Night of Halloween Fun

Herozen could smell the pumpkin in the air. The days were getting shorter and colder in the village of Kumogakure. Herozen called this time of the year spooky season, and he loved it ever since he was a boy. He would run around in a costume and collect candy from his neighbors. It made him speculate on the fact that he hadn’t reproduced, and as he saw the families running door to door, it gave him a slight baby fever. The thought of taking his son or daughter to get their candy and then imposing a dad tax and stealing their hard-earned candies as his own. He would only think about this briefly as he returned home from the training facility. He was a newly established Genin and wouldn’t stay that way for long if he had anything to say about it. That being said, Herozen was in desperate need of a shower. He planned to meet up with his girlfriend and look at the lights. It was also her birthday, so Herozen wanted to do something nice for her and pick up a gift before they met.

He had to hurry after Herozen returned home, showered, and got ready for his evening with his girlfriend. He really should have gotten his girlfriend a gift a while ago. He had just been so busy with the academy and training that he just didn’t prioritize correctly, or so his girlfriend would say. Herozen had seen a shop he thought would have a perfect gift for her in the village market square. Several shops would have the ideal gift as long as Herozen put in the effort. He knew she would love the gift he got for her. Placing a cigarette between his lips and sparking it, Herozen headed through the busy streets of Kumogakure in search of his girlfriend’s ultimate gift.

Once he arrived at the village market square, Herozen heard the sounds of festivities and smelled the aroma of freshly cooked food, such as pumpkin bread, that the food vendors were selling. Herozen hadn’t realized how hungry he was, but he could hear his stomach growling thanks to the smells. He had to stop and get some food before continuing, so he found a small food cart and grabbed some finger food. Once he received his food, Herozen scarfed it down and walked further into the market.

Herozen would notice Travin, his younger cousin, checking out some of the more notable landmarks, and Herozen decided to hang out with him. Travin usually had a knack for finding interesting things, so he knew if he hung around Travin long enough, they would definitely find something his girlfriend would absolutely adore. Herozen would follow Travin into a tent that looked suspicious as if it didn’t belong, but Travin seemed oblivious. Herozen would shrug his shoulders and follow Travin in. Once in the tent the old man behind the table would watch the group as they investigated the trinkets inside of the tent. Herozen would sift through all of the trinkets when Travin’s gaze at something caught Herozen’s eye. A lamp was a little bit obscure in the back. It seemed out of place and intriguing, so the group advanced on it to get a better look. This might be the gift Herozen was looking for.

WC: 553

The sounds of cheers and laughter echoed through the village and reverberated through the trees and mountains in the area of the Land of Lightning, to the point that the Warden of the Mountains could hear them in his cavern home. Stepping near the mouth of the cave as the cool, nighttime air began to come through, he would lean onto the cold walls and look outward with his icy blue eyes taking in the sights of the orange and red hues of the lights inside of the village. He had known of the festivities and what had gone on, for him he though he attributed it to a night for the kids to have fun and be something, anything that they wanted to be. One could be an animal, a ghost or any kind of mythical creature. He could not remember a memory of he or his brother participating in any of these nights and even as an adult himself he could not bring himself to dress up as anything other than himself. It felt weird to him presumably. In his right hand was a jade green teacup and in his left an accompanying saucer that he sat the cup on every so often to move a small strand of hair from his face. In the small area around the cave he could hear the wolves of the mountains gathering and watching the lights as well with small curiosity, they too had not seen anything like this before or rather did not pay attention to them it would seem. For them the time they spent was merely with family or the only other humans to call the mountains their home. For them to marvel at the sights now could have only been growth or maybe because The Warden had been paying attention to it, so too would they to see the appeal. As he finished his tea he would turn on his heels and head back into the cave deeper to the house that had been built inside of it.

