There is an old traditional stone in the middle of the desert of the Land of Wind, a bit off of the path leading to the now desolate Wind Shrine. It is said that it was once the spot of a great battle between the Sand Tribe and the Senju clan, one that was fought for both the control of the Land of Rivers and the possession of that era's Vestal of the Land of Wind. It was said that the battle was going horribly for the Sand Tribe, with heavy casualties occurring. They were about to surrender completely when a herd of swans flew over, with one being pitch black, a rarity that is only found in the wetlands west of Suna. A great sandstorm then blew in, covering the eyes of the Senju, which the Sand Tribe used to then repel their foes away. The day was won, but the Vestal ultimately died. Thus it was here, the old tomb of the Tribe, where the buried the Vestal, and place a heavy stone upon it, as a remembrance of her sacrifices, of the Tribe's sacrifices, and as a reminder of the old bloody days, the days of the Warring States...
*Agnes is kneeling before the great stone, her knees covered in the thicker sand and sparse dirt surrounding the fading stone, her hands held together as she faces them. Weather has aged this area greatly, the old sandstorms ceasing since the capture of the one-tailed beast, Shukaku, but even without the beast, rain, however sparse it might be in the northeast portion of the desert, and its relative isolation led it to become faded and cracked, the old pit being worn down, with many boulders and scraps of the top tumbling down over the years. The central boulder, although still whole and uncracked, has its inscription faded, but this doesn't affect Agnes that much, as any Vestal worth her salt knows the inscription to this stone by heart:*
Here Lieth Olivia and the 150 brave
Ever faithful guardians
They shall be forever rewarded
By their acquiesance and loyalty to Janus
The God of the beginning
And the Devil of the end
He taketh their souls, and scorched their bodies
But he is benevolent as he is wise
For the end is but a beginning
*Agnes recites this as she kisses each finger cross, reciting two lines before kissing each set, and kisses her thumbs as she says the final line before affirming them.*
"Amen."
*There's a light breeze that carries through the valley this day, allowing a slight chill to cool the Vestal down as it gracefully passes through her dress and being. There's a light noise though, as if a being of some kind is walking on the sand somewhat carelessly. Agnes looks up at the stone as she hears it, perhaps just a light, low-lying breeze flowing through the sand... she looks to her back, her right eye glancing over her right shoulder, wondering what it could be.*
Note: I called Gaara's clan the Sand Tribe here, as Kishi forgot to give them a name.
