Shedding Light on a Mystery

Hard Path:

Amikiri made his way through the market of Hoshigakure. It seems a similar occurrence was happening just the other day when he was here with Akki. However this time the circumstances were quite different. The weather had taken quite the frigid turn as of recent, with the temperatures getting below freezing a couple of nights the past week. Fortunately, it had taken a touch of an up tick as of recently. Still, with the wind chill, the weather was a bit chilly for a mid autumn day.

Amikiri wore simple attire today to protect from the cold. A pair of blue jeans with a patch on the right knee and a dark green t-shirt. However the shirt wouldn’t be visible thanks to the heavy gray fleece he wore over it, keeping him warm in the chilly weather. The messy hair atop his head and his facial hair provided the Hyuuga decent protection from the cold, so he had elected not to wear a hat today. His outfit would be completed with a set of brown boots that he must’ve owned for years at this point. Two basic sealing bands would be hidden up his sleeves and his Nise chakra armor would be invisibly molded to the clothes beneath him. Amikiri wasn’t exactly concerned about the environment, it was just that these objects had become part of his standard attire at this point. Besides the pair of items, he would have a scroll strapped to his belt, but it was hidden underneath his fleece. Besides that, he was completely unarmed, most of his equipment sealed away or in Storage Displacement.

As the dark haired man moved through the market, he took in the signs of fall. Orange leaves blanketed the ground of the market, adding a vibrant orange hue to the already eccentric colors of the many stall awnings scattered around. The goods sold in the market slowly shifted with the seasons, as new crops rolled in and festive goods came around. Amikiri always made sure to pay attention to the crops coming into the market, instinct from over a decade living on a farm. Pumpkins always comprised a large amount of the fall market share, however wheat, artichokes, yams, bok choy, and beets created a competitive crop season. And of course, the last crops of corn would still be coming in at this time of year.

Eventually Amikiri would find himself nearing an interesting sight. A crowd was slowly gathering on a market stall as a salesman shouted out, “If you’re looking for a spoooooky season, you’ve come to the right place!!! Come see all the devilish goods we have to offer! Evil jars with tortured spirits inside them, a frog that was once a human, or a cursed lantern! The deals are scarily good! And if you're faint of heart, off to the side you can buy a beautifully carved pumpkin, ready to decorate your doorstep!” Amikiri decided not to join the crowd that was drawing near the stall, but instead come to the front of it. He would politely push his way through it. Normally this wouldn’t interest him, but the idea of a frog once human intrigued him.

The Hyuuga bent down to look at the frog. It was in a wooden box with a glass lid. He would peer at it for a few seconds and wave at it. If it was a so-called frog turned human, it would likely wave back. However, when Amikiri saw the frog observing his wave, the frog did nothing. As Amikiri realized this stall was likely a scam shop more than anything and started to turn away, the so-called “cursed lantern” caught his eye. He would look closely at the lantern and noted something quite strange about it. Interestingly, it lacked a place to insert fuel. The Hyuuga would spend a few more moments observing the lantern.

WC: 647
TMWC: 647/12000

Megami has been staying over more and more lately. It did not bother Youta at all but he feels bad about keeping things from her but not a problem for now he would have to think about what he would share with her. She would still be sleeping and he would go over to his drawers and pull out a plain looking box and break the seal on it and pull out the letter received not that long ago. He would put the letter back and place a seal of locking back on it and set it in his drawer. He would head to his back garden which he had made into a meditation space with a rock garden and he would sit and meditate for a while till sunrise and then he would then head to his kitchen and start making a big breakfast for the two of them. Making some eggs and bacon with some toast. He would wait for Megami to come down stairs and would say to her ”Hey there sleepy head. I made some breakfast for you if you want. There is some juice I think if you want that. There is definitely some tea if you would like me to make some of that.” He would then put the tea pot on the stove and start making some tea for himself and would pour him self a cup and sit down with Megami as she ate.

