Jin walked back from the kage’s compound, entering that of the yuki’s. He strolled along the inner band of it, just before the palace itself. Jin’s eyes glanced over to the left, an archway with twin waterfalls falling down it. It was marked ‘Noble’s garden.’ Perhaps maybe...
He walked into the garden, looking around it. It was green, the sprouts of the plants were growing steadily, however none of them had come to fruition. He came here every so often, just in case he could find it. He turned to leave, before he notice something different catch his eye.
Off to the side, in a corner was a small white and pink flower. It looked delicate, with intricate patterns on it. On each of it’s petals were yellow strands with a black and white bead in the middle of the yellow bands on either side of it. He knelt down and plucked the flower. The ice flutter lotus
“Of course it wouldn’t grow where the other flowers were planted...just like you...”
Carrying the flower with much care, Jin kept a slow pace, stepping into the palace doorway. He kept walking straight, right into an alcove that was dimly lit. The only main light came from a mural. Jin found himself in front of the mural again...the damn mural. He looked up to it, his black suit as strict as his demeanor. The several colors of the mural decorating the appearance of the white haired woman.
“Just as I promised...”
Jin places the Ice flutter lotus on the ledge of the mural, right at it’s base. Jin looked remorseful at the bottom of the mural, where there was an empty void of stone below the ledge itself. Seven foot long and wide, a yin and yang styled family crest designed on it, intertwined with the Yuki crest. It looked as if it were previously designed to hold something. Something that made jin appear bitter.
******
30 years ago....
******
A small boy tip toed around a koi pond, his wavy black hair lopping up and down as he balanced his arms. He walked on log after log and brick after brick, practicing his balancing skills. The boy couldn’t have been much older than seven. The kid then hopped onto the intricate koi pond, every step he made freezing over as he begun to balance on the foot holds as well.
“That’s a interesting technique you have...”
A young girl, around his same age spoke. She wore white and black, having a small umbrella for the sun. She was petite, with purple eyes and white hair. The boy was surprised at her appearance, a grin appearing on his face.
“Hehe! You like it? It’s pretty cool!”
“I haven’t seen anything like it, can you only use it to step across water?”
The boy jumped up, barefoot onto the grass outside to koi pond. He closed his eyes and gave her a toothy grin.
“Of course not! Watch this!”
He wove his hands together, creating a thin mirror of ice. This seemed to astound her, but what surprised her even further was that he walked into the ice mirror, seeming to disappear! She looked frantically at the mirror.
“Boy? Boy?? Um...where are you?”
“Here!”
He shouted as his head came out to meet hers, inches away. She squeaked out in surpised jumping back and dropping her umbrella. He laughed at her.
“Hehe! I got you didn’t I?”
“That wasn’t very nice...”
She pouted, turning away from him. His smile faded, turning into more of a panic. She didn’t seem to much like him anymore, and somehow that just felt...wrong. He looked around for a way to change this, finding a lone flower in a corner of the koi pond. He plucked It, taking it and putting it in the young girl’s hair as she least expected it. Her eyes widened, feeling the flower, looking to him.
“Now you look like the prettiest girl I’ve every seen.”
She put a hand over her mouth before looking into her reflection in the koi pond. The pink flower matching well with her hair and eyes. She blushed and hid it with the umbrella.
“I’m flattered...what might be your name?”
“They call me Jin around here, and you?”
“Roanna. I’m pleased to meet you.”
Jin kissed her hand in greeting, sending her to another blush. She couldn’t help but feel comfortable around the boy. He was just so positive and kind. She smiled to Jin, sending him to blush in kind. Being an awkward kid, he turned around, pretending something was over there sheepishly until his blush went away.
“I-I’m Jin.”
“Yes, you said that already.”
“Did I? Hehehe...so I did.”
They both chuckled a bit, Jin more so out of funny shame than anything else. Roanna gave him an amused look, Gesturing toward him
“What’s your last name? Unless that’s Jin too.”
“No no no it isn’t Jin...hehe. It’s Yuki.”
“Oh? I heard they were renowned for their kindness. You don’t disappoint Jin Yuki.”
“Aw it’s nothing really. Your turn now.”
“Oh right, sorry about that. Roanna, Roanna Hü.”
“The hü?” Jin scratched his head. “I haven’t heard of them.”
Roanna turned around to walk out of the Yuki district. “Maybe next time we can meet there, I can show you around.”
“Y-you mean that we will meet each other again??”
She turned around and gave him a smile and a tilt of her umbrella, before pointing to the pink flower Jin put in her hair.
“Then you can tell me what this means. Hehehe. If you can find me!”
“Your on!”
She walked with grace out of the compound, a new spring in her step and a smile on her face from the meeting. Jin smiled to hismelf like a fool, sitting criss crossed on the Yuki grounds, staring up at the sky.
“I’ll find her, just you wait!
.....
........
..........
******
30 years ago....
******
Jin, several days later from meeting the beautiful roanna had searched several parts of town in the past days. If one had saw him, they would have assumed that he were looking for a stray. Today he walked around the outskirts of town, alongside the ocean. He had a handful of rocks, skipping them as he went along.
“Roanna? Where are you?” He called.
He skipped another rock atop the ocean. He sighed, the entire endeavor being more effort than he originally thought. He had begun to grow to worry that he wouldn’t see her again. Skipping another rock on the surface of the ocean. He stopped, looking out into the ocean. The sun was about to touch the horizon, the sun was setting soon. He huffed in frustration, throwing his last stone. Every time it skipped across the water he bended the water to it would go farther and farther for each skip, not allowing it to sink.
The rock continued on and on. He used his bloodline to bend the water with the rock. *plup* *plup* *plup* the rock skipped twenty more times, that is until it seemed to stop abruptly. Jin blinked, wondering if what his eyes processed was true. He jumped into the ocean, running along it while freezing stepping stones along the way. It didn’t seem like the rock had any reason to stop, especially not with his bloodline helping.
As soon as he reached the point that the rock had sunken, something large shifted into sight. It was an elaborate compound, a unorthodox castle appearing before him. The castle seemed to be made entirely of swirled patterns, the steel and tiles bended around so that the shell of the castle was a bulbous shape, almost like a flower that hadn’t bloomed. He was amazed by it.
“A...genjustu?”
He looked left and right, unsure if he should go into the palace grounds. He closed his fist and hardened his goal. He bended the water under his feet to reach the pier. As soon as he did, he heard metal sheathing. He couldn’t see anything, but then again, his eyesight couldn’t pick up the palace in the first place. He bended a sphere of water from the ocean, splashing it in front of him. What he saw surprised him. There were figures, only outlined by the water he has splashed up, carrying some kind of tools he couldn’t make out.
“H-hey, I didn’t mean anything...!”
He raised his hands up, the Warriors revealing themselves. Each one of them had white hair, women had it draping down or in braids, and the men seemed to have it Spikey or flowing. They handled trident like weapons, the tips glowing with chakra. All of them had either black or purple eyes, an interesting note.
“Enough, back away.”
The guards were called off by the feminine voice. They quickly made a hole, standing to attention as a white haired woman approached. She was adorned with white and black clothing, having a slim dress with black ribbions along it. On her sleeves were several yin and yang symbols, alongside a golden swirl like symbol, with white and black on either side. She had a crown atop her head, giving her the appearance of royalty. As she approached, he felt as if he were a foot tall.
“I am Haiahu, the head the Hü clan. I am aware that someone has been expecting you...”
Out from behind her came a very familiar sight. A young girl his age, adorning a white dress with that same clan symbol on it. Her purple eyes met his at the same moment as she broke out into a run.
“Roanna!”
“Jin! You found us!”
She pulled him into a hug, giggling as she did so. The head of the Hü clan gave a smile, seeming to analyze the boy and the situation. Roanna broke the hug, looking to him.
“I didn’t expect you to find us. My mother said that any person that cared about me enough would find us. I didn’t think she was telling the truth, but here you are!”
“I-It’s nothing really.” He sheepishly laughed, rubbing the back of his neck.
“It’s settled then.” Haiahu spoke. “You have my permission to court my daughter.”
Jin’s eyes widened as big as bowling balls. On two things. 1. She was the daughter of the leader of their entire clan. 2...COURTING?!
“Courting?! Uh...as in dating?! Nononono you got it all wrong miss-“
“I’m never wrong.” The leader spoke, her attitude slowly turning to venom. “Unless your trying to say I am?”
“I- uh....what now?”
“I’m just kidding with you darling~” Haiahu laughed. “The Yuki, always so literal. Dumb as you are charming. Go on Roanna, you can play with the boy.”
“All right!” She giggled.
He didn’t comprehend what had just happened, to be honest so much had occured it was difficult to process. But one thing was for sure: he found her. And that made him happy, for reasons he had yet to figure out. Haiahu looked on, watching them run away.
“That’s the head’s son isn’t he?”
“I believe so Sir.”
.
..
...
“Good.”
It
*********
20 years ago.....
*********
An 18 year old Jin looked in the mirror. Growing into his looks as well as his frame, he looked a lot more mature and refined than he was as a boy. His hair was in a pony tail that draped behind his head. He wore a long black robe, adorned with the Yuki Clan crest in orange.
Today he would face his biggest challenge. A long awaited moment that would change is life forever. Something that would put himself into a new role, a role that would be unlike something he had never faced....
...marriage...
“It’s time son.” A older Yuki spoke, dressed for the occasion as well. He put his hand on Jin’s shoulder. “Are you ready?”
Jin took a calming breath before He pushed on the door of the Yuki residence, light flooding in from the day to come. He was instantly met with violins, harps, accordions, and a whole array of instruments. Crowds of people surrounded the place, except a walkway in between them laid out by a blue carpet.
