trialofdragons01: path of storms

[Taki no NPC]

When the smoke cleared, Sora found himself in an area far different than his expectations. Ryuu no Hora, the Grotto of Dragons, was no grotto in the traditional sense. In fact, it wasn’t much of anything.

Ao Shin floated in the air, above a sea of stretching clouds. Sora himself was standing on a small, earthen platform, raised what must have been miles above the ground. The air was thin and hard to breathe, and a frozen wind swept over everything. Stretched out before him was a winding stair that seemed to go even higher into the heavens above, and at times dipped down below the clouds. Wherever the path lead, it was impossible to glean the end.

“This, hatchling, is the first part of the Trial of Dragons,” Ao Shin rumbled, “and this is the road every Eboshi travels before they bond with their dragon. Many have taken it, and many have failed. Beyond this stair lies a world beyond your imagination, human. Should you survive the climate and thin atmosphere, then I shall deem you worthy to go to the next portion.”

Even as the elder dragon spoke, something on the horizon began to grow. A blackness festered in the clouds, growing higher and higher. A thunderclap washed over Sora, heavy and ominous. Ao Shin laughed as the storm began to overtake the path that the jinchuuriki was destined to travel. “It seems your luck has taken a turn for the worse, hatchling!” And with those last words the dragon disappeared beneath the sea of clouds below.

There was but one path left to Sora now. Forward.

[Itanai Sora]

Smoke. It was the only thing Sora could see for a considerable amount of time and as it began to clear replaced by a chilling wind. His initial glance revealed little more than an endless sea of clouds going over in every direction, and of course the small piece of rock that he was standing on. "C-Cold." He muttered to himself while rubbing his arms with the opposite hand. Though this was vastly different than what he imagined it wasn't all that bad all things considered. There were no jagged mountain peaks, active volcanoes, or giant balls of fire flying all over the place... just clouds, and that weird staircase that seemed to stretch on forever.

His eyes shifted to the dragon as it began to speak, his steps careful as to not fall off the little piece of land he had been allotted. All he had to do was walk up a set of stairs? Pssh, that was child's play, even for Sora. Unfortunately, that train of thought was violently interrupted by a gale and the darkening of the skies. Just great, a thunderstorm. They were bad enough on ground level, but the Chunin couldn't even imagine experiencing one in the middle of the sky. No matter, he'd just have to run up the stairs a bit faster! His face was determined as he watched the dragon dip beneath the clouds. "Alright Chomei, let's get to it."

As the boy began to run and begin his ascent there was an obvious problem: he was already beginning to get out of breath. "The air is much more thin up here, you won't be able to run as fast." Chomei explained to the boy who would have run himself to exhaustion had the beast not intervened. Hm, it seemed that this would not be as easy as before. His pace now slowed but still decent, the boy had begun to develop a cold sweat and a heavy breathing pattern. While he didn't want to run himself to death in the first ten minutes it'd be much more troublesome to get stuck in the storm that was violently brewing over head.

[Taki no NPC]

The storm encroached on the pathway, drenching it in black. It was like a living creature, slithering along the clouds, hungry to eat the first thing it found. Unluckily for Sora, this path was rarely traveled, and the storm was feeling particularly vivacious today. It lurched forward like a snake and swallowed him and everything hole. The horizon-surfing sun was blocked out, and it became impossible to see more than an arm’s length.

At least, that was the case before it appeared.

A second Sora stood there, wreathed in lightning. His eyes were black, but his face and hair were perfect mirrors to the jinchuuriki. He was a star amongst an ocean of black, and his sudden appearance brought forth a great wind that swept past the stones. If Sora wasn’t careful, he’d be knocked off the pathway.

“So,” Storm Sora spoke, his voice inhuman, much like a dragon’s, “you are the next fool to take on this quest, eh?”

It fixed Sora with a dark gaze, and in those deep dark pools, flickering lightning reached out like thin fingers.

