Shaohai (025)

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The sensation of something inside you disappearing like a fart in the wind was unpleasant to say the least. Hawke, now sans an arm in his stomach and thus sporting a new and slowly healing hole where the offending limb had been. For his part, seeing the dead woman reappear was the worse one of the two.

"You what, mate?" Hawke blinked owlishly, for once all but stunned by this turn of events. He regained his composure quickly however, pointing an accusatory finger at Kinrah. "I know everything you know, girl. Don't overstate your case."
"The King of Souls is a pawn of the serpent with eight eyes. He watches from the depths, growing his reach vast and deep. He learns, he becomes, he rises." Kinrah flickered again, distorting reality around Hawke. "Your eyes are closed to cosmic truth. Death has left this world, and with it the real becomes the unreal." Kinrah vanished in a static burst of purple light, leaving Hawke alone where he stood. Almost as if she never was real to begin with.
 

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"The King of Souls is a pawn of the serpent with eight eyes. He watches from the depths, growing his reach vast and deep. He learns, he becomes, he rises." Kinrah flickered again, distorting reality around Hawke. "Your eyes are closed to cosmic truth. Death has left this world, and with it the real becomes the unreal." Kinrah vanished in a static burst of purple light, leaving Hawke alone where he stood. Almost as if she never was real to begin with.
As the ghost of Kinrah vanished Hawke looked around as if searching for something unseen. His purple Rinnegan eyes faded back back to their normal green, leaving him feeling more naked and alone than he had with the girl's arm still in his stomach. It was all just cryptic riddles and whispers in the dark. The entire experience had really soured Garrett's outlook on mysteries and he silently vowed to beat the soul out of whoever had tipped the first domino of this disaster. Even the information he had gathered from Kinrah's soul had been like mental gibberish. Some memories were clear as day, while others were simply incomprehensible. it was as if some of her consciousness was simply of an alien mental language.

Hawke looked up and around, settling on the northbound road that stretched out in front of him and led out of the now flattened row of barracks he stood between. During the fight he had noticed signs of another struggle not far away. He even imagined to have heard the unmistakable reverberations of large-scale Ninjutsu being used. All were things that drew Hawke closer to the source of it all like a dog was drawn to a bone. The grizzled veteran casually kicked the half-chewed limb of Kinrah away and took the first few steps to leave her and the entire infernal landmark behind him.

- Leaving for LM 27
 

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Coming from the Kaizoku Sea.

Hawke and Kreia made land on the coast of Shaohai, which brought to Hawke's mind the last time he was in the area. The ghost of Kinrah had been his first hands-on experience with the forces that threatened to upturn the entire world. It was a stark reminder of how quickly things could change. The duo made their way onwards on foot.
 

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This post encompasses an A-rank mission containing the following storyboard elements:
  • Take the punishment your teacher gives you (3)
  • Begin to realize your true desire (4)

Hawke’s head was pounding from the arduous trip he had been forced to endure. It had been long, uncomfortable and wet, but that was nothing compared to the earfuls – plural – that Kreia had treated him to for its entire duration. Whether by land or by sea her disapproving stares did not change, nor did the holier-than-thou tone of her voice. She was a guilt machine on wrinkled legs, equipped with all the Greatest Hits of the much-acclaimed “didn’t I tell you?” wave. Her message stayed consistent though, Hawke had to give her that. She waved off the retreat itself like an afterthought, but was cantankerous, to put it mildly, that Garrett had been so brain-meltingly stupid so as to put himself in that situation in the first place. “Then you have learned nothing,” she would say to his every counterargument, which pissed him off doubly since he was under no obligation to argue with her in the first place.

Ever the patron saint of patient men, Hawke had tried his very best to be Zen about the whole thing, but the old woman’s words had a way of festering. Sometimes they would surface, unbidden, to stalk his waking thoughts as they came to do his dreams. She would ask seemingly innocuous questions, well-knowing that he knew she was testing him, putting every gesture under a microscope and dissecting his every word. From the smokebomb in Tazuma to Khulna and now in Shaohai the woman had been on his case like a fly on fresh manure. It was altogether excruciating, made even worse by the fact that he could not kill her. Several nights had found Hawke standing over Kreia’s sleeping form trying to force his hands into a stranglehold to no avail. He could swear he would see the corner of her mouth curl upwards whenever he slinked defeated back to his bedroll on those nights.