He took yet another breath before striding into the fray. They threw rice and flower petals at him, each one trying to rush in words of congratulations. A marriage of the son and daughter of two major clans wasn’t minor news. The entire village had decided to celebrate this event, even the mizukage giving his blessings. He tried a small smile, waving at a few of the people that had came out to celebrate.
He and his father made it to a large building, decorated with several reed tiles alongside his roof, with no walls. Just big thick supports that left it open to the ocean. He stood in front of Hama Yuki, a woman with long black hair, his sister. She wore a long ceremonial robe of blue and black, dresses with sapphires. Hama greeted him with a warm smile.
“Hello brother, funny seeing you here.” Hama joked. “Almost like your getting married or somethin’.”
“Not now Hama...”
As the building overlooked the sea, there was a rippling in the distance. The palace that he had seen first so long ago had materialized. The genjustu was dropped. Jin was surprised at this action. Where they opening up to the world? In the distance, coming in quickly were a group of figures, several draped in black clothes. One in front was dressed in green while the one right behind it was dressed in white.
Running across the water like the skilled shinobi they were, the Hü clan. They closed the distance quickly, leaping up to the building from the coast, their clothes perfectly dry. Landing down, the lead two removed their hoods. The one in the green hood revealed herself to be Haiahu, Head of the Hü clan. And the white hooded one discarded her cloak completely, showing herself to be the wife-to-be: Roanna.
“Sorry I’m late...hehe...” Roanna giggled. “I-I look fine right? No water or anything?”
“You look...astounding...”
“What happened to the prettiest girl in the world?” Roanna teased.
Jin blushed, looking over to the side. Hama chuckling, and putting a hand over to cup her mouth.
“I like her.” She whispered, before clearing her throat. “I will be marrying you both today. So now that the wife to be is here, how about we start?”
The wedding was rather unorthodox, with Hama at the helm who could have expected otherwise? Hama was quick to to make quips which brought the crowd a lot of enjoyment, the Jin’s embarrassment. But she did her job, which Jin could hate or thank her later her for. Then, the couple said their vows before they intwined in a kiss. The crowd clapped in praise and glee as two clans head’s children had been wedded together.
Haiahu and Jin’s father had sat down directly after the wedding at been finished. The mist brilliant artist in town had begun to make an ink portraits of the two. They both held a sword and a flower in each hand, as if they were putting down the sword and raising a flower to each other. A sign of peace and coexistence between the clans.
........
Later that night, Roanna and Jin looked up at the moon, outside the Yuki compound where they had first met. They held each other’s hands tightly. Roanna gave a smile to Jin, squeezing her new husband’s hand tighter.
“Today was better than I’ve dreamed.” She remarked. “Even my mother dispelled our palace’s genjustu. All because of Us...”
“It’s surprising...I never would have thought she’d do that.”
They say in silence for a good long while, enjoying the tenderness of the moment. The moon shining and the sea washing against the shore. Roanna looked to the koi pond to her left, smiling nostalgically.
“You never did tell me what that flower meant, all that long time ago. Now that we are married, I don’t see why you can’t tell me now.”
“Ah the ice flutter lotus...” Jin closed his eyes, keeping this secret for ten years. “For the Yuki Clan, the ice flutter lotus is a symbol of everlasting love, motherhood, and sentiment for true beauty. Not lust, but true love. I didn’t understand it at the time, but it seems that the tale is true.”
“That’s sweet...and all this time I never knew it...” Roanna said looking back at the pond. “Koi.”
“...what?”
“I want that to be the name of our daughter.”
“After this fish? That would be illogical to-“
“Jin.” She said looking in his eyes.
He gulped, her eyes melting his heart. “...fine. But what if it’s a boy?”
“Then kai.” She said matter of factly. “Most of my clan is populated by women, so the likelyhood of that is-“
She was cut off by his lips touching hers. She clapped her purple eyes in surprise at first. Then she slowly fluttered them close, as she kissed her husband under the moonlight. Young love.
*******
10 years ago....
*******
“Wake up....”
“.....”
“Wake up daddy!”
“Hm...?”
Jin, now 28, had woke up to the jumping of a child. A black haired boy with a white streak in his hair jumped on his stomach, over the covers of his bed. Roanna yawned, rubbing her eyes to the boys jumping.
“Kai...” she yawned, morphing into a giggle. “What kind of adventures are you going on today?”
“I’m gonna go run to the Kage mansion and back, hunt for hermit crabs, and-and-“
“You can’t go on these adventures before you take a bath.” She scolded lightly, getting up and gently grabbing Kai by the hand. “Let’s go captain Kai.”
“Aww...okey...”
Jin watched this quietly, a smile spreading across his face. She had a way with children, a way he could never replicate. Looking back on it, it was good they had a son. The name ‘Koi’ seemed rather off to him, and ‘Kai’ fit the rambunctious and adventurous nature of the boy. The first child of the Yuki and Hü clan, the first of his kind. He would be lying if he said both clans weren’t looking carefully with both interest and concerns.
“Jin dear.” Roanna spoke, looking behind her. “I’ll be going to my mother’s tonight for an evening tea, I hope things go well in your meeting!”
His smile turned to a frown at the thought of the Hü clan. He needed to continue the talks, a rather irritating matter that never went away. This would be the tenth meeting in a row of nine other days. You see, a foreign town had settled close by, one that wasn’t a part of the land of water. They audacious claimed several areas as their own, including guarded areas claimed by the Hü. The Hü, graced as one of the five noble clans were outraged, calling on the assistance of the Kage as well as the noble blood of the other clans to assist.
.
..
...
.....
“These lands belong to us.” The foreigner’s leader spoke, dressed in thick wool. “This...female is of no consequence. They cannot own land.”
“Out of the question!” One of haiahu’s aids yelled back. “These lands belong to the Hü clan, and your traditions do not apply on foreign soil!”
The man that stood against the Hü was a man named Tiozo. He and his townsmen stood strongly opposed to the Hü, who wanted to enforcer their territory rights, refusing their private property to be used by them
“These are our lands to do as we wish. The waters are owned by no man or...woman. We will fish along these sees as freely as the wind, you cannot restrict us.”
Jin held his head. It dragged on. It was like arguing with The sun, you get nothing accomplished and you walk away burned. But today...something different happened. Haiahu our a finger on her lips, a smile curling on them.
“Torizo is it?”
Torizo looked to her, his hand running through his thick beard as she got up from her chair. She locked her eyes onto his as she made her way around the meeting hall.
“The same Torizo that used to be a ninja for the hidden cloud before he had suddenly decided to leave to become a traveler, taking a caravan in a beeline toward mist territory.”
Several heads turned in the meeting room, it had seemed haiahu had had enough. She walked ever closer to him, Jin started to become concerned about the meeting being jeopardized, and about this tangent that she was going on.
Hmmm now let’s see...if I’m correct, I’d say that that this was a ploy from the cloud, that they were using this as a smokescreen to make a stakehold in mist territory. Now doesn’t that sound like something awfully suspicious?”
This set of a wave of distrust, panic, and chaos through the meeting room. It made a shocking amount of sense, even if there was no fact based proof in it other than the name. The foreigners gritted their teeth, and Torizo slammed his fist at the table.
“This is outrageous! How dare you associate us with them!” He said, slamming his knife into the table. “We will take our leave. It has become obvious that the mist will not come to reason.”
The entire foreign delegation pushed the table away, knocking over their chairs in a fit of anger before finally making their leave. Jin dusted himself off, looking at the heads of the terumi and Hü clans specifically. Haiahu had just made a big claim against the foreigners, who’s only response was to get up an leave, not outright denying it. Needless to say, it seemed to rule in the Hü’s favor.
“Haiahu, your words today while they have shed a possible question to light, it has alienated the foreigners. It may be hard to bring them back the the table.” Jin explained.
“Oh come now darling, I have no intention on sitting down with those baffoons again. If they want to talk, they can not intrude on our space, or leave. It’s that simple~”
There was no use in trying to fight it. She was stubborn, as most hü were. All Jin could do was shake his head and move on. He had other matters to attend to. Perhaps he would build onto the Yuki Clan’s grounds, build a garden perhaps. Or maybe a training ground for young Yuki? Now that he was the head, he could do so much good for his people.
..
...
....
Later that night, Jin had been working diligently, talking to his fellow clansman about the construction ideas of the zone. He was sure especially with Kai and a possible second child on the way, a training ground could be needed, especially for the rest of the Yuki young. He had heard about a toddler girl Yuki being a few doors houses down, named ‘Tsuki.’ Who knows? Perhaps a play mate for Kai, or perhaps a sparring partner.
That’s...when it happened.
BOOM!
The crack of thunder howled throughout the night sky. Everyone turned to the sight before their very eyes. Lightning bolts seemed to bombard the Hü palace along the sea. There was only one culprit that came to mind: the cloud. They must have wanted to rid the hü, or at least haiahu before she revealed all their secrets she knew. That was when it clicked. At the compound tonight...at that very palace...Roanna, his wife was spending the night. Jin dropped what he was doing, looking at everyone around him.
“What are you doing?! Everyone deploy! We are going after them!!”
He sprang into action faster than a whirlwind, skidding across the water. Like jets, they zoomed along the ocean tides, Jin with a new determination in his eyes. Several boats and reconfigured cargo ships came into view. Ninja liens the sides, dressed up as smuggler and civilians, zapping the palace, destroying several surrounding Hü buildings. The Hü didn’t seem to be responding. It was a surprise attack.