[Itanai Sora]

His pace, though slowed, was still higher than normal due to the boy's want to get up the stairs before that storm hit. Alas, his wish would not come true as the dark clouds quickly enveloped the stair case and everything on it, namely Sora. Almost as if someone had turned off the lights the Chunin had lost most of his visibility and could barely make out the outline of his arms in the darkness. Oddly enough there had been no rain yet which was a blessing but that was but a small silver lining. He would now have to traverse the steps in not only blustery conditions, but almost pitch darkness.

Then came a light, bright but not huge. It seemed to take the form of a person, was there another attempting this trial as well? That kinda looks like... me? Sora thought to himself as his eyes adjusted to the shining light amidst all the darkness. Surely this must have been some Genjutsu for there couldn't have been two of them because only Sora was the real Sora! "You seeing this, Chomei?" The boy asked to his partner. Yes, it's quite strange. She replied in a confused tone.

As the clone spoke the Chunin knew that something fishy was up. Perhaps this was a part of the trial because just walking up a flight of stairs, though lengthy, couldn't have been the only part. Interesting. "Yeah, what's it to ya? Now, you gonna get outta my way, sparky?" He quipped to the bright clone, a sly grin on his face. Fighting in these conditions was the worst possibly outcome as visibility was pretty much nonexistent, and to make matters worse he didn't want to take the chance of falling off the stairs; there was no telling how far it was to the bottom.

[Taki no NPC]

The apparition’s face contorted in a queer way at Sora’s quips. The lightning that clung to its body jumped outwards, lashing at the darkness around it. Thunder rolled over the bridge when that happened, and pieces of stone fell into the abyss below.

“An insolent child like you who shows no respect seeks to pass this quest? How can someone like you do anything? You are not prepared!”

When the apparition finished speaking, the lightning of its body swelled like a balloon before exploding. Everything went white, and when the lights were stripped away, Sora was standing somewhere new.

A field of gold and green expanded from his feet. The sunflowers moved lazily underneath a sighing breeze, and the sky was full of puffy pieces of cloud. On this day, a particularly angry sun was beating down on the meadow, and the sweltering heat could cause even desert-born ninja to sweat. If this was a genjutsu, it was one so advanced that it almost equaled that of the fabled Yin-Yang release.

From Sora’s shadow cast on the sunflowers, a serpent rose up. A dragon of black scales slithered through the air with no sound or presence, and it slunk off into the knee-high meadow the chuunin stood in. As it did a darkness appeared on the horizon as stormclouds began to squirm across the sky.

Die..., a voice whispered. Die…die...die…

[Itanai Sora]

Thunder, it was loud and piercing as it cracked through the sky and with it took pieces of the stair case. This was no regular clone, and dealing with something as powerful as lightning was going to be difficult. The word's the clone spoke were things that the boy had heard before: respect, or lack there of rather. Perhaps it was lazy attitude that had brought about such remarks, but at the end of the day the Chunin had always been able to justify such actions. He had never been moody or had desires to up and leave the village. In fact, he was quite content with Taki being his home, albeit a bit old fashioned in its ways but hardly anything disagreeable.

Before Sora could get out a response the area grew extremely bright. An attack? No, it was just light... then heat. He slowly opened his eyes to see that there was no longer a stair case but only... sun flowers? Weird. Added to the beating sun it all felt quite real. Genjutsu maybe? Sora was never a stickler for detail to be able to point it out but this was quite obvious, no? The sun above and slightly behind produced what seemed a regular shadow in front of the boy but it soon grew dark as a lizard like creature slipped from within in before rushing into the seemingly never ending field of flowers.

Once more the boy's eyes shifted, this time to the horizon. The same dark clouds as before were beginning to roll in again. Then came the words, or rather the same word repeated over and over. He wasn't able to tell where it was coming from but knew that it was trouble.

[Taki no NPC]

Everything shattered around Sora. Reality broke like a mirror and then again into dust, left floating on the winds. He was back on the bridge, surrounded by the storm, but it slowly began to fade away and, in the distance, a figure peeled itself from the blackness.

“You are the Shichibi no Jinchuuriki, yes?”

The monk’s staff came down thunderously when he asked the question, and blue flames sprouted from the top of it like a fountain. A wave of air was released, blowing away the clouds around them and clearing off various small flowers and pieces of debris from the bridge. Behind the monk was a massive curled bundle, bleeding and barely breathing.