Setting the cup down into the kitchen he would grab his trademarked jacket throwing it on and stepping back into the depths of cave. His stride would carry him to the mountain path and would begin to head into the village proper. While he would not be participating in any of the festivities, he would however walk around to observe the people of the village and to also see if anything would catch his eyes. The Uchiha walked in silence for the most part as he walked through the crowds of people. Some of the kids stopped beside him giving him the most "threatening" roars that they could, which caused him to chuckle and rustle their hair. For the most part he could see that everyone had been having fun, but when he came across the stalls that is where he took his time. A guilty pleasure of the Uchiha, which he believed was picked up from his brother, was collecting odd things . As he passed through stalls he could see items like masks, costumes and even lanterns for people to hang and light. The designs of them had been quite curious and interesting, some of which had captivated the many children that had looked toward them. He would pass by a stall that while it did not have as much of an inventory around it, it did have two people in front of it staring at something. At first he was going to simply pass by it, but as he did he could hear something on the wind. Something that had been both foreign and weird to him. Turning on his heels he would move toward the lantern, side stepping the two males and then cleared his throat to get the attention of the shopkeeper. He had not known initially that the two were staring at the object he was wanting to inspect, but he would ask the shopkeeper for it nonetheless. The Chunin would grab the lantern and peer at it for a moment, before turning it left and right. No trace amounts of chakra were felt from it yet it felt...ominous, off putting even.

The Uchiha would bring his face a couple of inches from it as he used his free hand to poke at the wicker in the center, causing it to tetter from left to right. One could have missed what happened next, but Kensei did not. He clearly saw something flicker from right to left, not any kind of wicker was used inside of this, but interestingly enough there was no flame inside of it. The lantern would be brought away from his face as his features furrowed as he spoke finally," Whatever you are inside of this lantern speak what your intentions are or i will your vessel..."


806 WC

Stunned and alarmed would be Herozen’s reaction to the boy pushing past the two Uchiha to reach and grab the lamp they were both inexplicably drawn to. Herozen thought the immaturity could be a symptom of the boy’s young age. He was tall and big, with fancy clothes on. Was this just a rich kid? Herozen would ask him his name, but before he could question the youth, he spoke to the lamp. This was a bizarre thing to encounter for Herozen. “Uh, what are you doing?” Herozen would question the boy standing just a bit taller than himself. “It’s just a lamp, you see,” Herozen said as he pulled his lighter out with one fluid motion and attempted to light the wick in the lamp. “You light the wick, and it emits light,” Herozen said with a tinge of condescension.  The shopkeeper ran over to the group and attempted to stop Herozen from lighting the lamp with a cautionary tale.

“Woe to thee who lights the lamp, woe to thee who listens to the spindled tales. It will consume you and drain you of your very life.” The old man with a hunch in his back would warn the three shinobi in a half circle around the lamp. “I have tried to discard the lamp several times. I’ve been attempting to destroy it; I’ve tried to bury it. I always find it in my cargo…” His voice broke off and became shaky. “And at night, I hear it crying out to me; I can’t sleep at night because of that blasted thing!” He ended his tale shouting and reaching for the lamp. Herozen would catch his arm and repeal him. “What are you doing?”

The Herozen would size the old shopkeeper up and down, and he did look weary and torn down. Maybe it was nights without sleep, or perhaps he was sick and becoming frail from overexerting himself preparing for the festival. Herozen didn’t know if he believed the old-timer; was he spinning a story so he could overcharge for the lamp? This story and the old man’s reaction aroused his curiosity. Herozen would bring the lighter to the wick and then pull his arm away. “How much do you want for this ‘cursed’ lamp?” Herozen would ask the withering old man; just then, the lamp stirred from the physical touch pressed on it by the younger shinobi’s physical contact and interrogation.

Herozen was baffled by what happened next. From here on out, whatever the three were planning on doing would have to be put on hold, for the beginning of something special was sure to come. Herozen didn’t like the idea of leaving his girlfriend high and dry on Halloween, but something like this only happens once in a lifetime.

WC: 463
TWC: 1016

The Icy eyes of the Uchiha cut from the lamp to the other genin speaking to him as he let out, probably for the first time, a sigh of disdain as he looked toward Herozen and back to the lamp," Your eyes are untrained if you cannot see that which is actually inside of this lantern. There's a reason it sits in the back among the items that are diffused and broken. This object holds something inside of it, what I cannot accurately surmise, but it is something with sentience and because its unknown what kind of lantern holds something of that caliber it is an issue. They don't teach you to use situational awareness in all things in the academy do they?," the words came out callous and cold, but were more of a question than anything else. Kensei could tell the Genin had been using a condescending tone with him and instead of trying to bully the male, he would instead chuckle and turn his head back to the lantern just before the old man had spoken," If you are going to use such a displeasing tone with someone, especially someone who is of a higher rank than you, I would hope you can back up your wording as well," being cut off by the elderly gentleman, the icy hues of Kensei would slowly turn to look at Herozen with a very explicit "And you were saying?" look before turning back to the lantern. One thing Kensei gained from his teachers and family was a vey astute form of observation without even having to activate his sharingan, and when the old man had gave his tale about how the lantern had all but tormented him and how he could not get rid of the item. He had heard of possession of objects by spirits that could not let go of their earthly attachments but something told Kensei this was not that exact case.