The Yuki first responders went to work, summoning pillars of ice against the hull of the invading ships. Jin’s was the largest, stabbing into the side of the leaf ship. He jumped up, an ice platform appearing under him. He made a handsign.
“Hidden justu! Revolving ice mirrors!”
Several mirrors of ice materialized around hismelf, before they spun up, faster and faster. The spinning mirrors cut into any cloud rouge that came close to it, as he Berlined toward the palace. The Yuki had begun to pour into the zone, ripping apart the ships and sinking them one by one.
Jin’s mirrros stopped revolving as he ran into the Hü grounds, noticing charred bodies everywhere. They weren’t aiming just for haiahu...this was deliberate. The Xenos aim to kill them all! I can’t allow this! Jin sprinted into the palace itself, many hü guards stabbing into their attackers, handling Most of the defense. This calmed Jin down a bit until he realized where the lightning focused on in the palace.
“The palace chamber!”
Jin ran up the green carpeted stairs, bursting down the door. He was met with Tiozo dueling with haiahu and Roanna. His eyes widened, leaning to intervening, but it seemed his entrance had distracted Torizo. Haiahu took advantage of it, using her hand she weaves what seemed like a crystal clear needle into him, sowing his hands together. He cried out in pain before haiahu sowed his feet together, forcing him to fall down to the ground. Roanna, seeming the leader of the attack fall, looked to Jin, fear and relief in her eyes.
“Jin!! Your here!”
Jin began to run to her as she did to him. Before they could grab each other however, the unthinkable happened. A bolt of lighting came from the woven up Torizo’s fingertips, zapping right into Roanna. She wailed in pain, collapsing to the ground. Jin’s heart skipped a beat.
“R-Ro...” Jin stuttered. “Roanna!!!”
Pain stricken, Jin fell to her side, Roanna unconscious. She had a pulse, but it was faint. Haiahu’s eyes sharpened and her demeanor became something to be feared. She hissed at Tiozo.
“You and your foul kind must never live to see the light of day!”
Using the sowing needle, it flew right into his skull and out the other side, striking him dead. Jin Jin longer cared about anything else but Roanna’s Condition. While the Hü had been spared, what did it cost? He hoisted up Roanna in his arms, all but sprinting out the door.
“MEDIC!!!!”
******
10 years ago....
*******
Drip....Drip....Drip....
Jin has ushered his wife into the Yuki medical wing, where the medical nin had made quick work in trying to heal her. Laying her on her back, they went to do any medical ninjutsu they could. Minutes past as their hands flew different colors, trying different Justus that would work. The head doctor dismayed, hung his head low looking to Jin.
“I-I’m sorry Jin. There’s nothing more I can do. Lightning has severed a a multitude of pathways to her brain, and we can’t stop its cascade. Soon the tainted tissue will spread to the brain stem...and it will be over. I’ve done everything in the book sir.”
“Then you weren’t trying hard enough!” Jin snapped. “If that’s everything in the book, I’ll make a new book where even someone like you can get it right! Leave my sight!”
“Jin...”
Jin whipped around, the sound coming from Roanna, who still lie on the medical bed. He waved off the medical staff, who scattered out with their tails in between their legs. He grabbed hold of his wife’s hand.
“Shh...your weak, you need to-“
“You know as well as I Jin, I won’t live through this.”
Jin clenched his fists tight. “You...you have to.”
She gave a warm smile, whiling a lone tear from Jin’s face. “Your a dramatic Jin. Yes I’m dying, but death is not the end. Our family can still live on.”
She took the flutter lotus that was placed on her head, taking it out of her hair and holding it out in her hand. Jin wrapped his hand around her’s and the flower. She held his hand there for a few moment.
“Jin. My time has come. As a flower wilts and dies, it is my turn. Do not weep for me, be happy. You brought me a joy that was void from my life. You thought me there was a new way other than the gory practices of the Hü. You gave my life meaning. If I had to die, I’m glad I will die knowing that we made something here. And i...I...”
Like the yin and yang on her clan’s symbol, she was the yang, and he was the Yin. With Yang drifting away, what would Yin become? Before he even realized it, Roanna had faded. Her eyes grew dull, a smile on her face. She died like she lived: with the grace of a flutter lotus and the gentle touch of a goddess.
“Mommy?”
The words the came from behind him made his heart sink. Jin watched as a gift of hair worked around to his wife, jumping up on the medical bed with her. Kai giggled, tugging on her. That is, until she realized that she wasn’t moving. His happy smile turned into one more of concern.
“Papa...why isn’t mama moving?”
Jin froze when those words came out of Kai’s mouth. He failed. As a father and as a husband, he couldn’t protect her from the Cloud, or those that sought ruin upon their family. This was...too much. He sat on a chair, putting his hands over his face while Kai tried desperately to wake her.
“M-Mama...?” Kai said, with tears in his eyes. “MAMA!!!!!”
...........
...........
...........
Jin, somberly mediated in his room for the remainder of the night, his son crying himself to sleep in his bed next to him. He would have considered freezing his own heart if it weren’t for Kai, his reason to live, and his people. The pain was difficult to bear. How could he raise a child and lead a clan all on his own? He NEEDED her. Roanna. Without her, he couldn’t imagine trying to do all these things. All because of some border dispute with a backwater town.
*knock knock knock*
Someone made the sound at the door. He got up, careful not to wake Kai as he slid the door open. It was one of the Yuki Clan guards, judging by the symbol on their chest.
“What is it?”
“Sir, it’s the Hü, they are requesting your presence.”
“Not now...”
“Sir you don’t understand...ALL the hü are. They are outside the compound right now.”
Jin was taken aback by this. It had seemed haiahu was mourning her daughter’a death just as much as he was. He nodded to the guard and moved out the door, closing it carefully behind him. Walking out of the compound, several dozens of guards watching them. The hü were all dressed in black, traditional funeral wear as haiahu stood in front of them. The stared into his eyes.
“Jin. You know as well as I that this cannot stand unopposed.”
“Right. We will have to force them from these lands-“
“No. We will kill every last one of their kind from that wretched place!”
Jin blinked, not quite understanding what he just heard. “Toizo already payed with his life and the lives of the raiding party. I am saddened by Roanna’s death, more than anyone...but we can’t just go razing a town in the name of mourning.”
“A town? Hahaha...darling...” she laughed, before her eyes grew sharp and serpentine. “I mean...THE ENTIRE CLOUD VILLAGE.”
Jin looked to her as if she was crazy. This new time she took was like one he had never seen. Sure he missed Roanna and was angry at the cloud. But killing everyone? And what power didn’t she have to even facilitate such a venture?
“Attack a village? And send the mist into a war?Haiahu. Please, stop this madness. You don’t have the power to take out an entire village, no matter how bad you feel. I feel it too. She was my wife. Let’s honor her memory tomorrow. Come to the funeral, I’m sure she’d want you-“
“NO!” She yellled at Jin, a fierce look in her eyes. “I thought you of all people would understand this. If they shed a single blood of Hü, they must ALL shed blood! It is our way!”
“You don’t have the power Haiahu!” Jin snapped back.
It went quiet for a second. Haiahu Hid her face underneath her hair. A few seconds passed as she let out a low cackle. She looked back up at Jin with a new demented look on her face.
“Don’t have the power hm? Oh tell me darling, I bet my daughter never told you what our secret Justus are did she...?”
Her eyes flashed yellow as her fingers shot out a plume of blood. The liquid latched onto the necks of several Yuki nearby, one of which was hama, his sister. Jin was shocked by this move, never had he seen it be done, and even worse by his mother in law.
“Haiahu! What’s the meaning of this?!”
“I had a feeling you wouldn’t join by war willingly...so looks like we will be taking prisoners!”
It had seemed that the other hü members had matched onto some targets as well, primarily Yuki Clan members. Jin was utterly shocked that his family would stoop to this level, assaulting their own to get vengeance. Roanna never told him much about her clan, was this why? Several other Yuki guards on standby raised their weapons and prepared justus, that’s when hahaiu raised a finger.
“Oh I don’t think so darlings~ I’m connected to their bloodstream. Make one move against us and I will rip out their arteries.”
“J-Jin...!” Hama said trembling, her own heartbeat being eerily audible to everyone.
“...Stand down...” Jin told the guards. “Your making a mistake haiahu.”
“Oh no darling, if you think this is a mistake, you should see what’s coming~”
And within an instant, the haiahu were gone, headed back toward their isolated castle. Jin cursed as they went off with his sister no less. He wouldn’t lose another family member, not here, not now. He needed to speak with all the heads and the mizukage about this...it had to hurry!
.....
.....
.....
“This cannot stand.” Jin said, reading off a scroll given to him by the mizukage. “To let the haiahu attack the cloud would make mist declare war, something we cannot afford not desire. The haiahu have taken mist civilians in the name of causing international terror. The solution is to rescue as many hostages as possible and then to...”
He gulped down. He reread the last sentence a few more times to make sure it was correct. He hesitated to speak it before his men before he resigned himself.
“...to wipe them out.”
This cause quite a clatter in the army he assembled. Wiping out an entire clan was rare and a situation rarely arised where it was needed, although the Kaguya clan came every closer to that option by the day. Was this what Roanna would have wanted? Is this how he was to repay her death in life? ...no. He mustn’t think that way. He must protect the living first.
“Don’t dottle men, we have a mission. I will go in first to free the prisoners. Then all of you will come in from the rear, using Yuki Clan members as a way of getting across the water with minimal chakra usage. Am I clear?”
“Aye Sir!”
“Good. I will return!”
