Before Us : Crystal, Himiko, Armenezra ,and Decimus

Rain drops dripping in the dead of night, and all that resonates in Armen's mind is what he left behind in Hakagakure. The village held up to it's reputation as the land of graves. What he experienced in a few months of being there was more than he did in his entire life of being in dipugakure. Who were those people that he encountered in the wild. Armen's eyes grow cold and jaded from the thought that he will never know who most of them are. His fears had gotten the best of him over there. With a place like the land of graves how could it not, from the moment he arrived it was all about surviving. Meeting the Zinogre on his first hunt, and nearly becoming prey to such a terrifying creature. Then the group of jonin level enemies, and then followed by another, and another. These encounters brought out the worst in Armen, and fed his fear of being a victim. It fed his fear of what happened in the caves. Armen's trauma was never properly dealt with. Armen was given a second chance when Jazz made arms for him, but the trauma has not subsided, it was merely suppressed by the exams and the constant kill or be killed situations he was placed in. Now here in the silence, Armen stands there with his back facing an open window staring down on two lifeless bodies of a Nova and a Zireh. As he stares, his mind goes into a dark place unaware of anyone who maybe watching.

Crystal had gotten used to wearing baggy clothing, no way was she going to be caught dead in so called maternity clothes, she was not and will not be some old woman who enjoys looking like trash just because she has a baby stuck in her. No way, she'd rather keep her look all the while being comfortable enough to still move around and things like that. "Hm...I wonder if they've all arrived yet." Crystal thought to herself, as she had just gotten her maternity leave and thus was dressed rather casual a baggy hoodie and sweats with the bare minimum of make up. Not that she really needed to wear a lot regardless but she took her time to arrive at the meeting place with her former squad now that due to her pregnancy she wouldn't be able to go on active missions anymore. She needed to let them know, and especially with word spreading about Reiver's death she had disregarded her earlier thought of simply going back to active service after her child was born. Seeing as he would already be down one parent there was no need for the potential of him being an orphan she would simply retire and maybe become a fuinjutsu tutor or something with minimal risk within the village.

"Oh? I figured you would be the first one to arrive. Where are the others or do you not know?" she said waving to Armenezra when she spotted him, thought she made no effort to increase her pace and would instead look around for somewhere to sit down. She did notice how he was just staring through the window at nothing in particular causing her to frown slightly as clearly something was on her former genin's mind.

Armen remained there staring at the bodies in-front of him, until he heard a voice. The voice startled him and out of reflex Armen would bring out his claw like organoid, known as Zenose. From where crystal was positioned she could probably see the claws, but the moment Armen would notice that it was her he would retract them. Armens eyes were red as if he had been crying and his entire body is soaked from the rain earlier. The room and everything that he was in had vanished including the bodies in front of him. "Dis wus all in mah head." Armen would say  as he turns to face his sensei. His body looked tired, and a bit wobbly as if he hasnt been sleeping much. He would take a moment to recall what was said before opening his mouth to answer her with  a cracked up voice. " umm.. ye..yeaa i think , decimus , he on his way. Somethin bout his mix tape poppin wit da whitties on da street, he funna be here tho. And...uh zaki, i dunno bout Zaki she be trippin like dat, she dun wanna go to sleep on time but den again she neva be writing a ninja back soo, i dunno wat she be up doin like dat." He would then notice Crystals really baggy clothes, " laundry day?"

Himiko had been steadily adjusting her body to long term uses of the Hydrification form, so thanks to said rain she was able to practically glide along. "Yeah sorry Armen, been spending a lot of time in the temple." She would comment as she moved on past him, waving a hand in front of herself as the Priestess robes she wore disolved to water which she channeled into one of her vials leaving her in her more usual attire, and slumping down. She glanced between her friend and her teacher. And she didn't know which to address first. "... dammit I'm conflicted right here. Crystal, you... look different. Armen, what the hell have you been doing you really don't look too well," After speaking it was actually more obvious which she focused on more, aided by shifting back to her perfectly solid form and putting her hand to Armen's shoulder, not that she didn't just feel like outright hugging him. "That whole thing you just did, the claw, was awesome looking and everything, but I hope that's not the cause of you looking like death kicked you in the nuts,"

"More like pregnancy." she said in reply to Armen's comment now that Himiko was here as well, she didn't say much more simply because she was bothered by his current mental state but at least he had Himiko to fuss over him. [color:a725=99ffcc]"I wanted to tell you guys this, seeing as I'm probably going to be retiring after the baby is born. Not that I don't enjoy being a kunoichi it's just sometimes you have bigger priorities than living your dreams especially if they are life threatening." she said before sighing and perking up. "So, now that you two know, you can pass on the message to Decimus if he doesn't show up. But more importantly how have you two been, besides the obvious." she said pointing to Armen's synthetic arms.