It was a dragon.

“I have come to return you back to Takigakure.”

[Itanai Sora]

Sora's eyes had been scanning the ever darkening horizon for signs of trouble. He knew that storm was trouble but even worse was what was inside it, that clone of himself. That and whatever had crawled out of his own shadow mere moments ago. Two on one wasn't a favorable option, but then again he had Chomei with him so why was he still nervous? Perhaps it was the name... trial of dragons. Even though to this point the boy had only seen one of them he could only imagine what the rest of them acted like, probably a hell of a lot scarier than the ancient beast that had spoken to him.

The sound of cracking rung from all around and the Chunin moved his head on a swivel to try and find the source, but it was nearly impossible to pinpoint. Then everything shattered, the sky, the field, the endless rows of sunflowers all crumbled away to darkness. Sora tensed up assuming he was about to fall into the pit of emptiness but his feet landed on the familiar texture of the steps. Indeed he was back on the stair case, maybe that field was truly an illusion? The black clouds had returned once more and enveloped the area in darkness, though it quickly began to fade away leaving the figure of another individual. Was it that clone from before? No, they weren't covered in a blinding light, but either way there was still a chance of him being dangerous.

As the man spoke a bright, blue column of blue flames rose from his staff that provided a wind strong enough to blow the clouds away. The boy's hair and clothes ruffled back int he strong gust as he tried his best to withstand the winds. Before he could even begin to respond the unknown man spoke once more, this time about returning to the village. Sora's eyes widened in surprise, why was he returning so soon? Surely standing in a field of sunflowers couldn't have been the entire trial. "Why am I going back already? A little storm isn't gonna make me quit!" The boy replied. He had no plans of quitting this trial, especially so soon, and was going to do his hardest to remain here and get to the top of those steps.

[Taki no NPC]

The monk cocked his head, but a sudden expression of realization crossed his gaunt features. “Iwagakure no Sato invaded, brought on by Eboshi Seiichi’s own hand. He is a traitor, as is his clan, and he sent you here before the invasion so that he could summon you incase the tides somehow turned against him. Now Eboshi Seiichi is dead and Iwagakure repelled. I have come to save you from these dragons before they decided to keep you here as the resistance's greatest weapon.

“Now, with haste we must--”

A roar cut his words off, and the monk looked over his shoulder. A golden dragon was flying through the air like a lightning bolt, but as he drew closer, rivers of blood could be seen running through his scales. His white mane was burned and frazzled, and the mantle he wore was cracked and broken.

“Get away from him, hatchling! He will kill us all!” Ao Shin screamed, his voice thick with desperation.

The monk seemed unphased as he turned fully. He took a martial stance, the staff held like a spear and pointed downwards. “Excuse me, Shichibi no Jinchuuriki. Allow me to slay this lying demon.”

X

Wind exploded from his feet, wrapping around his body as if a cloak. Ao Shin reared back, mouth open and chakra being mustered, but in a blink of an eye the monk was gone, already above the dragon and swinging his staff down to split the beast’s skull.

[Itanai Sora]

He was frozen in place upon hearing that his home had been invaded, and so soon after he had left. Sora didn't want to believe that Seiichi had something to do with the attack as he had sent him here to be trained by the dragons. The thought of getting the village's strongest weapon out of the picture would not cross the boy's mind, he was a bit dense when it came to putting the pieces together. However, if that man was in on it then it also meant that each and every dragon in this place had knowledge of the plan as well. Black eyes looked up to the monk as he began to speak once more but quickly shot over to the sight of a bloodied dragon speeding towards them. First it was Seiichi who was the traitor, now this man was not to be trusted either, there was hardly enough time to make sense of things.

A fight was about to ensue, that much was clear, and it was clear that the two individuals were at odds with each other. While part of him wanted to just watch it play out, another side needed answers, and those would be damn hard to come by if one party was dead. The Chunin grimaced in frustration, he wasn't sure who to help, if either. Then the proverbial light bulb flickered on just as the monk appeared above the dragon. A quick string of hand seals and a deep inhale, then the boy brought a hand to his mouth in an O-shape before releasing a giant gale of wind aimed at the two. The attack wasn't meant to injure, hell it'd be a miracle if it reached the destination before the man could strike the dragon with his weapon, but merely a means to separate the two so some questions could be asked.