With that he jumped into the water, a bubble of water surrounding him. With a free hand he manipulated the water to push his bubble of air under the water, virtually undetected from the surface. Navigating the dangerous waters, he bended his bubble under the palace. He was met with an opening, a small ammount of blood trickling from it. There. He made an incision to the right of it by a few feet. As silently as possible he made a circular opening.
He hoisted himself over soundlessly through the hole he had created. He had ended up in a utility room, boxes everywhere and vials of substances he couldn’t recognize littered the walls. He noticed viles of blood from several foreign clans lined up against the wall, each one labeled. ‘Nara’, ‘Uchiha’, ‘Hoki’, and many more. This unsettled him, as he moved arcoss the room, noticing the foul stench. Boxes in the room appeared to be filled with flesh and radiation organs from many different animals, some of which were pigs, cows, sharks, bears, and even humans. Hands, intestines, hearts, brains, and many other parts were visible.
It was disturbing to say the least. But even that couldn’t prepare him for what he saw next. He rounded the corner, seeing through a part of a window. The next room had a tied up Yuki Clan member. He struggled in his bonds, a Hü clan member inched close to him, her eyes setting on his.
“Organic Style, Living doll Justu.”
Her body shuddered before her skin wilted away, shrugged off by what came next. Her skin was shoved aside, her muscle, nerves, brain, and blood all raised from her body, seeming controlled by her, even in this state. It forced it’s way into the man’s mouth, shoving his meat aside. He began to bleed profusely from every pore of his body, organs tearing through from his chest and stomach before it was replaced by the invading Hü’s. His hair turned white as the Hü had shifted into his body, pushing all inferior components of his body out before sealing up the holes seemlessly. When the process was done, the man stood up above the scattered parts, looking exactly like the Yuki was, except with white hair and a new feel.
“So this is the Hü’s justu...” Jin said to himself. “And Roanna knew about this....”
He shook those thoughts out of his head. He needed to find the prisoners
*****
10 years ago
*****
Jin made his way through the gory compound, a place that had previously been off limits to him...know he knew why. Being careful how he navigated, he managed to avoid any Hü patrols. He shifted to the right, finding himself In a secluded corridor with a single door in the end. He made a single handsign, morphing into a puddle of water. Now a puddle, he slithered under the door before rematerializing as himself on the other side.
He was met with the sight of several dozens of Yuki Clan members all chained up, each finger separated from the other fingers by restraints made of muscle. His eyes met with Hama, who’s jet black hair had become white, very similar to that of the Hü’s metamorphosis. He eyed it suspiciously before ripping the bindings off of her.
“...Jin?” Hama said blinking back to consciousness. “It was awful. They were doing tests on us, I guess they took a liking to me-“
“That’s enough. How do I know your still the Hama I know?”
Hama, using her bloodline froze a long strand of sweat on her head, and throwing it like a shuriken. It hit right beyond Jin’s shoulder, making a squishing sound on something. He cautiously took a few steps forward before flipping around. He was met with a floating bundle of bodily fluids surrounding a brain, the nerves and veins outstretched like branches, attempting to grip his arms where they used to be. Hama’s shuriken had implanted itself right in the exposed brain of the target, sending the floating pile of organic material onto the ground, spilling it’s contents.
“...ok...that was pretty convincing.” Jin said, blinking at the hü that Hama had just killed. “Let’s drew the other prisoners before we leave.”
Hama nodded as the two went to work. Breaking each prisoner out from their organic prisons of muscle bindings and skin blindfolds. One by one they were set free until no one was left to save. After the last one had been freed, an alarm sounded throughout the compound.
“They must have suspected the hü guarding this room hasn’t checked in. We’ve been found out.” Jin cursed. “Everyone! We must flee this place now!”
Jin burst down the door, not worrying about a stealth approach. They sprinted down the halls, the hü of the facility oddly not being found. Their shoes and feet resonated off the floor as they finally made it out into the streets of the Hü compound, only to be greeted by an all too familiar voice.
“Hello darling~”
There haiahu stood, an army of white haired ninja with her. Many of them seemed to be from the Yuki Clan, Terumi clan, Kaguya clan and other clans from the mist. Was she secretly kidnapping people for these experiments for a long time? The very thought sickened him even further.
“So then. Even before this incident you’ve had this darkness inside you.” Jin said to her. “I recognize these faces. You...you’ve been doing this behind our backs this whole time.”
“Oh don’t be so naive darling, we’ve been doing this for centuries. You think we’d give up our traditions and way of life all because by daughter married a man who wouldn’t even avenge her? Save me that, your outnumbered Jin. Give it up.”
Jin shook his head. “I wished it didn’t come to this...it’s war.”
All of a sudden, Jin’s army came from all sides, storming the facility. When the alarm sounded, it seems as though the army had begun to make their move, right in the nick of time as well. The fighting had begun.
The forces of the mist were powerful, as they had brought some of their best warriors, even momochi zabuza. The fight was bitter and coarse, the Hü’s diverse attacks being difficult to counter. Bones were flung, lava was spewed, and water was poured. It was a fiasco of ninjutsu. Haiahu seemed to revel in it, not even caring when her own forces had begun to take casualties.
“It seems we have to bring in the big guns~”
She snapped her finger, a large door opening. What emerged from it were to horrid to imagine. They were hunks of flesh and muscle, all seamlessly tied up in mounds of chakra soaked organs. It was like they had killed dozens of ninja and took their bodies with chakra and poured them into these husks! Jin was utterly taken aback by this.
“Oh ho ho~ I see you like them~” haiahu laughed. “These are the new additions to my family!”
“What in the hell is that?!” A ninja yelled.
“Organic justu.” Jin said, closing his eye with a cringe. “Hü can transfer bodies with their very bodily tissues. It seems they’ve woven bodies to inhabit. These...abominations must be destroyed at once.”
“RoOoOoAaR!!!!!!”
The hulking mounds of flesh ran into the battlefield, mowing down many helpless ninja in the process. Shuriken and swords hacked away at the hide of the beasts, but they seemed to heal the wounds faster than they could received them. They were turning the tide in combat. Even the standard warrior of the Hü, reviving any wounds that weren’t fatal seemed like a matter they shrugged off, healing the wounds with relative ease. They were tanks. Plain and simple.
Jin has just finished off a particularly stubborn Hü, one with Kaguya DNA that kept surviving each hit, the kekkei genkai proving troublesome to finish off until he landed an ice spear to the heart. He looked at one of the behemoths that haiahu had manifested, taking it upon himself to take it down.
The monster looked at him, roaring in a distorted fashion. It flapped open eight mandibles from it’s face, each mandible charging up a different elemental justu to bombard him with. Before it could fire, he made a handsign. The attacks fired at him, booming across the battlefield, destroying buildings that got close to the attack, not even in direct fire. Jin had become a puddle once more, slithering into a drainage pipe and into the sea below. The attacks obliterated where he had previously stood, leaving nothing but ash and concrete.
The creature assumed he killed jin off, moving into the next target in the battlefield...until...*SHANK!!!* our of the ground a gigantic mound of ice swept up, using the ocean as a power source. If had ripped into the creature, thousands of deathspikes ripping him to shreds. Even still, the creature clung onto life. It’s sound detached from the lower body, leaving it in the several ice death spikes. It’s upper body remained, showing no signs of pain. It reeled up on it’s spine, using it as a snake’s tail of sorts.
“RoOoOoAaR!!!!!!”
“To survive a direct hit like that...what kind of power do these things possess?!”
He was hoping to avoid the mizukage’s option, but it seemed as if there was no other choice. They were to dangerous to be left alive. He backed off from the engagement, finding a Yuki Clan warrior in the battlefield.
“Gather the Troops, we are activating the scorched earth protocol.”
“Y-Yes Sir!”
The hü was winning the overall engagement against the full brunt of the mist’s finest warriors. The forces had begun to retreat out of the city, Haiahu making her way outside of it, putting a hand on her hip as she watched them run.
“What? Given up already?” She teased. “So then we DO have the power to smite a village after all~”
“I’m sorry Haiahu.”
She seems surprised by this comment, coming from jin, who was twenty feet away from her. The Yuki Clan has encircled the palace city, the other clans nearby every Yuki Clan member, ready for an attack. Every ninja from the mist began to make a plethora of handsigns, and before haiahu could piece together what they were doing, they had finished.
“Hidden Justu: Oceanic Extermination!!”
The other clans that weren’t Yuki used their water ninjutsu to bend a huge sum of water from the ocean into the air around the palace grounds. All the clans in the area pushed the oceans water over the city, swamping it in water that covered even the tall palace itself. After this, the water began to freeze, until the entire city itself had been frozen like a snow globe.
Haiahu was taken aback, watching as her entire people as she knew them had been frozen alive. She could do nothing but watch as the entire icy dome caved in with a massive force of hundreds of ninja, crushing everything inside. Even the building and the infamous palace itself had crumbled into nothing more than shards that now scattered across the ocean. The hü were all but exterminated. Haiahu held her head kneeling down on the water, unable to take her eyes off the sight of her fallen people.
Jin shook his head. “It didn’t need to be like his haiahu. Come quietly, we don’t need to kill all of your people here today.”
Haiahu’s form didn’t move, except for the slight quiver or twitch. Jin found this odd. He moved in closer to her kneeling frame, cautiously approaching. He grabbed her shoulders and flipped her around, finding only a pile of skin and bone left in the empty husk of her body.
“Damnit! She could be anywhere!” Jin yelled. “Scower the compound! Now!!”
......
No one quite knew what happened to haiahu. Some say she returns every night to mourn her fallen breatheren. Some say she roams the oceans of the cloud, looking to cause terror on every shipments that comes. Or other say she’s simply dead, and she couldn’t take the pressure. Who’s to say for sure? What is true however is...some things...never change...