She had heard about the mission but had been busy dealing with finding out she was pregnant and freaking out about it, and when she was good enough to talk to her squad about it she had been hit with news of Reiver's death. Hence why she had been distant as of late but it was pointless grieving now, it was already set in stone and one could only move past sorrow if they had any hope of surviving in this harsh world.

Before Armen could get a response from Crystal, Himiko comes gliding in. Pretty flashy introductions could only mean that she's been training and growing fast at the temple. She would begin speaking but it wasnt until she placed a hand on Armen's shoulder that his mind would focus in on whats happening right now. Armen chuckled at Himikos comment, and then followed up with a yawn. " Wat ya saw was Zenose, i aint really completely understand how it werk yet. but on the real though. I aint gunna front, i hadn't been sleepin much since dat mission i went on. Da...da thing got me hella shook. Got me thinkin alot." Before Armen can get deeper into what he was thinking the word pregnancy caught his attention. He would look at crystal with wide eyes as he began to recall scenarios and behaviors that she now makes sense to him.  He was surprisingly excited as the thought of life coming into the world after all this death gave him a gimmer of hope. Armen would let crystal finish her announcement before speaking up, " dang...pregnant huh? and u retirin. I dunno wat to say sensei. I luv ya, u someone special to me! And im glad u found yo way outta dis ninja game. You and yo husband funna enjoy dat kid i just know it! He funna like to eat like you , watch?"

Himiko sighed softly, as much as she couldn't help but be excited to Crystal, Armen wasn't his usual self and she felt that hurt her more. The anguish of having to choose which to go to first showed in her face, going to the best she could do for both. She simply grabbed her team mate, more by the head than anything, and pulled him in to a slightly squeezing hug. "Well if you ever need anything, you know where to find me." She muttered softly to him before slowly letting him stand back up. "And Crystal, that's... that's amazing. I mean, it's sad that you're retiring but you've done such a great job with this troublesome young man that you'll be able to raise the child no matter what they throw at you," She gave Armen a little nudge to the shoulder, wanting to keep things as normal as possible in hopes to keep lifting his spirits. "As for me though... well... I'm still on my way to becoming a Kage, and... I'm planning a few things. I wanna also give my clan a home and... well... there's something I've gotta do when I'm ready. We're spread out a bit too much now, but... I'd like to give we ASN Zakiyoshi a home again, and hopefully bring some people back. So I'm preparing to go to the old Dipu where... where the old summoning scrolls still might be." She hadn't felt this nervous since first meeting Crystal and her team, she was planning something a little dangerous after all. For the most part, she simply hoped to gain her mentor and partner's approval.

"Sigh, it's sort of bittersweet. You guys are growing up and becoming stronger but at the same time are being exposed to the harsh reality that is the shinobi world. Filled with Rouge Ninja, the Shogunate and worse the Knights of Pandora." she said looking down and placing her hand on her belly and frowning briefly before regaining her countenance. [color:8a84=99ffcc]"Still I've found in my line of work people tend to live longer when they have something to protect so, if it's not a problem I have a favor to ask you two. Well you three but since your brother isn't here I suppose you can pass him along this message." she would shift and look at the two of them with sad eyes as she could remember back when they were still cute and uncute genin fresh out of the academy.

"First Himiko, in the future when the little one is grown up if possible could you look after him? I don't know whether you'll be a Sannin or even higher than that by then but still, I'd appreciate it." she said before turning to Armenezra and pausing a bit before speaking. "The father of my child was killed, you may know him as Reiver Ogura, yes the very same one who killed a fellow Council member for peace against the Shogunate. Unfortunately it came to bite him in the ass as I knew it would... Still I don't want his dream of peace between nations to fall apart so if you could head to the Bachiatari and fill his place. Not only will it get you away from the politics of this place but I think what you need is space to find yourself once more. I was going to ask your brother the same, if only to make his own mark elsewhere But I think it would be good for the two of you.

Decimus hadn't intentionally shown up so far behind the meeting time but as of late he had been having a hard time of it showing his face around anywhere, whether on time or otherwise. In truth he has lost himself with all this time that he has had to himself and was out of sorts trying to deal with it. A simple matter really and yet here he was having the most difficult time with it. Nevertheless he would make his appearance whilst everyone was throwing out there heart to heart words to one another "daaaaang you coulda at least waited until mah album drop first, could buy you some baby gifts and ish y'know? pacifiers aint cheap" his smile would be plastered on his face as he threw out the small joke of his. He would wave to his people as he came in the middle of all the conversing. Approaching the trio he wouldn't comment on it all that he was there to witness when he came in but he carry on with the current conversation "nah nah no need to pass on no message, Decimus is present. Of course I see Armen is still in charge, no change there he does seem like one of those 'ima change da world' type folk. Zaki ya bettah take good care of dat baby doe you know folks is crazy outchea."