Team Lani: The Terror Of Death

[ZeroNumerous]

"I suppose you deserve answers now."

The golden haired jounin stopped in front of a great obsidian stone that towered over fifteen feet tall. The stone had been wrought in the same of a single fang hanging from a short overhang jutting from the face of the mountainside. The mountain stood as an impossible, impassable monstrosity wrought of ice and stone. Even the cave you now stood before appeared to your eyes as if a great maw of teeth yawning up to the sky. The cold had long since numbed your body through the layers and layers of newly made clothing.

Two weeks ago Lani had ambushed two saber-toothed tigers and skinned them. She demonstrated a hence unknown ability to sew as she turned bone to needle with a kunai. She went on to hardened hide to leather and sinew to thread with a fire-starter jutsu. The group stopped for a whole day as she sewed. Eventually all six of you were clad in clothes made from leather and hide, but when Lani demanded you march own she still wore the torn and damaged nurses clothing she had stolen from Kagekure.

A cold, bitter wind cuts through the scene as she turns to face you.

"This mountain. This is Toraken. Tiger's Heaven. The weak have no place on this mountain. Only the strong can survive here. I've brought you here for my own reasons, but I know this journey would harden you. Once we enter the mountain, I won't be long for this world. A month, let's say. So in that one month, I'm going to give you one last gift. I'm going to teach you everything I know."

She turns and walks deeper into the cave. As you move to follow you feel the air becoming oppressive with thick battle auras. After just a few minutes of walking your heart begins to get heavy and beat within your ears. The sickeningly sweet fruit of fear slides down your throat and nestles like a brick in your stomach. The light from the cave's mouth disappears as it's swallowed by oppressive darkness and the sensation of your life always being threatened. As your legs and arms begin to get heavy you finally step into a brilliant explosion of light.

Your dark-acclimated eyes find themselves assaulted by bright golden light cascading from a sky where there had been stone before. You step onto a field of grass painted with the colors of autumn fanning out before you as far as you can see. A hundred or more tigers, all of them orange and black, are scattered within that field. Some do battle, clawing and biting but causing no deep lasting wounds, while others laze about under a sun that doesn't show itself. Still others chat quietly in voices too distant to make out but certainly not growls or purrs. But one thing is clear. Each and every single one carries the aura of a jounin. Behind you sits a cold, dark cave standing out against the red stone wall it's anchored in.

Lani breathes in deep as if she'd been holding in her breath for so long. She takes several more breaths, and begins to blur more and more. You blink, thinking something is wrong with your eyes, but when you open them she's no longer standing there. In her place, amidst a pile of her clothes, sits a large cat with fur of pure white broken only by stripes of black. She turns to you, smiles and speaks.

"I'm happy to be home again."

[Paragon Badger]

Ichimaru sat cross-legged on the cold rock floor. Lani's chakra ghost seemed to blur and shift, and then it molded into a more distinct form... that of a tiger's.

"Gyah!" He exclaimed, "Tora-Sensei's a... Tora!"

The shinobi, now clad in the tiger themed attire prepared for him, scratched his head, "This place is something else... The chakra around here is incredible. Like we're not in the real world anymore."

He looked away for a brief moment, frowning as he put his chakra sight to the floor, "What will happen after that month, Tora-Sensei? Will you be like them?" He asked, nodding to all the other mythical tigers around, "-unable to leave?"

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

Lani nodded. "Yes. I'll never be able to leave Toraken again."

[The Unborne]

Toshio

A gust of wind snaked its way through the ice and stone teeth of the mountain's mouth; once free of the land masses gaping jaws, the breeze kicked up the snow along the wintry landscape releasing the snowflakes once again into the chilled airs of the north. The wind continued its way southward flight until it caught a hold of a loose article of linen, this obstacle caused the gust to swirl around its obstruction trying to find a way around. As it slithered around the mass of linen, the wind kept running into more crevices of bandages held close to raw skin. Toshio patted his leather wear trying desperately to rid himself of the cool air that trapped itself under his armor and inside his bandages; he looked up ahead at where the wind had descended from and stood in awe, but his gaze turned back towards the earth as he hugged his body tighter. He felt cold, the bitter chill of frozen wasteland they traveled across was finally catching up to Lani's first Tora-Oshiego; no amount of bandages could protect him from the frigid airs nor hide the seeping sanguine liquid that was finding its way out of new, reopened wounds.