He walked into the garden, looking around it. It was green, the sprouts of the plants were growing steadily, however none of them had come to fruition. He came here every so often, just in case he could find it. He turned to leave, before he notice something different catch his eye.
Off to the side, in a corner was a small white and pink flower. It looked delicate, with intricate patterns on it. On each of it’s petals were yellow strands with a black and white bead in the middle of the yellow bands on either side of it. He knelt down and plucked the flower. The ice flutter lotus
“Of course it wouldn’t grow where the other flowers were planted...just like you...”
Carrying the flower with much care, Jin kept a slow pace, stepping into the palace doorway. He kept walking straight, right into an alcove that was dimly lit. The only main light came from a mural. Jin found himself in front of the mural again...the damn mural. He looked up to it, his black suit as strict as his demeanor. The several colors of the mural decorating the appearance of the white haired woman.
“Just as I promised...”
Jin places the Ice flutter lotus on the ledge of the mural, right at it’s base. Jin looked remorseful at the bottom of the mural, where there was an empty void of stone below the ledge itself. Seven foot long and wide, a yin and yang styled family crest designed on it, intertwined with the Yuki crest. It looked as if it were previously designed to hold something. Something that made jin appear bitter.
******
30 years ago....
******
A small boy tip toed around a koi pond, his wavy black hair lopping up and down as he balanced his arms. He walked on log after log and brick after brick, practicing his balancing skills. The boy couldn’t have been much older than seven. The kid then hopped onto the intricate koi pond, every step he made freezing over as he begun to balance on the foot holds as well.
“That’s a interesting technique you have...”
A young girl, around his same age spoke. She wore white and black, having a small umbrella for the sun. She was petite, with purple eyes and white hair. The boy was surprised at her appearance, a grin appearing on his face.
“Hehe! You like it? It’s pretty cool!”
“I haven’t seen anything like it, can you only use it to step across water?”
The boy jumped up, barefoot onto the grass outside to koi pond. He closed his eyes and gave her a toothy grin.
“Of course not! Watch this!”
He wove his hands together, creating a thin mirror of ice. This seemed to astound her, but what surprised her even further was that he walked into the ice mirror, seeming to disappear! She looked frantically at the mirror.
“Boy? Boy?? Um...where are you?”
“Here!”
He shouted as his head came out to meet hers, inches away. She squeaked out in surpised jumping back and dropping her umbrella. He laughed at her.
“Hehe! I got you didn’t I?”
“That wasn’t very nice...”
She pouted, turning away from him. His smile faded, turning into more of a panic. She didn’t seem to much like him anymore, and somehow that just felt...wrong. He looked around for a way to change this, finding a lone flower in a corner of the koi pond. He plucked It, taking it and putting it in the young girl’s hair as she least expected it. Her eyes widened, feeling the flower, looking to him.
“Now you look like the prettiest girl I’ve every seen.”
She put a hand over her mouth before looking into her reflection in the koi pond. The pink flower matching well with her hair and eyes. She blushed and hid it with the umbrella.
“I’m flattered...what might be your name?”
“They call me Jin around here, and you?”
“Roanna. I’m pleased to meet you.”
Jin kissed her hand in greeting, sending her to another blush. She couldn’t help but feel comfortable around the boy. He was just so positive and kind. She smiled to Jin, sending him to blush in kind. Being an awkward kid, he turned around, pretending something was over there sheepishly until his blush went away.
“I-I’m Jin.”
“Yes, you said that already.”
“Did I? Hehehe...so I did.”
They both chuckled a bit, Jin more so out of funny shame than anything else. Roanna gave him an amused look, Gesturing toward him
“What’s your last name? Unless that’s Jin too.”
“No no no it isn’t Jin...hehe. It’s Yuki.”
“Oh? I heard they were renowned for their kindness. You don’t disappoint Jin Yuki.”
“Aw it’s nothing really. Your turn now.”
“Oh right, sorry about that. Roanna, Roanna Hü.”
“The hü?” Jin scratched his head. “I haven’t heard of them.”
Roanna turned around to walk out of the Yuki district. “Maybe next time we can meet there, I can show you around.”
“Y-you mean that we will meet each other again??”
She turned around and gave him a smile and a tilt of her umbrella, before pointing to the pink flower Jin put in her hair.
“Then you can tell me what this means. Hehehe. If you can find me!”
“Your on!”
She walked with grace out of the compound, a new spring in her step and a smile on her face from the meeting. Jin smiled to hismelf like a fool, sitting criss crossed on the Yuki grounds, staring up at the sky.
“I’ll find her, just you wait!
.....
........
..........
******
30 years ago....
******
Jin, several days later from meeting the beautiful roanna had searched several parts of town in the past days. If one had saw him, they would have assumed that he were looking for a stray. Today he walked around the outskirts of town, alongside the ocean. He had a handful of rocks, skipping them as he went along.
“Roanna? Where are you?” He called.
He skipped another rock atop the ocean. He sighed, the entire endeavor being more effort than he originally thought. He had begun to grow to worry that he wouldn’t see her again. Skipping another rock on the surface of the ocean. He stopped, looking out into the ocean. The sun was about to touch the horizon, the sun was setting soon. He huffed in frustration, throwing his last stone. Every time it skipped across the water he bended the water to it would go farther and farther for each skip, not allowing it to sink.
The rock continued on and on. He used his bloodline to bend the water with the rock. *plup* *plup* *plup* the rock skipped twenty more times, that is until it seemed to stop abruptly. Jin blinked, wondering if what his eyes processed was true. He jumped into the ocean, running along it while freezing stepping stones along the way. It didn’t seem like the rock had any reason to stop, especially not with his bloodline helping.
As soon as he reached the point that the rock had sunken, something large shifted into sight. It was an elaborate compound, a unorthodox castle appearing before him. The castle seemed to be made entirely of swirled patterns, the steel and tiles bended around so that the shell of the castle was a bulbous shape, almost like a flower that hadn’t bloomed. He was amazed by it.
“A...genjustu?”
He looked left and right, unsure if he should go into the palace grounds. He closed his fist and hardened his goal. He bended the water under his feet to reach the pier. As soon as he did, he heard metal sheathing. He couldn’t see anything, but then again, his eyesight couldn’t pick up the palace in the first place. He bended a sphere of water from the ocean, splashing it in front of him. What he saw surprised him. There were figures, only outlined by the water he has splashed up, carrying some kind of tools he couldn’t make out.
“H-hey, I didn’t mean anything...!”
He raised his hands up, the Warriors revealing themselves. Each one of them had white hair, women had it draping down or in braids, and the men seemed to have it Spikey or flowing. They handled trident like weapons, the tips glowing with chakra. All of them had either black or purple eyes, an interesting note.
“Enough, back away.”
The guards were called off by the feminine voice. They quickly made a hole, standing to attention as a white haired woman approached. She was adorned with white and black clothing, having a slim dress with black ribbions along it. On her sleeves were several yin and yang symbols, alongside a golden swirl like symbol, with white and black on either side. She had a crown atop her head, giving her the appearance of royalty. As she approached, he felt as if he were a foot tall.
“I am Haiahu, the head the Hü clan. I am aware that someone has been expecting you...”
Out from behind her came a very familiar sight. A young girl his age, adorning a white dress with that same clan symbol on it. Her purple eyes met his at the same moment as she broke out into a run.
“Roanna!”
“Jin! You found us!”
She pulled him into a hug, giggling as she did so. The head of the Hü clan gave a smile, seeming to analyze the boy and the situation. Roanna broke the hug, looking to him.
“I didn’t expect you to find us. My mother said that any person that cared about me enough would find us. I didn’t think she was telling the truth, but here you are!”
“I-It’s nothing really.” He sheepishly laughed, rubbing the back of his neck.
“It’s settled then.” Haiahu spoke. “You have my permission to court my daughter.”
Jin’s eyes widened as big as bowling balls. On two things. 1. She was the daughter of the leader of their entire clan. 2...COURTING?!
“Courting?! Uh...as in dating?! Nononono you got it all wrong miss-“
“I’m never wrong.” The leader spoke, her attitude slowly turning to venom. “Unless your trying to say I am?”
“I- uh....what now?”
“I’m just kidding with you darling~” Haiahu laughed. “The Yuki, always so literal. Dumb as you are charming. Go on Roanna, you can play with the boy.”
“All right!” She giggled.
He didn’t comprehend what had just happened, to be honest so much had occured it was difficult to process. But one thing was for sure: he found her. And that made him happy, for reasons he had yet to figure out. Haiahu looked on, watching them run away.
“That’s the head’s son isn’t he?”
“I believe so Sir.”
.
..
...
“Good.”
It
*********
20 years ago.....
*********
An 18 year old Jin looked in the mirror. Growing into his looks as well as his frame, he looked a lot more mature and refined than he was as a boy. His hair was in a pony tail that draped behind his head. He wore a long black robe, adorned with the Yuki Clan crest in orange.
Today he would face his biggest challenge. A long awaited moment that would change is life forever. Something that would put himself into a new role, a role that would be unlike something he had never faced....
...marriage...
“It’s time son.” A older Yuki spoke, dressed for the occasion as well. He put his hand on Jin’s shoulder. “Are you ready?”
Jin took a calming breath before He pushed on the door of the Yuki residence, light flooding in from the day to come. He was instantly met with violins, harps, accordions, and a whole array of instruments. Crowds of people surrounded the place, except a walkway in between them laid out by a blue carpet.
