Echoes of Grieving [Pack Training - Gaia Arc - Future]

Posts : 3780 Join date : 2012-05-06

Did she not run out of tears anymore? Had she gained an infinite reservoir of them alongside an infinite capacity for terrible things to happen to her and her friends? That's what it seemed like as she sat there against a wall, knees tucked up to her chest. Her arms were wrapped under her thighs and she had planted her face against her knees, sobs wracking her form. She didn't even really notice the weather around her, it was cold, that was all she knew or maybe that was just due to her emotions? That much was possible but she would have to move soon, she couldn't stay here forever. King and Polaris had called them to a meeting for something, perhaps she was going to get reprimanded for failing to protect Reiver but then again... What was she supposed to do? She was still young, she wasn't a high rank, she was mentally handicapped to what with that accursed bird person doing something to her head. She reached up and dug her fingers into her head before shrieking in rage and slamming her head back against the wall, only her natural abilities prevented her from getting hurt, the wall actually cracking instead.

"Summer-sama, it is time to go." A pair of voices whispered to her and she looked down at her arms where a pair of gauntlets sat. She sighed and nodded. "Thank you Inui-san." She whispered to them before getting up. She strapped her swords to her hips and then picked up the largest thing she carried now, a master summoning scroll in its true size rather than the small carrying scroll. She hooked it over her shoulders and gave it a pat before pausing. She wanted a member of her crows to be there with her, if only to force her to act more stoic and as a representative of the summoning world. She crouched down and bit her thumb before pushing down onto the ground, channeling her life and chakra into what she was doing. "Summoning jutsu." She whispered. With a puff of smoke a rather large bird, about Summer's height, appeared and flapped its wings for a moment before catching her with a single, startlingly blue eye.

"Summer-chan. You have need of me?" His voice was ancient and wizened and he preened his silver-tipped feathers for a moment before hopping over and standing closer to her. "You have been shedding many tears, nestling." He sighed and brought his wing up, brushing her cheeks clean. "You lost your sensei, did you not, Reiver?" He asked cocking his head to this.

"Y-yes Muninn-sama. He was killed by someone he had been thinking of recruiting into his organisation. I am meeting with the other members of the team, Polaris and King. I need you alongside me for strength and as a representative of the Crow Contract." The eldest Raven nodded and fluttered his wings before nodding again.

"Aye, that is acceptable, let us go then and meet them." He turned and spread his wings. Summer climbed up onto his back and they took to the heavens, launching towards the meeting point and circling over head for a few moments until Muninn had located the meeting point. Once done they rolled and then fell towards the ground, Muninn's colossal strength allowing him to fly incredibly swiftly down and stop himself perfectly, Summer hopping off of his back and assuming a stoic position as she waited for the others to arrive.

Summer:

Muninn:

Posts : 1835 Join date : 2011-11-08

Cherish was tired; of having to drink away her sorrow, of losing people, of hating her weakness, of everything that had happened to her through her short life. It was why when Sensei died she didn't scream or tear up she just shut down went catatonic though it didn't become evident until after she came out of her drunken stupour. She didn't rush to his body nor did she pay attention to what the Priestess of Gaia was saying to her all she could to was stare at the person who took another person she cared about away and burnt his visage into her memory. She hadn't given chase she knew she was too slow and her team needed to her but she swore at that moment that she would be the one to kill Arikiko K. Yaju. The days after passed in a blur for her she had disappeared into the forest after taking as much sake as possible without even saying goodbye to her team her friends, she couldn't face them. She couldn't keep up her carefree self or the bubbly alcoholic not while she burned up with such rage.

It was funny but, her primary affinity made sense her temper embodied several traits of flames, it was hot (Fire), yet didn't burn up everything around it (Blaze), it wasn't extinguished by the usual methods (Ghost Fire) and when left unchecked or rather until she herself deemed her anger had gone on long enough it was quelled (Yugure Flames). This time she knew it wouldn't go out, sure she would dull it by smoking and drinking like usual but it wouldn't be stated, not this time. She knew that even as she pounded into tree trunks until her knuckles bled and practiced her hand seals until her hands cramped up or she passed out from over exertion. When she woke up she would find food nearby thought it wasn't until today that she knew it was Omito following her and keeping an eye on her to make sure she didn't end up consumed in her grief. He had been the one to tell her about the meeting by means of a letter and sure enough when she arrived at the location she would see Summer there with one of her crows and then just a second later Omito.