"Oi, someone tell me what's really going on!" The boy screamed in frustration as he was growing tired of being pulled in this and that direction. Life had already been a pain in the ass ever since the contract had been signed, not to mention dealing with the other bijuu, and now the added weight of having to worry about whether his home was still standing had reared its head. Deep down, on what seemed to be another plane of existence entirely, chakra from the Shichibi began to slowly leak out of the seal, reacting to the boy's excited state, however there would be no outside signs of this. Sora was still very much in control of himself and the seal, but his lazy lifestyle made it difficult to contain all of Chomei's chakra whenever he got riled up. The beast itself would remain silent, though very aware of what was taking place on the outside world. She could gauge her hosts emotional state quite well and knew what would happen should the boy continue to let his emotions take over. Granted, he did have a fair bit of control over the chakra, but only to an extent of three tails; anything past that point was anybody's guess.

[/justify]

SPOILER: Click to show

Jutsu Used:

Futon: Daitoppa

[Taki no NPC]

The monk felt the attack before he saw it, and he turned deftly to smash his staff into the gust. Blue flames gushed out again, creating a brilliant fireball in the sky that forced Ao Shin to dive away. The golden dragon was faster than he let on, shooting down through the clouds and back past Sora. He protectively curled around him, fangs bared at the monk. They were dyed red.

“Takigakure was invaded, that much is true, hatchling. But I don’t have time to explain. We must escape, now, before--”

Everything went blue as Ao Shin formed a ball around Sora. When he uncurled, it was slowly, and the golden body slumped to the stones lifelessly. The scales had been burnt black, and his wide eyes were fading fast. The monk placed the butt of his staff on the nape of the dragon’s neck, his face grim.

“You will have your answers once I slay this beast. Lord Youei will explain everything to you in detail.”

“The hell he will, human!” Ao Shin roared, and his body exploded in a blast of lightning. The monk took the full force of the blast, his body catapulted backwards and off into the great vault that surrounded the staircase.

Weakly the dragon struggled to his forelegs, and he turned his bloodied head to face Sora. His mouth opened suddenly and the tongued folded out. A pearl was resting on its tip, gleaming in the light of the sun. “Take this and ingest it, Sora. Now.”

[Itanai Sora]

While his hasty plan had indeed stopped the monk from attacking the dragon the resulting fireball prevented Sora from seeing the dragon slink underneath the parry and move in his general direction, not until it had coiled up around him did the boy realize what had just taken place. As it began to speak a great heat could be felt and the familiar sight of the blue flames danced around the two until the dragon uncoiled and lay lifeless on the staircase. The monk spoke of a Youei who would explain the situation, a name that the boy hadn't heard before... or maybe he had and simply didn't remember; being the Jinchuriki meant seeing a ton of people, mostly higher ups, who usually spoke as if Sora was but a mere housing for a great weapon and not a person at all.

Now the three were all next to each other, Sora still confused and the monk mere moments away from ending the dragons life. He was too confused to move, to even try and lend aid mostly out of not knowing who to help, then came a bright flash of light that crackled similar to electricity; it was lightning. The hairs on his arms and legs rose with the current but that was about the only effect Sora would feel. When sight returned to his eyes they caught the monk falling down into the empty void, and unless he somehow learned to fly it seemed his life would come to an end. Dark hues returned to the dragon who was still bleeding rather profusely and had most of its body burnt from the vortex of fire, he didn't have much longer either. He watched as the beast extended its tongue and revealed a pearl and told him to swallow it. Wait... what? The Chunin didn't like taking medicine to begin with, and swallowing some random jewel was no better.

Reluctantly he grabbed the pearl off the dragon's heated tongue and gave it a once over. What was to become of him when he swallowed it? There had been no explanation, granted there had been no time to with all the lightning and fire balls being thrown around, but maybe, just maybe this would lead him to some answers... or at least a way back to Taki. In one fluid motion the boy swallowed the pearl and cautiously awaited whatever effects it brought with it.