His Katsugan snapped to his left and there stood his Tora-sensei in her damaged nurse's outfit, the pink fabric had crystallized blood droplets locked between the tightly spun threads; Toshio knew who the blood belonged to, but could anyone else see it? His eyes showed him little details that most humans would overlook or even things they could not see. Could the others see the blood that was soaking his bandages once again, or was it impossible for them to notice? Toshio was hurting and in more ways than one. His mind wandered as his eyes stayed locked on Lani. Their time traveling through the cold north was spent surviving and training. The times Toshio managed enough courage to ask Lani for training were the main cause of his melancholy. His eagerness was genuine and his cause noble, but the hellish training his Tora-sensei put him through took more than his fortitude away from him. He loved her—she was the mother he lost—but the pain she was making him bear was too much. For eyes like his, he couldn't see Lani for what she really was.

Who was she? The question had plagued the young ninja's mind for the past two weeks. He knew bits and pieces of her past, but what did it all mean? Who was she to him, and who was he to her? Her training was effective, he knew that; however, the physical pain it caused him lessened the impressive abilities he was acquiring. Lani's answers to him were more cold than before: when he asked her anything she would only answer with a yes or shrug. His question about the ninja world was met with the same coldness, a coldness that rivaled the air that had finally escaped from his loose clothing. Underneath his leather clothing was a sinewy body ridden with scars and puss-filled wounds; but after Lani's intense training, his body was finally molding into a fit shape or as fit as a body like Toshio's could get. After such improvement, though, why did he have such adverse feelings? Was it something Tora-sensei said? Was it something he did?

His perpetual questioning was cut short as his baby blue eyes looked to the person on his right. Her hair was tied in a pony-tail that fell to the curve of her back, untied hair flapped in the air that came from the mouth of the cave. Eyes green as grass were hidden just beyond sight behind dirty blond bangs, similar to the luscious green fields were hidden by the snow. Arashi had a certain feline appearance to her that made her seem playful and all so sly at the same time. Toshio found himself staring at her and took a quick step away; his bandages around his face gave no clues to how he felt towards her. What he did show was a great sense of gratitude towards the loud-mouthed kunoichi; for no matter how low he felt, she was able to distract him long enough for his mind to turn to happier thoughts. Without her, Toshio didn't know how he would've turned out after his time spent under Lani's training regimen.

As his eyes split in different directions to spot Yori and Ichimaru, the Tora-oshiego nearly tripped over as a wave of tropical air assaulted his linen-bound body. The sudden change in atmosphere caused the ex-genin to pant, and the oppressive wave of fear made it all the harder to breathe. His loss of breath soon gave way to spurts of joy and triumph as he stood looking at grassy field that laid in front of them. Through his bandages to he could smell a new beginning.

Once his eyes finished scanning the wondrous paradise in the middle of a frozen wasteland, they landed on the tiger that had appeared in front of them. Toshio knew without the aid of the pile of clothing that it was Lani, he returned a smile at her that stretched his facial bandages to the sides. Forgetting the apprehension he felt towards and lost in the moment of freedom, the mummy-like ninja stepped forward and spoke, "Are we free to do whatever you want here?" The word sounded sweet on his nonexistent lips, "Should we be careful of anything, Tora-sensei?"

[Paragon Badger]

Ichimaru remained seated, looking around at all the feral, animalistic chakra. Strange... in losing his physical sight, the ninja gained a far more potent vision for the energies that surrounded all life, and indeed- he was more succeptible to it's influence. Spending too much time in this place might be dangerous, to the point where Ichimaru could end up a catperson like Lani...