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It was hard being the only guy in a team of girls, especially when they felt apart all around him he had to be the one to be strong, it helped that he didn't know their sensei as long as the other two did but it still pained him greatly as he had bonded with him during the time they spent in the Headquarters before they went to Malice. For him, he remembered every day if he wasn't with the Foxes he was trailing after Cherish to make sure she was okay and whenever she passed out he would be the one to fight off any would be creatures that would try to attack her. It was during this time that he noticed somethings about himself, it changed his ambition he wasn't the type to be the face of any team but rather he was a silent leader better suited for behind the curtain affairs. He hadn't told the girls yet but he had already been assigned a Hunter Nin Captain as a master and he was hoping this vacation would give him good memories before he spent a couple of months in harsh training.

But it hadn't, no it gave him motivation though he would break himself and be remade into someone worthy of not just backing up the two of them but fighting alongside them. He knew Summer would always be their leader and that Cherish surprisingly had a hidden strength but he was tired of being considered the weakest of the three and upon getting back to the village he wouldn't show his face to either of them until he was satisfied with his strength. He had noticed that his team always seemed to get into problems and truthfully it unnerved him because if this trend continued to happen he didn't want to be in a situation that one of them died and she couldn't protect them. He had seen Summer try to shoulder the burden and after the exams and the retrieval mission how Cherish tried to take that burden from her but now, he would be the one to do so. Split the burden of keeping the team safe among the three of them as it should be and to do that he needed to fill the niches that neither of them could. So when Summer arrived with her summon he didn't initiall reveal himself being deep in thought but when Cherish arrive he would come out of his invisibility and float there in silence just like the other members of his team.

Guest

King and Polaris would arrive together both of them seeing the tension between the members of Reiver's team it was unfortunate their grief had lead them all to shut down and conceal their feelings from the others. King wasn't that good of a grief counselor however neither was Polaris, but what they could to is ensure something like this didn't happen again. You are all here, that's good. I see you brought a summon with you Summer, it is a pleasure to me you? King would pause if only for the summon to provide it's name but when it did he would continue. "What happened to him was horrible, but we could sit around moping every day and it wouldn't change anything. Instead I'm going to train you, but before that Polaris has something she wishes to do first." he would look towards his mate and she would step forward with an unreadable expression.

"When we had taken on your sensei's training and fought with him to defend Ibara we had grown close enough to consider him family, however before we could formally adopt him and make him family we had been separated. One of our regrets is not making sure that he was pack when we saw him again, but then again he was an adult so we didn't want to treat him like a child even though to us he always would be. Either way, if you three would accept I'd be willing to mark you as part of our pack. IT would give you a deeper connection all of you, enhancing your ability to both communicate and understand each other but most importantly it will allow you and us to know when you are in danger and locate you if need be. Something like what happened to him, won't happen again not with this. Polaris said masking her deep sorrow and regret behind a determined frown.

Posts : 3780 Join date : 2012-05-06

The large Raven bowed towards King and Hokkai. "I apologise if I am intruding. My summoner requested my presence with this. My name is Muninn, I am the Elder of the Crow Contract and the emissary of Yatigarasu, the Boss of the Contract. He generally does not meddle in mortal affairs unless the Holder of the contract proves themselves worthy. I trust Summer is capable of such but she has not yet had enough time. I am eons old myself and am able to give advice on almost everything, I have learned a lot in my time. Hopefully I will be able to aid you in some way." He bowed once more, fluttering his wings before he hopped away and stood off to the side, watching them all with his single, shining eye.

Summer smiled tight-lipped to Muninn before looking to King and Polaris as they finished talking. She had never really thought that she would mean that much to them to be honest. Polaris wanted to add her to the pack, almost like a child, someone to be protected and if Summer was being honest, she wanted to be protected at the moment, she still felt vulnerable. However she was a Chunin and the leader of Team Summer, she couldn't give up but this was an opportunity to grow even further, to become stronger and become even closer with her friends. Summer stepped forwards and then bowed to the pair of them, closing her eye over and forcing herself not to bring up any tears. "Thank you. I will accept this but of course leave my team to make their own choices. I feel as though it would be a good idea but that is my personal choice. Please accept me as part of your pack, I may still be young and I wasn't strong enough to save Reiver but one day I will be strong enough to save those I love, even now with my head messed up as it is due to whatever that Harpy done to me... I know that I can become the strongest, that I can save whomever I need to." She told them before rising up, face stoic, hands clenched into fists. Summer was never going to give up, it just wasn't in her.

