Leaping between the boughs of the evergreen trees on this foreign island, Doku Hana scouted the snowy landscape for the rest of her squad. She ducked a volley of kunai by adhering to the branch and slipping upside down, hanging like a bat. From here, she spotted her pursuers. She unleashed eight shuriken at them, intercepting their next volley. One of the kunai had an exploding tag, and sent a cloud of snow into the air as it impacted. She took this opportunity to prepare a Shadow Clone and backflip into the underbrush, where she performed her Armor of Thorns jutsu.
From there, she retrieved a poison vile from one of her pouches and coated a kunai for each of her opponents with it. The poison was derived from opium poppies, and produced a debilitating hallucination. Hana saw shadows move and faces contort monstrously when she tested it on herself. Now, she had been using it to effectively end battles, capturing her targets.
Lying in wait, her shadow clone ducked and weaved, maneuvering the targets into sight. The Touketsu Chuushin Clan had been embroiled in a civil war over the succession of their Kage. Doku Hana's team had been hired to tip the scales of that struggle. The four that were chasing her currently were allied to the most recent Kage. The Ishi Arashi were hired by the young usurper. These four were some of the highest regarded ninja in their clan.
The clone jumped to a low hanging limb as it avoided Ice Spikes shooting up from beneath it. It caused the limb to create a wood wall with Mokuton no jutsu just in time to send the Swallow Snow Storm needles crashing into it as the clone backflipped down to the ground again. As it landed, it was caught in an Ice Prison technique. The clone responded by creating an Earth Dome Prison inside the ice. As the four approached, one of them sent a spike of ice up from the ground through the entire Earth Prison. They gathered to examine their work as the earth crumbled away. They saw the clone impaled on the spike just in time to see it disappear in a puff of leaves.
"Kawarimi!" one yelled, as another formed a few hand seals and used Chakra Sensing Snow.
Doku Hana threw the kunai as she emerged from the brush. Three of them hit their mark; their targets immediately slpping into a hellish waking nightmare. The last one missed by inches as the ninja who performed the Chakra Sensing Snow slipped behind one of his comrades. As the other three screamed and thrashed about in horror, the last remaining Ice ninja jumped up into a pine tree and threw down a sleeping gas bomb, knocking out the rest of his team. As she advanced, Doku Hana performed a Daitoppa, clearing the gas and snapping the branch her opponent was on. This sent him and the limb falling to the ground. As it crushed his three unconscious partners, he landed softly near Hana.
She then got her first good look at her opponent. She couldn't feel his chakra. His scroll was gone. The weight of hers at her hip suddenly felt like a ingot of lead. The rush of fear she felt as the Ishikage's words echoed in her head nearly paralyzed her. His spiked white hair and barbed blue armor identified him as Harinizumi Koori. This was the man she was sent here to stop.
"They're sending the pups after me now?"
Doku Hana just stared intently at him. This man had the blood of her clan on his hands. He had the blood of his own clan on his hands. His soul was stained red, but his countenance was pristine. He was a horrible contradiction.
"Nothing to say?" he said as he circled Doku Hana. "I'd hate those three to have died and not even be entertained."
Doku Hana trained her eyes on his. Suddenly, she whipped a hidden smoke pellet at Harinizumi Koori's feet. As it popped, she punched her other arm out performing a Hurricane Fist blowing him back into a tree. Snow fell from the tree and piled on Koori.
Hana hurriedly made her hand seals and used Earth Dome Prison on her foe. She nervously dug around for another dose of poison. She grasped it and lifted it to throw into the Prison, as she saw the reflection of a figure form from the snow behind her. She reflexively expanded her Thorn Armor, but felt it break as a chill came over her, and she could no longer move.
"Much, much better. If you were a little more experienced, you may have left here alive," he said as he smirked. "My, my, what a shame. I almost hate to destroy something so beautiful... almost."
Doku Hana trembled as she felt an icicle pierce her from behind. She started to fall forward when her vision was consumed in a white glow. She remembered thinking that the snow made her landing soft when she felt hands underneath her. She heard Shiro's voice reprimanding her.
"I thought I told you not to get separated," he said, continuing dismissively, "Rookie."
From here, as Shiro healed her, Hana saw the brilliant light pass over her at incredible speeds. As the figure cam into focus, she recognized it as Tenshi. But he had wings; six of them, feathered in immaculate white plumes. She watched as jutsu after jutsu of ice melted away as it entered his glowing aura. Tenshi tilted his body to take off after Harinizumi as Shiro called out to him.
"Tenshi, I'm losing her! She's lost a lot of blood! He hit an artery!"
Her chill was getting worse. Her vision was dimming fast. By the time Tenshi was standing over her, she could swear that the white glow had turned into a veil of shadows, surrounding him sinisterly. Panic and horror suddenly overtook her. She thought to herself, "I don't want to die, I don't want to die, I don't want to die..."