He took yet another breath before striding into the fray. They threw rice and flower petals at him, each one trying to rush in words of congratulations. A marriage of the son and daughter of two major clans wasn’t minor news. The entire village had decided to celebrate this event, even the mizukage giving his blessings. He tried a small smile, waving at a few of the people that had came out to celebrate.
He and his father made it to a large building, decorated with several reed tiles alongside his roof, with no walls. Just big thick supports that left it open to the ocean. He stood in front of Hama Yuki, a woman with long black hair, his sister. She wore a long ceremonial robe of blue and black, dresses with sapphires. Hama greeted him with a warm smile.
“Hello brother, funny seeing you here.” Hama joked. “Almost like your getting married or somethin’.”
“Not now Hama...”
As the building overlooked the sea, there was a rippling in the distance. The palace that he had seen first so long ago had materialized. The genjustu was dropped. Jin was surprised at this action. Where they opening up to the world? In the distance, coming in quickly were a group of figures, several draped in black clothes. One in front was dressed in green while the one right behind it was dressed in white.
Running across the water like the skilled shinobi they were, the Hü clan. They closed the distance quickly, leaping up to the building from the coast, their clothes perfectly dry. Landing down, the lead two removed their hoods. The one in the green hood revealed herself to be Haiahu, Head of the Hü clan. And the white hooded one discarded her cloak completely, showing herself to be the wife-to-be: Roanna.
“Sorry I’m late...hehe...” Roanna giggled. “I-I look fine right? No water or anything?”
“You look...astounding...”
“What happened to the prettiest girl in the world?” Roanna teased.
Jin blushed, looking over to the side. Hama chuckling, and putting a hand over to cup her mouth.
“I like her.” She whispered, before clearing her throat. “I will be marrying you both today. So now that the wife to be is here, how about we start?”
The wedding was rather unorthodox, with Hama at the helm who could have expected otherwise? Hama was quick to to make quips which brought the crowd a lot of enjoyment, the Jin’s embarrassment. But she did her job, which Jin could hate or thank her later her for. Then, the couple said their vows before they intwined in a kiss. The crowd clapped in praise and glee as two clans head’s children had been wedded together.
Haiahu and Jin’s father had sat down directly after the wedding at been finished. The mist brilliant artist in town had begun to make an ink portraits of the two. They both held a sword and a flower in each hand, as if they were putting down the sword and raising a flower to each other. A sign of peace and coexistence between the clans.
........
Later that night, Roanna and Jin looked up at the moon, outside the Yuki compound where they had first met. They held each other’s hands tightly. Roanna gave a smile to Jin, squeezing her new husband’s hand tighter.
“Today was better than I’ve dreamed.” She remarked. “Even my mother dispelled our palace’s genjustu. All because of Us...”
“It’s surprising...I never would have thought she’d do that.”
They say in silence for a good long while, enjoying the tenderness of the moment. The moon shining and the sea washing against the shore. Roanna looked to the koi pond to her left, smiling nostalgically.
“You never did tell me what that flower meant, all that long time ago. Now that we are married, I don’t see why you can’t tell me now.”
“Ah the ice flutter lotus...” Jin closed his eyes, keeping this secret for ten years. “For the Yuki Clan, the ice flutter lotus is a symbol of everlasting love, motherhood, and sentiment for true beauty. Not lust, but true love. I didn’t understand it at the time, but it seems that the tale is true.”
“That’s sweet...and all this time I never knew it...” Roanna said looking back at the pond. “Koi.”
“...what?”
“I want that to be the name of our daughter.”
“After this fish? That would be illogical to-“
“Jin.” She said looking in his eyes.
He gulped, her eyes melting his heart. “...fine. But what if it’s a boy?”
“Then kai.” She said matter of factly. “Most of my clan is populated by women, so the likelyhood of that is-“
She was cut off by his lips touching hers. She clapped her purple eyes in surprise at first. Then she slowly fluttered them close, as she kissed her husband under the moonlight. Young love.
*******
10 years ago....
*******
“Wake up....”
“.....”
“Wake up daddy!”
“Hm...?”
Jin, now 28, had woke up to the jumping of a child. A black haired boy with a white streak in his hair jumped on his stomach, over the covers of his bed. Roanna yawned, rubbing her eyes to the boys jumping.
“Kai...” she yawned, morphing into a giggle. “What kind of adventures are you going on today?”
“I’m gonna go run to the Kage mansion and back, hunt for hermit crabs, and-and-“
“You can’t go on these adventures before you take a bath.” She scolded lightly, getting up and gently grabbing Kai by the hand. “Let’s go captain Kai.”
“Aww...okey...”
Jin watched this quietly, a smile spreading across his face. She had a way with children, a way he could never replicate. Looking back on it, it was good they had a son. The name ‘Koi’ seemed rather off to him, and ‘Kai’ fit the rambunctious and adventurous nature of the boy. The first child of the Yuki and Hü clan, the first of his kind. He would be lying if he said both clans weren’t looking carefully with both interest and concerns.
“Jin dear.” Roanna spoke, looking behind her. “I’ll be going to my mother’s tonight for an evening tea, I hope things go well in your meeting!”
His smile turned to a frown at the thought of the Hü clan. He needed to continue the talks, a rather irritating matter that never went away. This would be the tenth meeting in a row of nine other days. You see, a foreign town had settled close by, one that wasn’t a part of the land of water. They audacious claimed several areas as their own, including guarded areas claimed by the Hü. The Hü, graced as one of the five noble clans were outraged, calling on the assistance of the Kage as well as the noble blood of the other clans to assist.
.
..
...
.....
“These lands belong to us.” The foreigner’s leader spoke, dressed in thick wool. “This...female is of no consequence. They cannot own land.”
“Out of the question!” One of haiahu’s aids yelled back. “These lands belong to the Hü clan, and your traditions do not apply on foreign soil!”
The man that stood against the Hü was a man named Tiozo. He and his townsmen stood strongly opposed to the Hü, who wanted to enforcer their territory rights, refusing their private property to be used by them
“These are our lands to do as we wish. The waters are owned by no man or...woman. We will fish along these sees as freely as the wind, you cannot restrict us.”
Jin held his head. It dragged on. It was like arguing with The sun, you get nothing accomplished and you walk away burned. But today...something different happened. Haiahu our a finger on her lips, a smile curling on them.
“Torizo is it?”
Torizo looked to her, his hand running through his thick beard as she got up from her chair. She locked her eyes onto his as she made her way around the meeting hall.
“The same Torizo that used to be a ninja for the hidden cloud before he had suddenly decided to leave to become a traveler, taking a caravan in a beeline toward mist territory.”
Several heads turned in the meeting room, it had seemed haiahu had had enough. She walked ever closer to him, Jin started to become concerned about the meeting being jeopardized, and about this tangent that she was going on.
Hmmm now let’s see...if I’m correct, I’d say that that this was a ploy from the cloud, that they were using this as a smokescreen to make a stakehold in mist territory. Now doesn’t that sound like something awfully suspicious?”
This set of a wave of distrust, panic, and chaos through the meeting room. It made a shocking amount of sense, even if there was no fact based proof in it other than the name. The foreigners gritted their teeth, and Torizo slammed his fist at the table.
“This is outrageous! How dare you associate us with them!” He said, slamming his knife into the table. “We will take our leave. It has become obvious that the mist will not come to reason.”
The entire foreign delegation pushed the table away, knocking over their chairs in a fit of anger before finally making their leave. Jin dusted himself off, looking at the heads of the terumi and Hü clans specifically. Haiahu had just made a big claim against the foreigners, who’s only response was to get up an leave, not outright denying it. Needless to say, it seemed to rule in the Hü’s favor.
“Haiahu, your words today while they have shed a possible question to light, it has alienated the foreigners. It may be hard to bring them back the the table.” Jin explained.
“Oh come now darling, I have no intention on sitting down with those baffoons again. If they want to talk, they can not intrude on our space, or leave. It’s that simple~”
There was no use in trying to fight it. She was stubborn, as most hü were. All Jin could do was shake his head and move on. He had other matters to attend to. Perhaps he would build onto the Yuki Clan’s grounds, build a garden perhaps. Or maybe a training ground for young Yuki? Now that he was the head, he could do so much good for his people.
..
...
....
Later that night, Jin had been working diligently, talking to his fellow clansman about the construction ideas of the zone. He was sure especially with Kai and a possible second child on the way, a training ground could be needed, especially for the rest of the Yuki young. He had heard about a toddler girl Yuki being a few doors houses down, named ‘Tsuki.’ Who knows? Perhaps a play mate for Kai, or perhaps a sparring partner.
That’s...when it happened.
BOOM!
The crack of thunder howled throughout the night sky. Everyone turned to the sight before their very eyes. Lightning bolts seemed to bombard the Hü palace along the sea. There was only one culprit that came to mind: the cloud. They must have wanted to rid the hü, or at least haiahu before she revealed all their secrets she knew. That was when it clicked. At the compound tonight...at that very palace...Roanna, his wife was spending the night. Jin dropped what he was doing, looking at everyone around him.
“What are you doing?! Everyone deploy! We are going after them!!”
He sprang into action faster than a whirlwind, skidding across the water. Like jets, they zoomed along the ocean tides, Jin with a new determination in his eyes. Several boats and reconfigured cargo ships came into view. Ninja liens the sides, dressed up as smuggler and civilians, zapping the palace, destroying several surrounding Hü buildings. The Hü didn’t seem to be responding. It was a surprise attack.
The Yuki first responders went to work, summoning pillars of ice against the hull of the invading ships. Jin’s was the largest, stabbing into the side of the leaf ship. He jumped up, an ice platform appearing under him. He made a handsign.
