are. " Brushing off the grass from his jacket and his pants, he looked up at the moonlit night with is wolf companion. He felt more at ease with the wolf watching his back. Despite his intimidating appearance, he sensed something more to this wolf spirit.

"Look its late and I'm not leaving tonight. For now, ill start making the plans. But I have no idea how to safely travel back to the land of rivers." Zeo explained, "Though I suppose I could fly there. "

"Fly?" Omega barked in surprise. The wolf sniffed around Zeo, curious. "Are you pulling the wool over my eyes? You don't have wings. Quit screwing with me"

Zeo smirked at the wolf. Taking out his bubble pipe, he dipped it into the chakra-rich water and stirred it. He pulled it out and blew into the pipe, blowing a bubble. The bubble grew bigger and bigger on the pipe's end, becoming large-- and soon big as Zeo. Before the wolf knew it, the bubble overgrew the pipe and swallowed Zeo whole inside, effortlessly as if the bubble didn't even pop. While inside, Zeo soon drifted upward, light as air into the night sky. The wolf watched with surprise to see the young shinobi float effortlessly on the breeze, with nothing but the bubble holding him.

"You were saying?" Zeo asked as he stood in the bubble with a smug smile. WIth it, the bubble began to drift back into the direction of the village.

With Zeo clear in the sky just as the moon, Omega watched him float about, using his chakra to guide him. The wolf gave a snort as he cursed his fortune to taking guardianship of such a smart-ass child. "Grrr... smart-ass brat..." he bickered but soon followed after him, pawing his way back to the village.

WC: 526
TWC: 2631

Earned: 25 stats to speed. Stats fulled.

Jutsu earned: Skill Nature Chakra Proficiency 2000 WC

Zeo Kamigawa wrote:
WC: 526
TWC: 2631

Earned: 25 stats to speed. Stats fulled.

Jutsu earned:  Skill Nature Chakra Proficiency 2000 WC

Approved