[/justify]

[Taki no NPC]

“Don’t tell anyone that you did that, boy. You are our last hope,” Ao Shin spoke, his voice weakening.

The black bundle coiled up earlier began to move, and Ao Shin turned his head to face it. The popping and cracking of stiff joints and hard bones moving was loud, and the black head of a bleeding dragon fixed the sage with a bloodthirsty look.

“I may not survive, but you must. Even if you are taken back to that village, you must live, Sora. You must.”

The black dragon roared and blasted out faster than the eye could follow. Its jaws closed around Ao Shin’s neck. He roared out of defiance and pain and clawed at the blackness. Together the two great beasts struggled and fell from the bridge, descending into the abyss. Their roars could be heard for a long time before both faded away into the clouds.

“Now we must go.” The monk said, having some how appeared behind Sora. His top had been blown off and blood and burns mixed together to form a black patchwork of skin. Despite the obvious pain the wounds must have caused, the monk said nothing and made no facial expression. Instead he held out a charred hand for Sora to take.

“That black dragon was my ally. He will hold off the rest of his evil kind while we escape. Let us make haste, Shichibi no Jinchuuriki.”

[Itanai Sora]

Sora could only watch in silence as the dragon, obviously on its last leg, continued to speak. His words, though unconfirmed, seemed to hold a great deal of truth in them. Besides, what reason did a dying entity have to lie? The boy had neither the patience or resolve to try and figure that out at the moment as he wanted nothing more than just to return to the village to see for himself what exactly was taking place. Unfortunately, the dragons were the only way in and out of this odd plane and the only one he had come across was about to bite the dust.

The loud, wrenching sound of bone popping caused the boy to turn his head mere moments after the dragon and from the darkness rose what seemed to be another dragon. Was that the thing that had slinked off earlier in the sun flower field? Whatever it was, its speed was tremendous and the force of the two colliding instinctively made the boy raise his arms to shield himself from the blow back. He could only witness the two beasts struggle against each other as they descended further and further from the stairs, falling into the same void that the man had moments before. Then the familiar voice came from behind causing the Chunin to almost jump out of his skin. He turned to see the man once thought dead standing before him, his skin covered in burns and bleeding in multiple spots.

That black thing... was his? The very dragon that had crawled from his shadow earlier and ran off into the horizon. Did that mean this man was watching him the entire time? Sora definitely didn't trust the guy but it seemed if he wanted to return to Taki then this was the only option. A reluctant hand grabbed onto the monk's and awaited what was to come next.

[/justify]

[Taki no NPC]

Once Sora took the monk’s hand, the monk slammed his staff back into the stone of the stair they stood upon. Fuuin spread outwards from the impact point to surround the two’s feet. Smoke rushed over them, and the biting cold of the stratosphere was replaced by the humid climate typical of Taki no Kuni. But when the smoke faded away, it wasn’t the underground caves that Sora would see. It was the blooming metropolis of a village far larger than Takigakure had ever been.

“Welcome to the new Takigakure no Sato,” the monk said. He motioned for Sora to take in the sights with his staff. Trees formed a thick canopy over the village, and traditional buildings buzzing with people and shinobi covered everything that wasn’t grass, stone, or tree. Streams crisscrossed along the streets, some large enough for small boats and flats of soil to float on. In the center of the village was a massive tree with a temple built at its base. The branches of the tree seemed to stretch a solid five hundred feet before becoming tangled in its brethren. “Now we go to meet the new lord. Are you ready, Shichibi no Jinchuuriki?"

[Itanai Sora]

When the smoke enveloped the two Sora was expecting to return to the Taki he had known his entire life, though whether it was still standing was a mystery considering both this unknown man and the dragon spoke of an invasion. Regardless, being back in the village would serve as the first step to the boy figuring out what all was going on. However, as the smoke cleared his eyes took in a sight that was completely unfamiliar in every sense of the word. While the old Taki had been steeped in tradition so much that its architecture reflected that decision, this new area was modern and... odd.