Everything around her was inky blackness. She heard the sound of running water. She thought to herself, "Am I home? Did the take me back to the valey? Why is everything so dark? Am I blind?!" She raised her arm and waved her hand in front of her face to test it. "No," she thought, "I can see. There is just nothing but blackness." She immediately stopped, realizing where she was.
"I am dead... this is the afterlife."
She looked around for Lord Masauru, Keeper of the Damned, but saw no one. She tried to listen for the sound of pounding nails over the rushing water. Nothing. If her heart were still beating, it would be pounding. She had to be careful not to move too quickly. If she stumbled into the water, she would lose her memories and all hope of returning. The last few hours had been a crescendo of panic. This had to be its climax. She felt like she was being watched. She was too afraid to move. Was she already nailed to the Tree of Pain? She turned to look over her shoulder when the face of a black-clad ninja startled her. She lost her balance as she scrambled backwards. Her body turned in the air. She saw a river rushing under her.
It seemed to her as she was falling uncontrollably for a long time. She saw the waves and eddies morph into images. The first was a dog, then a boar. The next was a ram, then a monkey. followed by a rabbit and a snake. Then a rooster, followed by a tiger. The next was a rat, followed by a horse. Then there was a dragon, and finally an ox.
She fell in seemingly slow motion, pondering the meaning of these images. Were these to replace her memories as she hit the water? Were they the infernal torturers that awaited her? The questions flooded her mind as the atmosphere lit up like the noon suns. She was plucked from the air and launched skyward. She felt the soft, downy touch of feathers brush her skin.
"Tenshi? How-"
She heard a melodious reply. "I am not the one you call Teshi," the singing voice said. "He is my vessel, my jar, my prison."
Hana looked up at her rescuer. She saw the most beutiful face. She was unsure if it was male or female. She just knew that it was grace personified.
"Favored of Evaki, do you wish to know anything before I deliver you back to the living?"
Oddly ready for this question, Doku Hana blurted out the question that had been burning in her mind since her Passage. "The Priestess told me that my child would unite the clans against the coming Evil. What is it that we will be fighting?"
In a dirge-like tune, the angel replied, "It is everything we are not, and nothing we are. It is the dark dawn. The universe itself will crash down and corrupt all it touches, even the gods."
"How is my child to fight this...this nothing?"
"Gather all the ninpo. The clans must all take part and give of themselves. Yin, Yang, known and forbidden. Seek the nymph, she will bless you witht the ability to recall these moments perfectly."
Hana convulsed as she took a breath and opened her eyes.
"Welcome back," Tenshi said dispassionately. "I hope you turn out to be worth more to the clan. Harinizumi escaped."
From there, she retrieved a poison vile from one of her pouches and coated a kunai for each of her opponents with it. The poison was derived from opium poppies, and produced a debilitating hallucination. Hana saw shadows move and faces contort monstrously when she tested it on herself. Now, she had been using it to effectively end battles, capturing her targets.
Lying in wait, her shadow clone ducked and weaved, maneuvering the targets into sight. The Touketsu Chuushin Clan had been embroiled in a civil war over the succession of their Kage. Doku Hana's team had been hired to tip the scales of that struggle. The four that were chasing her currently were allied to the most recent Kage. The Ishi Arashi were hired by the young usurper. These four were some of the highest regarded ninja in their clan.
The clone jumped to a low hanging limb as it avoided Ice Spikes shooting up from beneath it. It caused the limb to create a wood wall with Mokuton no jutsu just in time to send the Swallow Snow Storm needles crashing into it as the clone backflipped down to the ground again. As it landed, it was caught in an Ice Prison technique. The clone responded by creating an Earth Dome Prison inside the ice. As the four approached, one of them sent a spike of ice up from the ground through the entire Earth Prison. They gathered to examine their work as the earth crumbled away. They saw the clone impaled on the spike just in time to see it disappear in a puff of leaves.
"Kawarimi!" one yelled, as another formed a few hand seals and used Chakra Sensing Snow.
Doku Hana threw the kunai as she emerged from the brush. Three of them hit their mark; their targets immediately slpping into a hellish waking nightmare. The last one missed by inches as the ninja who performed the Chakra Sensing Snow slipped behind one of his comrades. As the other three screamed and thrashed about in horror, the last remaining Ice ninja jumped up into a pine tree and threw down a sleeping gas bomb, knocking out the rest of his team. As she advanced, Doku Hana performed a Daitoppa, clearing the gas and snapping the branch her opponent was on. This sent him and the limb falling to the ground. As it crushed his three unconscious partners, he landed softly near Hana.
She then got her first good look at her opponent. She couldn't feel his chakra. His scroll was gone. The weight of hers at her hip suddenly felt like a ingot of lead. The rush of fear she felt as the Ishikage's words echoed in her head nearly paralyzed her. His spiked white hair and barbed blue armor identified him as Harinizumi Koori. This was the man she was sent here to stop.