All these things in tandem contributed to what Hawke had mentally dubbed his ‘eternal hangover’ and just like its less perpetual counterpart a little hair of the dog was an excellent remedy for its symptoms. To that effect he had led them to a small cluster of broken barracks that he recognized from his fight with Kinrah and had found blessed purchase in the form of an untouched cache of hard liquor. A few gulps of that had seen him in much better spirits to take on the day. It had the opposite effect on Kreia, which was surprising since she did not drink any. Still, the rhythmic thumping inside his skull refused to quiet down.

“And what do you hope to achieve with this?” came another unwelcome question from Kreia as the blind woman eyed the now half-empty bottle in his hand.

“Getting pissed,” Hawke belched, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. Kreia’s glower seemed to intensify in response.

“I cannot make you see if you will not listen,” she said disapprovingly. “Are you powerless that your strength is held I check by your doubts?” Those words bit deeper than he would have liked and his emotional response only exposed that to Kreia.

“How was I to know? I nearly got them to give up a name.”

Kreia scoffed at that. She actually scoffed.

“You knew from the moment you felt their presence that they were here for you.” She stepped into his personal space and looked him up and down with a frown. “You had every chance to see them, to listen to your instincts, but you did not. Why?” The question was delivered stonily and it had the intended effect on Hawke who mulled it over for a while.

“Because I thought they’d piss of in the end,” he finally admitted, taking another swig of liquid courage. “But the pale beanpole just saw a problem to nip in the bud, so legging it seemed wise.”

“Why?” She repeated and Hawke instinctually understood her implication.

“Because losing could set me back a lifetime, yeah?” Hawke heard the whining undertone in his own voice and hated it. “Those two wankers weren’t pushovers, yeah? A scrap would’ve been long, with an un-fucking-certain outcome. All for what?”

“Nothing,” Kreia finished for him. “Power does not build without struggle, but not all struggles are equal. You must be prepared to do what is necessary without deferring to your ideals and your doubts. These men are enemies by circumstance and they will not hesitate to strike again if you continue down this path.”

“You think we’re going to Zhaohua on holiday, yeah?” Hawke asked, clearly irritated. “Someone has invested a lot of money in getting rid of me. Getting to them first is my two-bird stone.” He shot Kreia a wolfish grin and ignored the knowing look she returned.

“I am but a mirror whose only purpose is to show you what your own eyes cannot yet see,” Kreia informed him with what Hawke suspected was mock respect, but her voice never wavered. “To do so you must listen to what I know you already hear: the constant whispers of wants, desires, lies told to oneself to stave off the darkness around us.”

“Why?” Hawke took some small pleasure in asking, but Kreia did not seem affected.

“To realize what it is you truly desire,” was her infuriatingly simple and dry answer. “Think more upon this. The answer will come to you, or it will not.”

And Hawke did.


- Leaving for LM 024
 
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Previous post.

Musashi's trek through the Land of Fire had been much more vibrant than her one through the Land of Wind, filled with many more colors. Though it took some time after arriving in Shaohai, she was eventually able to procure a ferry that would be going to Tobusekai across the Kaizoku Sea.

Leaving Landmark for Kaizoku Sea (259).
 

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Coming from [x]

Alucard and Lilith traversed through the old Hanguri forts, some of which were still occupied with once soldiers - now bandits. Yet without too much hassle the two of them managed leave into the countryside, west of the armaments and forts. From there they continued west.

LLM.
 

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Coming from [x]

Following the triumph, Alucard decided to form a gravitational floating throne held together by gravity. This platform would make him travel through the air above the trees as he scouted the new factions spread out wide in this area. As he traveled he also started to regenerate his chakra.

( Kinbō Tensei Jōzai ) - Localized Reincarnation Tablet
Rank: A
Type: Supplementary
Range: Short - Long
Chakra cost: 30 (+15 per turn active)
Damage points: N/A
Description: The user creates a floating sphere from nearby debris beneath them, using the gravitational control to levitate the sphere of debris and use it as a floating platform. Keeping it active, however, requires the user to expend chakra.
Note: Can only be used by Tenseigan Bios.

(In'yōton, Onmyōton: Chakra no Sōzō) Yin-Yang Release: Chakra Creation
Type: Supplementary
Rank: S-Rank
Range: Short
Chakra: N/A (+300 per turn)
Damage: N/A
Description: A unique ability available only to Yin-Yang masters, Chakra Creation pertains to the ability to focus on ones physical and spiritual energies and draw more from one's essence. This allows the user of the technique to replenish and regenerate a limited amount of chakra. This is done by clapping one's hands and focusing, meditating for a moment.
Note: Must meditate for 1 full turn before ones chakra starts to regenerate

LLM
 
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