He would then continue and say [color=green]”So what is our plan today since we are both off today?” They had not had a day off together in a while. So he was excited to see what they could do together. ”I heard about the fall market that could be a good time if you are down to go.” She would most likely agree and he would go upstairs to get dressed and would put armory seals on his weapons and armor. Also storing some of his smaller weapons in his arm bands. He would put on something much more casual and his arm bands.

He would wait for Megami to get ready and then they would head down to the market. It was a little chilly but comfortable. He would shop with Megami, looking at apples and cider at one stall then going over to looking at pumpkins. All the fall fruits and vegetables. Also all the decorations out for sale which he figured Megami would want for his new house. Youta never cared much about decorations for his house but if it makes her happy he guesses that’s fine. He did not really care. He would be talking to her and letting her get almost anything she wanted so it was working out in his favor because he was looking like a good guy.

While looking at different stalls one would stand out because the guy. He was offering what he described as devilish goods and evil jars with tortured spirits inside them, a frog that was once a human, or a cursed lantern. It peaked his suspicions and interest if there were truely souls in them it would be illegal to sell and the frog is probably just a scam of some sort. He would see another shinobi who was in civilian gear. He was a hyuuga and Youta was sure he had seen him around headquarters and the training grounds. He would turn to Megami ”let’s check out this stand something is up with it I am not sure what but if that other shinobi took an interest also it’s not just me.” He would activate his Meigan and see something suspicious in one of the lamps and the hyuuga must have seen it too. He would go to him and say ”That is an interesting lamp isn’t it?”

WC 634

Megami was half asleep as she felt Youta move to get out of bed. They had been cuddling together so even in her sleep she groaned in protest! But she knew they had things to do today. The purple haired Dokuja stretched to get comfortable. Still unable to get comfortable, she grabbed Youtas pillow and sighed comfortably! She dozed back off as Youta was messing with something in the room. When she opened her eyes all she could see was Youtas back and the interesting tattoos he had all over him. He stood there for a minute and then shut the drawer and left. Megami stood up and threw on her robe after he left and went to the dresser. Interesting looking box! She thought to herself as she tried to open it. It wouldn't open! Huh? She shook the box and even looked in the key hole and all she saw was what looked like paper! She sighed and then using one of her fangs tried to pick the lock. Unfortunately it didn't work and she got her fang stuck! Luckily Youta didn't witness this because he probably would have been wondering what the hell she was doing! She managed to pull her fang loose and thank goodness she wasn't bleeding!
Sighing she put the box up and shut the drawer. She got dressed and brushed her teeth and hair. Put on her favorite lotion and went downstairs to the kitchen where she heard Youta.
“Ooh thanks my love! Yeah tea is good.” They had breakfast together and discussed what to do today. “You know I haven't done much holiday stuff in years, I’d love to go! Especially with you.” Megami said. They headed to the market place and Megamis eyes lit up! She was holding Youtas hand and as she looked at things, she was like a kid in a candy store! Squealing excitedly. As they passed by an area she recognized someone! The guy who let her in the gates of Hoshigakure.
“That's the person who let me and Akki in the gates.” She suddenly was captivated by the beautiful lantern he was looking at!
“Whoa…it's beautiful…” she said, mesmerized by the lantern.
366

The Hyuuga was standing there, crouched down looking at the lantern. Another man would approach him, one of similar or of slightless stature than Amikiri. He also appeared to be of similar build to Amikiri, possessing the same fine musculature from years of training. Additionally this man would be accompanied by a woman that Amikiri thought he recognized. As she made a comment to the man about Amikiri, the Hyuuga would remember who this person was. He would stand back up to his full height and turn sideways to face the two of them. He would make a joking remark to Megami, “I must have the craziest luck. It was just the other day that I met Akki here in this same market. Seems this market must be crawling with missing ninja.”

He would turn to Youta and say, “It certainly is. It seems to be missing a place to insert any sort of fuel. Normally I’d chalk that up to a bad repair or a weird prank lantern of sorts, but with this lantern being displayed in such a strange store, I can’t help but think there is something else to it. My name’s Amikiri by the way. What’s yours?”