He certaintly could see that Toraken's energy was everywhere, and it was no surprise a person who stayed in there long enough would see their chakra (and by extension, their very beings) changed by the place's power.

Ichimaru had a mission to accomplish, and he could not do it by spending the rest of his life here in this 'heaven'.... or anywhere, really. The blind shinobi had to renew his bloodline, pass on the Mibu red eyes and reclaim his home in the land of sound, as it was now known as.

He had always thought he was weak... pitiful. But Lani was something else, and this place was power in of itself. Power enough, perhaps, to make one's dreams come true.

"Nyaaaahhh.." Ichimaru yawned, "This tiger-y chakra is starting to mess with my head already. I'm gonna have to get used to this.."

[Fanatic-Templar]

Yori

As they traveled, Yori became more reserved and more distant and reserved. At some point, he stepped aside to have a conversation with Toshio, and when he returned his face was pale and hard, and he would not look at anybody, least of all Toshio. Playing the flute that allowed the mobility of his puppets gave him ample excuse to avoid speaking with others, but the sad and plaintive melodies soon became wearisome to the other members of the party.

As the climate grew colder, Yori stopped being seen altogether, pretexting the cold as an excuse to withdraw into the padded and isolated chamber from which he controlled Kain in battle, essentially retreating from everything and everyone, locked in a dark and tiny compartment for hours upon hours. The wooden turtle continued walking, mechanical and uncaring, as the muffled melodies could barely be heard through the padding and above the wind.

When they did stop their travels to eat or sleep, Yori would sit with his companions, but he wouldn't offer to talk, and answered questions or encouragement to discuss politely but succinctly. When he found himself teaching little Fuji, he spoke little, and avoided any change in topics, and the training was surely not much fun for the poor girl.

It isn't much surprise then that after entering the Toraken, Yori, still hidden within Kain's cold, hard shell, said nothing, did not even seem to have noticed Lani's transformation. The large puppet stood motionless, the puppeteer inside utterly silent.

[Valgunn]

Arashi

The days before, leading up to the arrival at Toraken and Lani's revelation Arashi was as she always was; as unfathomable as the wind.

The fine art of chakra manipulation is the controlled flow of energy around the human body through the chakra circulatory system. Through it nin, gen, and tai jutsu are made possible. It is with this skill even moderate ninja can level entire villages. It is this skill that Arashi lacked. True to her name her energy was wild and destructive. Through Toraken's very way of life Arashi has managed to increase her ability in this regard ten-fold, and through this she has become master of her element; Wind.

OOC:

Spoiler

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Sorry about the major delay, Arashi just didn't speak to me until now.

[The Unborne]

Toshio

Noticing Lani's apparent solitude, Toshio didn't bother waiting for her response; he didn't blame her for it, the sudden sight of their freedom was breathtaking: the larger-than-life flora, the numerous tigers lashing out against each other, and stark contrast to the bitter cold outside this haven was enough to quiet any person. His thoughts reminded him of the temperature to which he began unfastening his hand-made, leather covering. The Tora-oshiego shifted his arm back and slid it out from the sleeve and revealed the result of his time spent training during their final trek through the frozen wasteland: arms sinewy with the lack of fat to fill in the places between muscle and bone, new stains of blood soaked permanently into his linen bandages, and the awkward shapes of muscle not toned nor defined.

His Katsugan witnessed all of this and looked deeper into the imperfections that made up Toshio. Whenever he took off his nin-armor or cloak he always (by reaction) scrutinized his outside appearance. The rather displeasing sight of his newly shaped muscle made him embarrassed and forced him to put his leather clothing back on, discomfort be damned. Toshio combed a single hand through his auburn hair and shook the excess sweat that was already gathering. It would be an uncomfortable day to say the least.