“Hidden justu! Revolving ice mirrors!”
Several mirrors of ice materialized around hismelf, before they spun up, faster and faster. The spinning mirrors cut into any cloud rouge that came close to it, as he Berlined toward the palace. The Yuki had begun to pour into the zone, ripping apart the ships and sinking them one by one.
Jin’s mirrros stopped revolving as he ran into the Hü grounds, noticing charred bodies everywhere. They weren’t aiming just for haiahu...this was deliberate. The Xenos aim to kill them all! I can’t allow this! Jin sprinted into the palace itself, many hü guards stabbing into their attackers, handling Most of the defense. This calmed Jin down a bit until he realized where the lightning focused on in the palace.
“The palace chamber!”
Jin ran up the green carpeted stairs, bursting down the door. He was met with Tiozo dueling with haiahu and Roanna. His eyes widened, leaning to intervening, but it seemed his entrance had distracted Torizo. Haiahu took advantage of it, using her hand she weaves what seemed like a crystal clear needle into him, sowing his hands together. He cried out in pain before haiahu sowed his feet together, forcing him to fall down to the ground. Roanna, seeming the leader of the attack fall, looked to Jin, fear and relief in her eyes.
“Jin!! Your here!”
Jin began to run to her as she did to him. Before they could grab each other however, the unthinkable happened. A bolt of lighting came from the woven up Torizo’s fingertips, zapping right into Roanna. She wailed in pain, collapsing to the ground. Jin’s heart skipped a beat.
“R-Ro...” Jin stuttered. “Roanna!!!”
Pain stricken, Jin fell to her side, Roanna unconscious. She had a pulse, but it was faint. Haiahu’s eyes sharpened and her demeanor became something to be feared. She hissed at Tiozo.
“You and your foul kind must never live to see the light of day!”
Using the sowing needle, it flew right into his skull and out the other side, striking him dead. Jin Jin longer cared about anything else but Roanna’s Condition. While the Hü had been spared, what did it cost? He hoisted up Roanna in his arms, all but sprinting out the door.
“MEDIC!!!!”
******
10 years ago....
*******
Drip....Drip....Drip....
Jin has ushered his wife into the Yuki medical wing, where the medical nin had made quick work in trying to heal her. Laying her on her back, they went to do any medical ninjutsu they could. Minutes past as their hands flew different colors, trying different Justus that would work. The head doctor dismayed, hung his head low looking to Jin.
“I-I’m sorry Jin. There’s nothing more I can do. Lightning has severed a a multitude of pathways to her brain, and we can’t stop its cascade. Soon the tainted tissue will spread to the brain stem...and it will be over. I’ve done everything in the book sir.”
“Then you weren’t trying hard enough!” Jin snapped. “If that’s everything in the book, I’ll make a new book where even someone like you can get it right! Leave my sight!”
“Jin...”
Jin whipped around, the sound coming from Roanna, who still lie on the medical bed. He waved off the medical staff, who scattered out with their tails in between their legs. He grabbed hold of his wife’s hand.
“Shh...your weak, you need to-“
“You know as well as I Jin, I won’t live through this.”
Jin clenched his fists tight. “You...you have to.”
She gave a warm smile, whiling a lone tear from Jin’s face. “Your a dramatic Jin. Yes I’m dying, but death is not the end. Our family can still live on.”
She took the flutter lotus that was placed on her head, taking it out of her hair and holding it out in her hand. Jin wrapped his hand around her’s and the flower. She held his hand there for a few moment.
“Jin. My time has come. As a flower wilts and dies, it is my turn. Do not weep for me, be happy. You brought me a joy that was void from my life. You thought me there was a new way other than the gory practices of the Hü. You gave my life meaning. If I had to die, I’m glad I will die knowing that we made something here. And i...I...”
Like the yin and yang on her clan’s symbol, she was the yang, and he was the Yin. With Yang drifting away, what would Yin become? Before he even realized it, Roanna had faded. Her eyes grew dull, a smile on her face. She died like she lived: with the grace of a flutter lotus and the gentle touch of a goddess.
“Mommy?”
The words the came from behind him made his heart sink. Jin watched as a gift of hair worked around to his wife, jumping up on the medical bed with her. Kai giggled, tugging on her. That is, until she realized that she wasn’t moving. His happy smile turned into one more of concern.
“Papa...why isn’t mama moving?”
Jin froze when those words came out of Kai’s mouth. He failed. As a father and as a husband, he couldn’t protect her from the Cloud, or those that sought ruin upon their family. This was...too much. He sat on a chair, putting his hands over his face while Kai tried desperately to wake her.
“M-Mama...?” Kai said, with tears in his eyes. “MAMA!!!!!”
...........
...........
...........
Jin, somberly mediated in his room for the remainder of the night, his son crying himself to sleep in his bed next to him. He would have considered freezing his own heart if it weren’t for Kai, his reason to live, and his people. The pain was difficult to bear. How could he raise a child and lead a clan all on his own? He NEEDED her. Roanna. Without her, he couldn’t imagine trying to do all these things. All because of some border dispute with a backwater town.
*knock knock knock*
Someone made the sound at the door. He got up, careful not to wake Kai as he slid the door open. It was one of the Yuki Clan guards, judging by the symbol on their chest.
“What is it?”
“Sir, it’s the Hü, they are requesting your presence.”
“Not now...”
“Sir you don’t understand...ALL the hü are. They are outside the compound right now.”
Jin was taken aback by this. It had seemed haiahu was mourning her daughter’a death just as much as he was. He nodded to the guard and moved out the door, closing it carefully behind him. Walking out of the compound, several dozens of guards watching them. The hü were all dressed in black, traditional funeral wear as haiahu stood in front of them. The stared into his eyes.
“Jin. You know as well as I that this cannot stand unopposed.”
“Right. We will have to force them from these lands-“
“No. We will kill every last one of their kind from that wretched place!”
Jin blinked, not quite understanding what he just heard. “Toizo already payed with his life and the lives of the raiding party. I am saddened by Roanna’s death, more than anyone...but we can’t just go razing a town in the name of mourning.”
“A town? Hahaha...darling...” she laughed, before her eyes grew sharp and serpentine. “I mean...THE ENTIRE CLOUD VILLAGE.”
Jin looked to her as if she was crazy. This new time she took was like one he had never seen. Sure he missed Roanna and was angry at the cloud. But killing everyone? And what power didn’t she have to even facilitate such a venture?
“Attack a village? And send the mist into a war?Haiahu. Please, stop this madness. You don’t have the power to take out an entire village, no matter how bad you feel. I feel it too. She was my wife. Let’s honor her memory tomorrow. Come to the funeral, I’m sure she’d want you-“
“NO!” She yellled at Jin, a fierce look in her eyes. “I thought you of all people would understand this. If they shed a single blood of Hü, they must ALL shed blood! It is our way!”
“You don’t have the power Haiahu!” Jin snapped back.
It went quiet for a second. Haiahu Hid her face underneath her hair. A few seconds passed as she let out a low cackle. She looked back up at Jin with a new demented look on her face.
“Don’t have the power hm? Oh tell me darling, I bet my daughter never told you what our secret Justus are did she...?”
Her eyes flashed yellow as her fingers shot out a plume of blood. The liquid latched onto the necks of several Yuki nearby, one of which was hama, his sister. Jin was shocked by this move, never had he seen it be done, and even worse by his mother in law.
“Haiahu! What’s the meaning of this?!”
“I had a feeling you wouldn’t join by war willingly...so looks like we will be taking prisoners!”
It had seemed that the other hü members had matched onto some targets as well, primarily Yuki Clan members. Jin was utterly shocked that his family would stoop to this level, assaulting their own to get vengeance. Roanna never told him much about her clan, was this why? Several other Yuki guards on standby raised their weapons and prepared justus, that’s when hahaiu raised a finger.
“Oh I don’t think so darlings~ I’m connected to their bloodstream. Make one move against us and I will rip out their arteries.”
“J-Jin...!” Hama said trembling, her own heartbeat being eerily audible to everyone.
“...Stand down...” Jin told the guards. “Your making a mistake haiahu.”
“Oh no darling, if you think this is a mistake, you should see what’s coming~”
And within an instant, the haiahu were gone, headed back toward their isolated castle. Jin cursed as they went off with his sister no less. He wouldn’t lose another family member, not here, not now. He needed to speak with all the heads and the mizukage about this...it had to hurry!
.....
.....
.....
“This cannot stand.” Jin said, reading off a scroll given to him by the mizukage. “To let the haiahu attack the cloud would make mist declare war, something we cannot afford not desire. The haiahu have taken mist civilians in the name of causing international terror. The solution is to rescue as many hostages as possible and then to...”
He gulped down. He reread the last sentence a few more times to make sure it was correct. He hesitated to speak it before his men before he resigned himself.
“...to wipe them out.”
This cause quite a clatter in the army he assembled. Wiping out an entire clan was rare and a situation rarely arised where it was needed, although the Kaguya clan came every closer to that option by the day. Was this what Roanna would have wanted? Is this how he was to repay her death in life? ...no. He mustn’t think that way. He must protect the living first.
“Don’t dottle men, we have a mission. I will go in first to free the prisoners. Then all of you will come in from the rear, using Yuki Clan members as a way of getting across the water with minimal chakra usage. Am I clear?”
“Aye Sir!”
“Good. I will return!”
With that he jumped into the water, a bubble of water surrounding him. With a free hand he manipulated the water to push his bubble of air under the water, virtually undetected from the surface. Navigating the dangerous waters, he bended his bubble under the palace. He was met with an opening, a small ammount of blood trickling from it. There. He made an incision to the right of it by a few feet. As silently as possible he made a circular opening.