"They're sending the pups after me now?"
Doku Hana just stared intently at him. This man had the blood of her clan on his hands. He had the blood of his own clan on his hands. His soul was stained red, but his countenance was pristine. He was a horrible contradiction.
"Nothing to say?" he said as he circled Doku Hana. "I'd hate those three to have died and not even be entertained."
Doku Hana trained her eyes on his. Suddenly, she whipped a hidden smoke pellet at Harinizumi Koori's feet. As it popped, she punched her other arm out performing a Hurricane Fist blowing him back into a tree. Snow fell from the tree and piled on Koori.
Hana hurriedly made her hand seals and used Earth Dome Prison on her foe. She nervously dug around for another dose of poison. She grasped it and lifted it to throw into the Prison, as she saw the reflection of a figure form from the snow behind her. She reflexively expanded her Thorn Armor, but felt it break as a chill came over her, and she could no longer move.
"Much, much better. If you were a little more experienced, you may have left here alive," he said as he smirked. "My, my, what a shame. I almost hate to destroy something so beautiful... almost."
Doku Hana trembled as she felt an icicle pierce her from behind. She started to fall forward when her vision was consumed in a white glow. She remembered thinking that the snow made her landing soft when she felt hands underneath her. She heard Shiro's voice reprimanding her.
"I thought I told you not to get separated," he said, continuing dismissively, "Rookie."
From here, as Shiro healed her, Hana saw the brilliant light pass over her at incredible speeds. As the figure cam into focus, she recognized it as Tenshi. But he had wings; six of them, feathered in immaculate white plumes. She watched as jutsu after jutsu of ice melted away as it entered his glowing aura. Tenshi tilted his body to take off after Harinizumi as Shiro called out to him.
"Tenshi, I'm losing her! She's lost a lot of blood! He hit an artery!"
Her chill was getting worse. Her vision was dimming fast. By the time Tenshi was standing over her, she could swear that the white glow had turned into a veil of shadows, surrounding him sinisterly. Panic and horror suddenly overtook her. She thought to herself, "I don't want to die, I don't want to die, I don't want to die..."
Everything around her was inky blackness. She heard the sound of running water. She thought to herself, "Am I home? Did the take me back to the valey? Why is everything so dark? Am I blind?!" She raised her arm and waved her hand in front of her face to test it. "No," she thought, "I can see. There is just nothing but blackness." She immediately stopped, realizing where she was.
"I am dead... this is the afterlife."
She looked around for Lord Masauru, Keeper of the Damned, but saw no one. She tried to listen for the sound of pounding nails over the rushing water. Nothing. If her heart were still beating, it would be pounding. She had to be careful not to move too quickly. If she stumbled into the water, she would lose her memories and all hope of returning. The last few hours had been a crescendo of panic. This had to be its climax. She felt like she was being watched. She was too afraid to move. Was she already nailed to the Tree of Pain? She turned to look over her shoulder when the face of a black-clad ninja startled her. She lost her balance as she scrambled backwards. Her body turned in the air. She saw a river rushing under her.
It seemed to her as she was falling uncontrollably for a long time. She saw the waves and eddies morph into images. The first was a dog, then a boar. The next was a ram, then a monkey. followed by a rabbit and a snake. Then a rooster, followed by a tiger. The next was a rat, followed by a horse. Then there was a dragon, and finally an ox.
She fell in seemingly slow motion, pondering the meaning of these images. Were these to replace her memories as she hit the water? Were they the infernal torturers that awaited her? The questions flooded her mind as the atmosphere lit up like the noon suns. She was plucked from the air and launched skyward. She felt the soft, downy touch of feathers brush her skin.
"Tenshi? How-"
She heard a melodious reply. "I am not the one you call Teshi," the singing voice said. "He is my vessel, my jar, my prison."
Hana looked up at her rescuer. She saw the most beutiful face. She was unsure if it was male or female. She just knew that it was grace personified.
"Favored of Evaki, do you wish to know anything before I deliver you back to the living?"
Oddly ready for this question, Doku Hana blurted out the question that had been burning in her mind since her Passage. "The Priestess told me that my child would unite the clans against the coming Evil. What is it that we will be fighting?"
In a dirge-like tune, the angel replied, "It is everything we are not, and nothing we are. It is the dark dawn. The universe itself will crash down and corrupt all it touches, even the gods."
"How is my child to fight this...this nothing?"
"Gather all the ninpo. The clans must all take part and give of themselves. Yin, Yang, known and forbidden. Seek the nymph, she will bless you witht the ability to recall these moments perfectly."
Hana convulsed as she took a breath and opened her eyes.
"Welcome back," Tenshi said dispassionately. "I hope you turn out to be worth more to the clan. Harinizumi escaped."