Realizing finally that Lani was impaired at the moment, the genin searched ceaselessly around trying to find someone to talk to so he could take his mind off his discomfort; Yori had disclosed his reluctance to talking to them by shutting himself into Kain, Ichimaru was yawning at this point, and this left Arashi as the only candidate—he saw her as this only because he didn't want to admit her being anything more than another friend to talk to. The young, Tora-oshiego rolled his shoulders and took a couple of sidesteps to his right. A dozen of phrases ran through his head, but all of these were lost once he was in her immediate presence; his best was, "Pretty nice here, isn't it?" If given a chance, he would slap his face with his palm.

[Valgunn]

Arashi

"I suppose." Arashi spoke sharply. "S'what's up, Pervert?" Arashi had changed since her arrival at Toraken but she tried to act normal as she brooded on her options. Several of which involved dark schemes she would not have considered before.

[The Unborne]

Toshio

Toshio puffed his cheeks out. The linen that was covering his face expanded like two tiny balloons at the sides of his mouth. His eyes dart back at the mechanical turtle, blind kid, and white tiger; did she just call him a pervert again? There was more to it though, her spunk seemed feigned in a way that he couldn't put his finger on. Ignoring the close proximity of the others and said, "Nothing's really new...how about you? You doing alright?" He left out his reaction to being called a pervert and focused more on the kunoichi he had come to know.

[Valgunn]

Arashi

A sly smile danced on her face as Arashi looked at Toshio sideways. "Well, Pervert," she made sure to keep the word pervert very, very audible as she spoke. "I'm fine. Peachy, even. How are you doing, Pervert?"

[The Unborne]

Toshio

Toshio couldn't believe what he was hearing. His face turned beet red as he turned away from the girl; it was a mistake to have talked to her. It always ended this way with him being embarrassed beyond belief. His eyes scanned around and prayed the rest of the group wasn't snickering or laughing at him in any way. A low, glottal growl escaped the Tora-oshiego's lips as he turned to face the boisterous kunoichi. He had no idea what she was doing.

"I'm the pervert?! Every time I talk to you, you mention that with no reason! Do I call you a tart, ever? No! I-" Toshio caught himself before he made himself look like a bigger fool; leave it to Arashi to break him down so pathetically. He turned forward towards the tiger-filled field that was Toraken and he chewed against the insides of his already raw mouth. "I'm pretty fine myself," he mutters without looking at her direction.

[Valgunn]

Arashi

"Geez, some might think that reacting that way meant I hit a nerve." Arashi swiveled herself closer to him. Her face broken into a huge, toothy grin. "You've been perving at me, ain't ya?"

[The Unborne]

Toshio

With a little struggle, Toshio was able to lock his eyes onto the sky above instead of letting them wander onto Arashi at that moment. She had broken whatever personal space barriers he had set up in a quick, smooth motion. Whether because he was wearing many layers of clothing or because of her close proximity, the missing-nin began to sweat: "I have never done anything like that in my life," he says with his eyes still locked upwards, "How long have you known me, and why here with everyone around?" A rather large sweat bead—larger than all the rest—dropped from his temple to his chin.

[ZeroNumerous]

Lani

Lani ignores Toshio's questions, Ichimaru's complaints and Yori's refusal to talk. Tall yellow grass parts quickly under paws which make no sounds as the white tiger makes her way through the bright sunless field. You seem to walk for thirty minutes, maybe longer, before finally meeting the first tiger lazing about in the sunless warmth. It's an old, battle-scarred and lean specimen that's still easily bigger than yourselves. The tiger's black and orange fur once bright with the sheen of youth now lies dulled by age. It levels it's head toward your group, and you see that it's right eye is covered by a deep scar. The gaze from its remaining large yellow orb feels much like Moko's unrestrained aura. Lani sits down on her haunches in front of the old tiger and waits patiently for you to arrive.

"This is Hitojinbotsu-tora. He--" The old tiger coughs. "I can speak for myself, kitten. I am not so old that I have forgotten the language of man." Lani actually looks a little bashful and lowers her head. A shudder runs through the old tiger's fur as it stands up. A body of scars from battles long past shows itself to your group. He speaks plainly to the gathered genin. "You smell of human blood. Your own and others. Tell me, children: Are you fighters?"