The boy dared not to take a step in this foreign land but simply moved his head around to take in the new surroundings. Just how long had he been away for so many people to be walking about as if their lives hadn't been uprooted by the supposed invasion? The people seemed to walk around without a care in the world while the boats whizzed by... wait, boats? Indeed the large streams that ran through this new Taki were large enough for boats to use them for transportation. Nothing made sense, how could a place this size go under the radar, especially if people were referring to it as the new Takigakure?

"Sora. My name is Sora." He replied to the man with a semi-stern look. Too often he had been called that name, more like a phrase, and in a sense it was more of a label that served to dehumanize than anything else. "Yeah... let's go." The boy added as he was ready to finally get some answers.

[Hanamuke Youei]

The monk led the way through the reborn Takigakure, uncaring of the stares he attracted. The numerous wounds and bleeding boils that covered his charred skin drew rumors and gasps from women and children alike, and even his fellow shinobi caught themselves watching in awe as he strode past without so much as a whimper in pain. Greater men than the monk had been broken by lesser wounds than these.

When the monk reached a large temple built around the base of the massive tree and took Sora up the winding stair to a black door, he knew his diligence would pay off. One hand slid open the paper that separated the pair from the new lord of Takigakure no Sato.

Youei stood peacefully with his back facing the new comers. His grey hair was tied into a tail that touched the nape of his neck, and a grey hoari spilled from his shoulders to form a pool of dark cloth on the ground. Both hands were held behind his back, and the light streaming through the large windows gave the man a holy touch. He turned his aged face, one covered in wrinkles and whiskers, and a pair of grey eyes looked on from behind dusty lenses.

“Itanai Sora, I presume? You have done good work today, Kakan.”

Kakan bent at the waist in reverence and hushed a thank you. He remained bowed with one hand on his staff as Youei motioned for Sora to step forth.

“I hope your venture in the Land of Demons wasn’t too harrowing, Sora-kun.”

[Itanai Sora]

It was difficult for the boy not to notice the looks that the villagers were giving the monk, mostly because those same looks had been directed his way for most of his life. Granted, a couple here and there were thrown at him but that was more so out of curiosity than hate or ignorance. Honestly, if he had noticed a man with gashes and burns across his body waltzing through the village as if nothing was wrong then he'd stare too, but that was neither here nor there. Silently the Chunin would follow to the large tree, specifically the base until they reached a set of stairs that winded across the great tree. Judging from how big this thing was the trek was going to take a while.

"Do you really trust this man?" Chomei asked from within, her first words in quite some time. Watching the scene unfold before her had been just as shocking, perhaps even more so as she knew dragons to be beasts of great power and for one to be taken out with such relative ease was cause for concern. "No, not really, but it was my only option back home, though I'm not exactly sure where we are now. But it's a start at least." Sora replied, inwardly of course. His guard was more elevated than it had been in quite some time considering what all had taken place this day and he wasn't particularly fond of being led around an odd place that claimed to be the new Taki while the real one was in the middle of an invasion.

As the pair reached what Sora assumed was the main place of business of this new supposed leader of Taki the boy put on a slightly confused face, many things weren't adding up and he had an odd feeling about going into such a meeting. The paper was slid back revealing the visage of an older man who had their back to them, his face coming into view when he turned around revealing a man that was far different than Seiichi. Dark hues fixed themselves on the man who hopefully held all the answers that the boy was soon to ask. He felt oddly compelled to step forward when beckoned to do so though would have felt better not having that monk in his blind spot.

"What is this place, why are we not helping defend Taki from the invasion?" The questions were beginning to spill out, and though there were many more somehow the boy had been able to limit himself to just two, but rest assured there would be many, many more on the way.

[/justify]

[Hanamuke Youei]

Youei perked an eyebrow at Sora’s questions. He knew Kakan had told him what had happened, but was it true that the Shichibi was this dense? For a moment the new Taki lord wished he could transport the beetle to someone usefull, like himself, but he knew that making the best of this situation was the most attractive option.

“Come, stand with me outside,” Youei said. He motioned for Sora to follow him out onto the balcony. His long haori made a slithering sound as it trailed behind him on the paper mats, as if it were a snake.