Posts : 1835 Join date : 2011-11-08

Cherish speak up right after Summer did, but not because her friend had agreed but because this was an opportunity, she was sort of a glutton for punishment. Opening up her heart and having those she cared about taken away from her but if she could tell, if she could know the very moment they were in trouble and be there for them she would agree in a heart beat. "I accept as well." she said looking towards Omito who would nod as his own confirmation not really having much else to say on the matter before she would wait for Polaris to do whatever she needed doing. She would glance back at the raven summon only briefly before she would retreat back into herself thinking of all the things she needed to do. She didn't want to voice what she thought she had nothing to say, she had made her decision the moment her sensei hit the ground, she knew what her goal was and until it happened she would work every day to ensure it did.

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Omito would glance at Muninn not raising an eyebrow at the age comment as when he had met with the Foxes that was one of the things they told him about. Summons didn't really age like normal people did, for them time was relative or something which mainly had to do with the fact that apparently they weren't originally from this world or more specifically this dimension having had their own prior to some event that they didn't like to talk about much. They hadn't overtly told him this though he noticed and had dropped the subject. When Summer spoke up he would turn to look at her, before nodding as well though he wouldn't bow like she had. If only because Cherish hadn't, then again he had been watching her and knew how she was bottling up everything. It wasn't healthy sure, but maybe this pack thing might allow them to air out everything that they were thinking about because he knew that at the moment both of them were powder kegs just waiting to go off. Summer with her frail emotional state, Cherish with her barely restrained rage, no he didn't want to be caught in the middle of that especially since he had his own feelings of inadequacy to deal with. So rather than try to figure out how to get through the mindfield of trying to talk to them he would gladly take the out that Polaris seemed to be giving them.

Guest

"Pleasure to meet you Elder, your insight will be most appreciated." King said as Polaris would nod after all three of the Chunin had spoken before walking forward and holding out her hand for Summer to take and when Summer placed her hand forward she would bite it, not enough to break skin but when she opened her mouth again there would be a mark left in it's place. Polaris would do the same with Omito and Cherish and would step back to where King was as she let them settle into their new found connection with King and her as well as themselves. "With that you are pack." King didn't speak, even the words said was just a rough interpretation of what he sent along the pack bond, it would be a different feeling not having to communicate and instead knowing what someone else meant to say or wanted to do. How weird it felt to just know where someone within your pack was even if you were closing your senses to the world albeit diminished that they would always be present. This was the reason the Hokkai Clan had the best team work they experienced life completely different from normal individuals and it aided them greatly in pulling off the elaborate yet technical collaboration techniques that the clan was known for.

King would step to the right with both Summer and Omito instinctively knowing to follow him as he would be handling their instruction, on the other hand Polaris would move to the left and Cherish would likewise know that she would be taught by her. The reasons were self evident, both Summer and Omito were lacking in a proper taijutsu style so he would teach them both, Lupine and Titanic respectively in concurrence with their dominant hands. On the other hand Cherish already had one, albeit a wild untamed style which could only be expressed after drinking, yet it's wildness worked well with Polaris as she herself didn't necessary have a typical fighting style but merely one gleaned upon her by the instinctual memories a Zinogre has in order to survive in the wild.

Spoiler:

Posts : 3780 Join date : 2012-05-06

Summer gladly took the bite, relaxing her passive abilities for a moment to let the bite actually take hold. After what she had experienced pain was almost inconsequential to her so she didn't even react upon the bite. What she did react to was the odd sensations that started flooding in after a few moments. She furrowed her eyebrows, confusion bolting through her and she got the odd sensation that the others would know exactly what emotion she was feeling, she could feel them. "This is certainly strange..." She whispered softly before standing up tall and walking over to King, sending a soothing pulse to Omito in case he started to freak out from this. She was probably the one most used to primal tendencies due to the oversurge of emotions that came with her Bewitchment line but hopefully she wouldn't have to tell King and Polaris about that, it was quite dangerous and she disliked using them.

Muninn paused and looked around noticing how the group was splitting and giving out a soft huff, ruffling his feathers for a moment. "I shall flit between the groups I guess!" He declared before falling silent and instead going to just observing all of them, occasionally giving quiet tips or altering positions slightly to aid with chakra flow or with the movement of Taijutsu. Other than that Muninn kept to himself, rarely bothering to chip in as he knew King knew what he was doing and that was good enough for the Raven.

Summer on the other hand made sure to listen intently, this was going to be difficult she knew that much but with the pack bond she was sure it would be even easier to learn how to fight alongside Omito, Cherish, King and Polaris. They were now bound closer than friends, they were much more than that and... Well it was only just settling in how important and profound that was, hopefully nothing bad would come of it.