Looking back at the lamp, in which the male holding the lamp had lit, Kensei let out a very audible sigh of annoyance as he shook his head and began to look around. From the corners of his eyes he could see shadowy figures flickering and moving in the dark corners of the stalls, and when they had disappeared he could then see a figure sitting in the flames of the lantern. For a moment he would look at the figure before casting a glance at Herozen," You should practice your listening skills and critical thinking a little more. Just because this elder here looks and sounds mentally deficient, No offense sir, his words served merit if you listened closely. Now we have an unknown situation where it could play out horribly for us," for a moment he would pause and look toward Travin and then back to the lamp," From the top. Who are you and what or rather why are you in this lantern?," this time he would be addressing the lantern and the lantern only as he held it with his left hand allowing his right hand to hang free. For a moment he did not get a response from the individual at first but after a moment it would begin to spin its tale. Kensei listened silently taking in each word and inspecting it, looking for anything that could cause any kind of discrepancy in them and once they had finished he would take a step back, moving away from the other two and turning facing true north. In his mind he would begin to plot out where roughly the spirits home had been or the area, slowly turning his body to face north by northwest until he had stopped in an approximate location of where he believed the house had been.

"So you were cursed by someone or something, damned to remain inside of this lantern. You do not know if there is anything in your home that could point to your release nor do you know if anyone is currently inside of the home. There are a lot of variables I feel as if you are not divulging intentionally or because you are scared, but that is not my problem. I will however investigate if only to see how far this tale goes and to rid you of this old man so he can finally sleep," his eyes would return to the other two before looking back in the approximate direction of where he should have been going. He had a very good mental picture of the village, mostly due to living in the higher areas of the mountains that overlook the village and also due to his walks with his elder brother. This might have been easy or it could have been a trap only time would tell.


800 WC /// 1606 WC

Herozen felt the icy blue eyes from the taller shinobi as he sighed loudly. Herozen thought Kensei didn’t care too much for his antics, but Herozen wouldn’t worry himself too much about whether or not the person holding the lamp liked him or not. He hadn’t forgotten his reason for coming to this shop in the first place. The question coming out of Kensei’s lips were irrelevant to Herozen. “It’s a stupid old lamp, it’s probably busted, the old man is trying to make more money off of it by selling us a story. I have plenty situational awareness. You sound like a crazy person right now, there’s nothing in the lamp but a wick and fuel for it to burn. Ghosts aren’t rea…” Herozen would be cut off by sight of the shadows in the corners of the room, they were human in appearance, dark spots in the light, but the light traveled through them leaving no shadow. Herozen was perplexed and puzzled at the sight, he had forgotten about his conversation with Kensei as he wandered over to the blobs of darkness. It had the rough outline of a silhouette of a human, but had no features of a person. As soon as Herozen got close enough to touch it he reached out his hand. In less than a blink of an eye the apparition disappeared.  

“Okay, maybe I was wrong.” Herozen would admit to Kensei even though he didn’t want to be wrong about ghosts and spirits. He knew how to deal with human’s but spirits were on a whole different level. This was becoming something spooky, but Herozen didn’t know how to turn down a challenge. Herozen would return to the group with the lantern in hand. It was on the walk back that he realized the lantern was lighter than usual, and lacked the fuel to burn the wick. There were a lot of things not adding up, was this object cursed, was the other guy right about not messing with forces beyond his control? Was the old man telling the truth about this lamp and it would haunt whomever was in possession of it? After being scolded by Kensei about not listening to the old man, Herozen would pay close attention to Kensei. Herozen was unequipped to dealing with spirits and ghosts, but it seemed like Kensei had the experience to figure out the mysteries of the lamp.