Once they stepped outside, Sora was given a view of the entire village. People of all castes were working or training or buying and selling, and it was clear the atmosphere here was a lot different than the grim underground village that once smeared the name “Takigakure”.

“The invasion has been won, Sora-kun. They locked you in that dragon world for a week, using a genjutsu to make sure you lost track of time. But I had predicted as much, and had this village built and these shinobi ready to aid me in my holy mission. I have killed both the Tsuchikage and that traitor Eboshi Seiichi, along with the majority of his clan.”

Youei paused to look at Sora to see his reaction, and then continued. “Right now various threats that remain loyal to Tsuchi no Kuni and Eboshi Seiichi are prowling the countryside, killing and raping as they please. The rest of that headless army from Iwagakure has been scattered to the four winds and the corpses sent back to their mountains. We had almost lost, due to the Eboshi’s lies, but they all fell into my trap. Our people’s trap.”

Youei crossed his arms with a smile. He was perfectly sincere in everything he was saying, and the sunlight and gentle breeze seemed to wash away any dubious aura that clung to the old man. He was both happy and content with his life and how things had turned out, it seemed.

“You have gone fifteen years living in the darkness, Sora-kun. It is time you came out into the light, don’t you agree?”

[Itanai Sora]

The man had dodged his questions and instead decided to wander out on the balcony. Surely this had become far too troubling for a boy who held within him the power to level towns, but that was in no way, shape, or form how Sora's mind worked. He would follow though only on the false hope that this man would eventually answer his questions. His eyes, too, would take note of the various people roving about the village as if they had no cares in the world. It was definitely a far cry from the Taki that the boy knew, no, that was the only Taki for all he cared; whatever this place was could never compare to his home.

When the man began to speak the Chunin didn't want to believe what had came out of his mouth. A week in that place? It had seemed but a few hours, most of which took place on that damned stair case, but he would have never guessed an entire week had passed without either he or Chomei noticing... well, more so Chomei. Sora's eyes widened at the last part, this man had killed Seiichi? That couldn't be true, he was the strongest man in the entire village and had access to all of those dragons as well; for this aged man to be able to take him down just didn't seem possible. The news of the Tsuchikage's death, while heard, didn't resonate to the level of Seiichi. Sora knew little of the five big villages and nothing specifically on Iwa though for one man to kill a Kage and a Lord was bordering on insanity. "You... how... Seiichi-sama is dead? No way..." Words were difficult to come by, the man who had sent him on this topsy turvy journey was now dead and by the hands of the man standing before the Chunin.

Nothing made sense now, even less than they did a few minutes ago. Sora wasn't sure how to handle any of the information he had just received, his home was gone, all the people he knew were gone, and now it was just him... and Chomei, of course. The boy once had a feeling similar to this many years ago when he first became the host of the Shichiibi. All the stares, the villagers speaking under their breath, and the alienation; hell, even his own family didn't look at him the same. That same alienation was now beginning to rear its ugly head once more. "Man... everything's gone. What am I gonna do?" The boy spoke to himself, forgetting for a moment that there was another who could hear his thoughts. "You mean what are we going to do, Sora." The beetle spoke. Had she had a face it would have looked annoyed, but as it was more or less a grate with no inclination to any side of the spectrum there was little to go off of aside from her voice. "Do not forget that your actions affect the both of us, also remember what that dragon said... and the pearl it gave you. Do not blindly follow this mans word for there is another side to the story that you have yet to see." Her words were very true and shook the boy from his defeated state. Indeed that dragon had given a few parting words before being attacked by the black dragon, ones that had been forgotten until this point.

"... You're right, everyone has to be alive somewhere, and I doubt Seiichi-sama would be taken down so easily. But I don't even know where we are, how are we going to get back to Taki?" Sora questioned. There was little in terms of getting a sense of direction in this place, and whoever this old man was probably had the only information on how to get back to the real Taki. "We'll figure something out, we've got luck on our side!" Awkwardly placed and seemingly out of the blue was Chomei's patented enthusiasm, but in the end she was right.

"... Yes. What do I have to do?" The boy asked in reply to the old man. He was partly interested in what that statement meant, but knew that the only way to get some kind of information on Taki would be to go along with Youei's plan, at least for now.