Amikiri picked up the lantern by its handle and held it up to his eye level. The dark haired Hyuuga then dragged his other hand across his face, looking like he wiped his eyes in an attempt to get a better look. However, that was just a deception. For the brief moment that his hand covered the majority of his face, his Byakugan would flare to life. In that moment, he would take close observations of the lantern and also of those around him. Amikiri’s ability to see through the lantern would confirm his suspicion that there was in fact no way of putting fuel in the lantern. There were no fancy mechanisms, no trick level or switch, and it wasn’t even as fancy as a gas fed lantern. It seemed that there was just no way to fuel this lantern no matter what. By this time, Amikiri’s hand had fully drawn across his face and just as quickly as he had activated his Byakugan, he deactivated it.

While his Byakugan was active, he had seen the equipment worn by Youta and it had definitely confirmed him as a shinobi. That meant that Youta would have had an idea of what Amikiri was doing. To the eyes of the public, Amikiri’s gesture was a simple rub of his eyes. However, to the trained reflexes of a shinobi, they would see the brief activation and subsequent de-activation of his Byakugan. The quick gesture was a way of covering up Amikiri’s ninja background to those around them. While the crowds seemed to be less and less suspicious of shinobi as time went on, the tension between Hoshigakure ninja and the residents of Haven Country was constant.

Amikiri would turn to the two others and say, “Hmmm, there certainly is something strange about this lantern. I say we take it elsewhere and give it a more thorough look over, possibly at the archives. What do y’all think?”

If the two were to agree, Amikiri would purchase the lantern for a small amount of ryo, before leading the group to the National Archives. He hoped that there would be some text within the walls of this library that would provide illumination to the mystery of this lantern. The dark haired man set the lantern down on the table. Amikiri walked away from the table and started to peruse the bookshelves of the archives. As he did so, the sun would begin to set and cast beautiful rays of light through the archives high windows, dancing across the walls of the library.

WC: 628
TWC: 1275
TMWC: 2647/12000

Mid-Thread Claim:
340 WC to finishing A-Rank Vacuum Cannon (1875/1875, 25% max stats discount) (past progress here)
935 WC to B-Rank Moonlight (935/1125, 25% max stat discount)

Amikiri Guhin wrote:Mid-Thread Claim:
340 WC to finishing A-Rank Vacuum Cannon (1875/1875, 25% max stats discount) (past progress here)
935 WC to B-Rank Moonlight (935/1125, 25% max stat discount)

Approved!

Youta would look at the young man who was also looking at the lantern. Megami would say something about him being one of the shinobi who let her and Akki in the gate. He was not sure if he had met him before today. He has met so many people in his time growing up and as a shinobi here in this village. “Hello there Amikiri, you must have a great memory it’s been 6 or so months since Megami came here I believe she has since talked to master Ayato and became an official Hoshigakure Shinobi. However my name is Youta Shinkou, I am a chunin here.”

As the man picked up this lantern Youta would notice him activate his byukugan but Youta did not care. He would do the same with his Meigan and make it brief. He would notice the smallest amount of Yuumei on the bottom of the lamp. He would think back to growing up and his lessons with some people from the clan. He had a teacher who was very much into spirits and the connection of Yuumei and Spirits. However such studies are forbidden as in Youta’s opinion they should be. And Youta can see a slight Yuumei influence he wonders if the man finally made a seal using the absorption power of the Yuumei to trap a soul in places. It was so slight and probably what was holding the soul but something had to pry the souls out.

“Yes we should definitely buy that and do you mind if we go back to my office or home. Or actually you are right the library is a great idea. I have a few books at my house related I think. There is something bothering me about it. Something seems familiar about it. And if I am right I would prefer not to get the village involved if I do not have to. This may be a clan thing and if someone in the clan is involved and needs to be taken care of. Ah as a Hyuga you understand right?” As Amikiri would go to pay Youta would say “Absolutly not” Youta would quickly pay instead of Amikiri. He would then turn to Megami “Alright dear is there anything else in this stand or around you would like?” He would look around and then whisper to Amikiri “You almost had me sneaking. the byukugan. See anything interesting?”

WC 405