Herozen noticed the figure in the fire the lamp was harboring only after Kensei addressed it, how had he missed it? The spirit was quiet for Herozen, barley able to make out a silhouette in the flames he would have to rely on the other two’s ability to converse and understand what the spirit was saying. Was the spirit angry with Herozen is why he couldn’t hear it, or was it the lack of understanding from Herozen. In any case Kensei and Travin seemed to be understanding what the spirit was saying, so he wouldn’t worry himself with the words. Curing the old man of his haunting became Herozen’s mission and if following the two who could hear would help, he would do it with the most of his ability. “Alright, I think we got off on the wrong foot, I’m Herozen, I didn’t believe in spirits or ghosts, I thought they were child’s tales meant to scare us into being good, or staying away from danger. I apologies for calling you crazy, there’s defiantly something going on with that lamp. How can we help?” He would ask gesturing to his cousin and paying close attention to Kensei’s words. He wouldn’t be made to feel like a fool for the rest of the night.

From what Kensei was saying about how the spirit was cursed by something or someone and was damned to stay in the lantern. Herozen would reflect and think about how he would hate to be stuck in a lantern when all he would want is to rest or to be in the afterlife and not stuck or tethered to this world. If there was any hope of allowing this specter it’s final rest Herozen defiantly wanted to help. Kensei was ready to investigate the home of the spirit was the impression he got. How long was that spirit in the lamp? How would they know if the spirit’s house still existed, and if it did, who lives in there now? Herozen wouldn’t voice these questions, but he would remain at the ready for anything. “Where are we off to, uh, I didn’t get your name?” Herozen would ask Kensei and Travin would offer his name as well to the stranger.

The three of them would set off to find the home of the spirit, it bothered Herozen that he couldn’t hear the spirit. “I can’t hear the spirit, is that because it doesn’t want me to, or is it something else?” Herozen would ask both Travin and Kensei between labored breaths as he tried to keep up with them. Foolishly he would light a cigarette as they ran to their destination. Just as Herozen thought the house the spirit had occupied while it was alive was dilapidated and run down. From the looks of it, no one had been an occupant for a decade. At least no work had been done to keep it in a livable condition. “This house has to be condemned.” Herozen would say as he smoked his cigarette and tried to peer in between broken pieces of wood that boarded up the windows. “Maybe some kids came by and smashed out the windows? I can’t really see inside, so I won’t make any rash decisions.” Herozen finished his assessment still smoking his cigarette. He would finish it and put the butt back into the pack as to not leave a mess. Herozen would look to Travin to see if he was keeping his composure, which he thought he would, spirits are spooky, but the Uchiha weren’t going to look like bitches because of a little ghost. After checking on his cousin he would look at Kensei for instructions moving forward. “How do you want to proceed?”

WC: 1028
TWC: 2044

"In a world where we can summon dragons, toads, lions, and other creatures from seemingly nowhere and yet in your infinite "wisdom" specters and ghosts are what you choose not to believe in...,," the words came out almost as distasteful as the thought he used to form them, but just as he finished it seemed as if the lights would finally click on inside of the males head. A mental sigh was released as almost if on cue they would know that what you choose to believe doesn't mean that it does not...in other words the absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence. He would in turn listen to the other one speak, in his mind knowing that admitting when you were wrong is always a good step in becoming more open to learning and thus opening yourself to greater possibilities. With that being said, Kensei would straighten his posture and release the lantern since the others were so keen on holding on to it," It is because i had not given it, but since you have changed your tune, and it would be rude of me to return that which you have given. My name is Kensei Onomori and I believe we are heading to a home in the North by NorthWest, a house that will probably be dilapidated or condemned judging by the timeframe this specter has given. Anything else is up for interpretation and will likely find out when we get there. Also," his head would turn to look in the direction of Travin given him a small nod," Pleasure to meet you as well. If that is all then let us be on our way. I'd like to end this before the night is over and i am late for my routine," and from there he would begin to head in the direction of where the house could be.


Hearing Herozen's question, Kensei would not turn around explicitly due to wanting to make sure his eyes were on the path ahead, but he would give a best guess on the situation," It could be a few things as to why you could not. The most likely is because you yourself did not believe in something that was in front of you and chose to ignore the possibility, or the least likely option is that it chose those that it could possibly manipulate through the truth. Either way we will find out once we arrive at the destined location and investigate from there," he tried his hardest to make it seem as if he was not being a smartass or talking down to him, which he often got from people. As the trio arrived at the house, Kensei would give it a look over before pushing open the gate that lead to it and moving toward the front door. He would not give a response to Herozen's statement, but instead took in hand the lantern and pushed the door of the condemned house open. It definitely looked as if no one had been here in ages and as he stepped in he looked down to his boots for a moment to make sure he was not stepping on an area with poor foundation. Once he assured himself he would begin to walk into the house and begin to look around," Seems like for now we look around for clues of what the spirit was talking about deal with his current issue."