He hoisted himself over soundlessly through the hole he had created. He had ended up in a utility room, boxes everywhere and vials of substances he couldn’t recognize littered the walls. He noticed viles of blood from several foreign clans lined up against the wall, each one labeled. ‘Nara’, ‘Uchiha’, ‘Hoki’, and many more. This unsettled him, as he moved arcoss the room, noticing the foul stench. Boxes in the room appeared to be filled with flesh and radiation organs from many different animals, some of which were pigs, cows, sharks, bears, and even humans. Hands, intestines, hearts, brains, and many other parts were visible.
It was disturbing to say the least. But even that couldn’t prepare him for what he saw next. He rounded the corner, seeing through a part of a window. The next room had a tied up Yuki Clan member. He struggled in his bonds, a Hü clan member inched close to him, her eyes setting on his.
“Organic Style, Living doll Justu.”
Her body shuddered before her skin wilted away, shrugged off by what came next. Her skin was shoved aside, her muscle, nerves, brain, and blood all raised from her body, seeming controlled by her, even in this state. It forced it’s way into the man’s mouth, shoving his meat aside. He began to bleed profusely from every pore of his body, organs tearing through from his chest and stomach before it was replaced by the invading Hü’s. His hair turned white as the Hü had shifted into his body, pushing all inferior components of his body out before sealing up the holes seemlessly. When the process was done, the man stood up above the scattered parts, looking exactly like the Yuki was, except with white hair and a new feel.
“So this is the Hü’s justu...” Jin said to himself. “And Roanna knew about this....”
He shook those thoughts out of his head. He needed to find the prisoners
*****
10 years ago
*****
Jin made his way through the gory compound, a place that had previously been off limits to him...know he knew why. Being careful how he navigated, he managed to avoid any Hü patrols. He shifted to the right, finding himself In a secluded corridor with a single door in the end. He made a single handsign, morphing into a puddle of water. Now a puddle, he slithered under the door before rematerializing as himself on the other side.
He was met with the sight of several dozens of Yuki Clan members all chained up, each finger separated from the other fingers by restraints made of muscle. His eyes met with Hama, who’s jet black hair had become white, very similar to that of the Hü’s metamorphosis. He eyed it suspiciously before ripping the bindings off of her.
“...Jin?” Hama said blinking back to consciousness. “It was awful. They were doing tests on us, I guess they took a liking to me-“
“That’s enough. How do I know your still the Hama I know?”
Hama, using her bloodline froze a long strand of sweat on her head, and throwing it like a shuriken. It hit right beyond Jin’s shoulder, making a squishing sound on something. He cautiously took a few steps forward before flipping around. He was met with a floating bundle of bodily fluids surrounding a brain, the nerves and veins outstretched like branches, attempting to grip his arms where they used to be. Hama’s shuriken had implanted itself right in the exposed brain of the target, sending the floating pile of organic material onto the ground, spilling it’s contents.
“...ok...that was pretty convincing.” Jin said, blinking at the hü that Hama had just killed. “Let’s drew the other prisoners before we leave.”
Hama nodded as the two went to work. Breaking each prisoner out from their organic prisons of muscle bindings and skin blindfolds. One by one they were set free until no one was left to save. After the last one had been freed, an alarm sounded throughout the compound.
“They must have suspected the hü guarding this room hasn’t checked in. We’ve been found out.” Jin cursed. “Everyone! We must flee this place now!”
Jin burst down the door, not worrying about a stealth approach. They sprinted down the halls, the hü of the facility oddly not being found. Their shoes and feet resonated off the floor as they finally made it out into the streets of the Hü compound, only to be greeted by an all too familiar voice.
“Hello darling~”
There haiahu stood, an army of white haired ninja with her. Many of them seemed to be from the Yuki Clan, Terumi clan, Kaguya clan and other clans from the mist. Was she secretly kidnapping people for these experiments for a long time? The very thought sickened him even further.
“So then. Even before this incident you’ve had this darkness inside you.” Jin said to her. “I recognize these faces. You...you’ve been doing this behind our backs this whole time.”
“Oh don’t be so naive darling, we’ve been doing this for centuries. You think we’d give up our traditions and way of life all because by daughter married a man who wouldn’t even avenge her? Save me that, your outnumbered Jin. Give it up.”
Jin shook his head. “I wished it didn’t come to this...it’s war.”
All of a sudden, Jin’s army came from all sides, storming the facility. When the alarm sounded, it seems as though the army had begun to make their move, right in the nick of time as well. The fighting had begun.
The forces of the mist were powerful, as they had brought some of their best warriors, even momochi zabuza. The fight was bitter and coarse, the Hü’s diverse attacks being difficult to counter. Bones were flung, lava was spewed, and water was poured. It was a fiasco of ninjutsu. Haiahu seemed to revel in it, not even caring when her own forces had begun to take casualties.
“It seems we have to bring in the big guns~”
She snapped her finger, a large door opening. What emerged from it were to horrid to imagine. They were hunks of flesh and muscle, all seamlessly tied up in mounds of chakra soaked organs. It was like they had killed dozens of ninja and took their bodies with chakra and poured them into these husks! Jin was utterly taken aback by this.
“Oh ho ho~ I see you like them~” haiahu laughed. “These are the new additions to my family!”
“What in the hell is that?!” A ninja yelled.
“Organic justu.” Jin said, closing his eye with a cringe. “Hü can transfer bodies with their very bodily tissues. It seems they’ve woven bodies to inhabit. These...abominations must be destroyed at once.”
“RoOoOoAaR!!!!!!”
The hulking mounds of flesh ran into the battlefield, mowing down many helpless ninja in the process. Shuriken and swords hacked away at the hide of the beasts, but they seemed to heal the wounds faster than they could received them. They were turning the tide in combat. Even the standard warrior of the Hü, reviving any wounds that weren’t fatal seemed like a matter they shrugged off, healing the wounds with relative ease. They were tanks. Plain and simple.
Jin has just finished off a particularly stubborn Hü, one with Kaguya DNA that kept surviving each hit, the kekkei genkai proving troublesome to finish off until he landed an ice spear to the heart. He looked at one of the behemoths that haiahu had manifested, taking it upon himself to take it down.
The monster looked at him, roaring in a distorted fashion. It flapped open eight mandibles from it’s face, each mandible charging up a different elemental justu to bombard him with. Before it could fire, he made a handsign. The attacks fired at him, booming across the battlefield, destroying buildings that got close to the attack, not even in direct fire. Jin had become a puddle once more, slithering into a drainage pipe and into the sea below. The attacks obliterated where he had previously stood, leaving nothing but ash and concrete.
The creature assumed he killed jin off, moving into the next target in the battlefield...until...*SHANK!!!* our of the ground a gigantic mound of ice swept up, using the ocean as a power source. If had ripped into the creature, thousands of deathspikes ripping him to shreds. Even still, the creature clung onto life. It’s sound detached from the lower body, leaving it in the several ice death spikes. It’s upper body remained, showing no signs of pain. It reeled up on it’s spine, using it as a snake’s tail of sorts.
“RoOoOoAaR!!!!!!”
“To survive a direct hit like that...what kind of power do these things possess?!”
He was hoping to avoid the mizukage’s option, but it seemed as if there was no other choice. They were to dangerous to be left alive. He backed off from the engagement, finding a Yuki Clan warrior in the battlefield.
“Gather the Troops, we are activating the scorched earth protocol.”
“Y-Yes Sir!”
The hü was winning the overall engagement against the full brunt of the mist’s finest warriors. The forces had begun to retreat out of the city, Haiahu making her way outside of it, putting a hand on her hip as she watched them run.
“What? Given up already?” She teased. “So then we DO have the power to smite a village after all~”
“I’m sorry Haiahu.”
She seems surprised by this comment, coming from jin, who was twenty feet away from her. The Yuki Clan has encircled the palace city, the other clans nearby every Yuki Clan member, ready for an attack. Every ninja from the mist began to make a plethora of handsigns, and before haiahu could piece together what they were doing, they had finished.
“Hidden Justu: Oceanic Extermination!!”
The other clans that weren’t Yuki used their water ninjutsu to bend a huge sum of water from the ocean into the air around the palace grounds. All the clans in the area pushed the oceans water over the city, swamping it in water that covered even the tall palace itself. After this, the water began to freeze, until the entire city itself had been frozen like a snow globe.
Haiahu was taken aback, watching as her entire people as she knew them had been frozen alive. She could do nothing but watch as the entire icy dome caved in with a massive force of hundreds of ninja, crushing everything inside. Even the building and the infamous palace itself had crumbled into nothing more than shards that now scattered across the ocean. The hü were all but exterminated. Haiahu held her head kneeling down on the water, unable to take her eyes off the sight of her fallen people.
Jin shook his head. “It didn’t need to be like his haiahu. Come quietly, we don’t need to kill all of your people here today.”
Haiahu’s form didn’t move, except for the slight quiver or twitch. Jin found this odd. He moved in closer to her kneeling frame, cautiously approaching. He grabbed her shoulders and flipped her around, finding only a pile of skin and bone left in the empty husk of her body.
“Damnit! She could be anywhere!” Jin yelled. “Scower the compound! Now!!”
......
No one quite knew what happened to haiahu. Some say she returns every night to mourn her fallen breatheren. Some say she roams the oceans of the cloud, looking to cause terror on every shipments that comes. Or other say she’s simply dead, and she couldn’t take the pressure. Who’s to say for sure? What is true however is...some things...never change...
really makes my day.