Posts : 1835 Join date : 2011-11-08

Cherish would look at Polaris while still adjusting to the fact that all of them were connected on an instinctual level, it was weird just knowing where your teammates were at all times, what they were feeling, and how they felt. But it was comforting at the same time, she had never felt like family with them more than she did at this moment, and she was so very content right now. "So...what now." she said following after her before stopping in place whenever Polaris did. She knew she was to be taught something pertaining to her own taijutsu styles though it would more so be Azure while her Drunken would only end up getting refined as she hadn't had a chance to cut lose with it in a non life or death situation. She would begin to drink, enough to get her suitably drunk but nothing that would impair her ability to still make use of Azure Fist and she would tremble a bit as the familiar haze of liquor settled over her mind.

"Okay..that's the stuff. Let's do this." Cherish said exhaling her eyes hardening like stone as she adopted the Azure Fist stance while flowing her body with Earth Chakra so she could truly make use of her both of her fighting styles to their fullest capacity. She would zone out relying on the pack bond to keep herself aware of Summer and Omito.

Spoiler:

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Omito would instantly feel additional emotions than what he was used to and would initially panic if only because if he could feel their emotions then that meant Cherish would be able to feel his. More specifically his crush, at least before he was soothed by Summer and just decided he wouldn't bother hiding it, not that he could hide something from either of his teammates now. At least now he'd perfectly understand what she'd mean if she didn't actually feel this way, fortunately he wasn't really that bothered by it they had more important things to think about. He didn't have a real stance so he just put his fists up while secreting Ectoplasm which would cause them to be enveloped in the unique substance. He knew he'd be able to learn from King very quickly as being a Ronin he was just naturally good at picking up Taijutsu.

Spoiler:

Guest

King would stop a distance away from Polaris and Cherish so that he didn't get the other two caught up in whatever his mate decided to do. Instead he would put both of his fists up first assuming an orthodox stance and then switching to south paw just so they could see the difference between them. "You are a lefty aren't you? While your dominant hand is your right, there are two different fighting styles revolving around boxing that I will teach the both of you one each. For you Summer, you'll be learning Lupine Fist, whereas Omito will learn Titanic Fist. Each are different in terms of approach, while Lupine Fist is faster and meant to gradually breaking through defenses peppering opponents repeatedly with strikes and knocking them back, Titanic is completely opposite. Titanic is meant to break your opponent, whether knock them unconscious or kill them by internal hemorrhaging, it isn't as fast but each punch is packed with enough power to leave an opponent reeling from the impact long enough to land another punch which is perfect for an individual who is physically strong instead of fast or agile." he said once more demonstrating them though he knew the ronin would probably pick it up fairly quickly, in fact he was relying on such since he didn't know the clone technique.

"We will start with the footwork, Summer I want you to concentrate on my body and try your best to replicate how I move, I will be mixing them with punches however it is merely to show how transitions work as the object of my personal fighting style is to make use of a full spectrum of movement to not only dictate the flow of the fight but also empower my strikes. So Omito you should watch the punches and try to figure out how each of my movements affect them." he said while shifting as he went through some movements, he figured a demonstration would be best then he could break it down individually so that they could understand it. Truth be told, with a Ronin capable of Physical Mimic and a Samurai with a Time-Slowing Dojutsu it should be a quick learning experience, especially considering they were all pack mates so they could understand the more subtle nuances behind his techniques.

Spoiler:

Polaris wouldn't say anything preferring to let her intent do the talking but she let Cherish prepare before leaping forward covering the distance in a single bound while moving at Vacuum Release speeds attempting to grab Cherish by the forehead. If she was successful she would lift her arm and then smash her student head first into the ground as she landed, though thanks to the pack bond Cherish would know there were no hard feelings she merely wanted to push her to her limits and forcibly improve her taijutsu. From there she would spin before lashing out with a bite to grab Cherish's leg and using her entire body to build up momentum in order to fling her away to keep up the disorientation of her other strikes.

Spoiler:

» Once More Unto the Breach [Gaia Arc - Bachiatari]
» Gaia Arc (ASN Mini Plot) - Journey to the Temple of Gaia.
» A Once and Future Knight (Tsukasa Solo Training)
» Travelling to echoes
» Land Tournament - Echoes

Road Trip

With the first round of classes complete and the students already acclimated to life at the academy. The school has organized a field trip in order to give the students a taste of what …

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