577 WC /// 2,183 TWC

Travin remained silent as he listened to his cousin and the finely dressed new guy go back and forth over if spirits were real or not. Travin himself wasn’t sure as to what happened once you died; it was never a subject he had given much thought to. However, he was sure that the sight of a spirit wouldn’t catch him off guard. He had seen several unexplainable things and that would simply fall into that category of stuff that he didn’t know about. With the two of them stopping their discussion as the lamp did some stuff, and Herozen admitting that maybe he was wrong and introducing himself. Travin learned that the new guy's name was Kensei. With the lamp spirit explaining to where they had lived and about how a shinobi had trapped her and several others in objects pleading with the trio to set them all free.

With the information at hand and a basic location of the house that they were all looking for now. The trio was off running through the village. Bypassing villagers and such as they ran making good time to cross the village. When Herozen would speak up once more and want to know why he was unable to hear the spirit like Kensei and Travin both could. Travin didn’t really have an answer to the question, but lucky for him Kensei did. Explaining that it could be simply that the spirit thought that Kensei and Travin would be a good pick to free her. It was believable Travin after all would do what he could to help people that had been imprisoned against their will when they hadn’t done anything wrong. He didn’t know enough about Kensei to say the same for him, but apparently if what Kensei was saying was correct he was of similar mind.

The trio finally arrived at their destination, and Travin was happy that Kensei knew the village so well, as he had rarely been down this way. Looking at the location he could see why it was the poorest section of the village, and was normally seen as a dump. Holes located throughout what remained of the streets, and most of the houses had holes in them allowing one to simply look through the wall and see what is going on inside. The people that they did see were all in ragged clothing and looked down on their luck just trying to make it through another day. Travin thought for a second that maybe the village could do something here, but Kumo was a village of strength and if you couldn't’ hack it this is probably where you ended up at. Turning to face the house that the spirit had told them about, the trio walked in after Kensei who tested the floor before walking in. Travin followed Kensei into the building. Taking the caution to mind his own footing as they walked into what was once the living room of the house. Travin was able to look around and see that at one point probably long ago that this place was a very nice home, but thanks to poor location and lack of upkeep on the place it has drastically fallen into disrepair.

The Trio decided to split up and see if they could find whatever the spirit was talking about. “I’ll take this way” Travin said as he turned and started to carefully walk into what was once the living room. Taking a look at it Travin took note of a fireplace on the wall and a few old and torn pictures that still managed to hang onto the wall. Walking over towards the fireplace Travin noticed the sound just as he felt the boards below his feet giving way. Finding himself falling through the floor Travin let out a yelp of surprise before he hit the hard stone floor. He had only fallen about ten feet and appeared to be in the basement. The dust cloud that he had stirred up was working overtime in concealing his vision. “I found the basement” Travin would yell out as he stood back up and gathered himself. Looking around the basement Travin saw a shelf with several old looking objects ranging from lockets to nicknacks with a book sitting on a pedestal in front of the shelf. “Find your way down here I think I found something” Travin would yell out as he walked over to the pedestal. Now uncaring as to where he was putting his feet with the stone floor not giving with any steps.

The book was clearly old, probably from the days of the first Raikage and the founding of the village. Making Travin think just how long this spirit had been trapped within that lamp. Opening the book with careful and practiced grace making sure not to fold or bend anything out of fear of the pages crumbling or breaking due to age. He read through the first few pages and looked over the diagrams taking it all in as he thought about what they were going to have to do. From what he was able to tell, simply breaking the objects would suffice in releasing the spirits, but there was also a drawn out and overworked ritual that would do it as well. Once the others had arrived down into the basement hopefully finding the stairs down and not like how he had found his way down here. “It appears that we can simply break the objects to free the spirits, at least according to this book” he would motion to the book. “It also states that the items on the wall here are from his first few attempts and only holds partial spirits too weak to really do anything, as well as a few items that are scattered throughout the village.” Travin would wait and see just what the group was wanting to do with this knowledge and how they wanted to handle it as well.


WC-998 TWC-2,477