Returning Home [Open][NR]

"Alec should be home soon! He's out of that zombie filled place. He had to handle a few things and then he was coming home.", Avery spoke across the wireless communicator as she reached the edges of Makurra. Their travel had taken a little longer given the storm that had popped up out of nowhere as they were leaving Edge. That, and traveling with a little girl tended to slow things down.

Artemis was currently asleep in her arms as she walked in through the village gates moments after her announcement. Artemis didn't even stir as they reached the village gates and just continued to snore peacefully.

Avery glanced down to her little daughter, wondering as she did so when she was going to get a chance to meet the new additions to the family. She looked around, figuring that someone like Kinzoku or Kurai or someone would show up soon enough to meet them. Avery was glad to be home as the familiar darkness of Makurra surrounded them and she couldn't wait to go and relax and get some rest.

"Ah. Mistress Avery, that's good news. Welcome home, by the way. All has been quiet," responded Kinzoku.

Ever vigilant, the metal catastrophe had been keeping watch over the village. Things were quiet. He itched for a battle here and there, but he had no complaints. The peaceful times were fine.

It was good to hear that the Kurikage was still in one piece. The story he would tell of the village of zombies he visited would have to be an interesting one. He looked forward to hearing it.

For now, Kinzoku remained upon the wall surrounding the village. Sometime later he would visit Alec and hear the story.

[Exit]

The dimensional distortion opened near the entrance to the village. From within the black hole, Alec and his new sister would be pulled, to be set down upon the palms of their feet in new, dark surroundings. Makkuragakure was before them, situated in The Land of Shadows, it's Hidden Village.

"Damn... it's good to be home after running around everywhere..."

This would take place some time after Avery entered with Artemis. Alec could see that Makkura was doing just fine without him, meaning his friends were doing a fine job of guarding the place. As he began walking down the main street, residents would often come out to greet Alec, calling him Kuraikage. Some of them even ran right up to hug and kiss his cheeks. Besides the Dark Ops, some of them had even taken up to buying wireless communicators to listen in on the Makkura Party Line, and had heard about Alec traveling to a "Village of flesh eating monsters." Many of the residents, seeing that Seraphina looked so much like Alec now, especially with the glowing halo above her head just like him, even greeted her with smiles and hugs, easily figuring that she had to be of some relation to him. Food vendors brought Alec and even Seraphina new dishes of food to try out, and he stopped a few times to wolf the plates down. He didn't think he was as hungry as he was, but came to see that he was starving. The cooks refused to take Alec's money when he tried to pay, seeming satisfied with just that fact that he cleaned off the whole plate.

Yes, Makkura was a ninja village from another world; it's houses and buildings looked constructed from a completely other era. Its citizens all dressed from that era as well. Even though the village had a power source, everyone here lived as those did in ancient times. Purple clad individuals, both male and female, dressed in the "young" fashion of Makkura, some of them sporting "Dark" tattoos in various places on their bodies, could be seen upon the roofs of many houses. In the very center of the village could be seen a tall tower. It wasn't even half as tall as Darkman Tower in Edge City, but it was very tall nonetheless. Crows could be seen circling the tower near the top as they usually did for some reason.

Seraphina felt like traveling in the method they had had to be the strangest feeling in the world - not that she minded it of course, it hadn't hurt, it had simply been very different. As they appeared in Makkura her lips formed a little 'o' shape as she looked around. The place was dark, very much so, but everyone that she could see looked happy. In the midst of a place that could be very scary if it wanted to be, everyone seemed to be in good moods and high spirits. One of the next things she noticed about the village was the lack of cars and super high-tech machinery and other gadgets: this caused a grin to spread across her face as she instantly felt more comfortable than she did in the major city areas.

"This place is amazing.", she said softly as she looked around some more. She noticed the way everyone dressed, and how almost everyone seemed to be in purple, and grinned.

Then people were coming up to her brother and herself, even though she didn't know them, and saying hello, giving hugs, and offering them things such as food. Seraphina returned to hugs, quite shocked at first as everyone seemed to accept her right off like they were, and tried everything that was offered up, not realizing that she too was rather hungry.

Her gaze then moved to the tower in the distance, also taking notice of the people who were clad in purple on top of buildings. She figured that they were perhaps some sort of guard for the village. "What's that big tower there?", she asked curiously as she turned her silver colored gaze to her brother.

Avery listened to the wireless communicator as Kinzoku's familiar voice spoke. "Thanks, Kinzoku. Glad to hear no trouble came up."

As little Artemis heard her father's voice tired eyes blinked and focused as the child raised her head up and off of her mother's shoulder. Yawning softly she blinked several more times and then spotted who she was looking for. She wiggled free from her mother's grasp and once on the ground took off straight for her father. She moved and weaved her way through all of the people in her way until she reached her father.

When she reached her father she quickly noticed another female who looked very much like her father did. She looked to her father, then to Seraphina, then back to her father. She then walked right up to Seraphina and hugged her. "You look like my daddy! That means you gets hugs!", she explained. She then would release Seraphina and reach up towards her father, wanting picked up and hugged.

"Too short, I can't see stuff!", she exclaimed.

Avery meanwhile moved her way over through the group of people too. She gave a friendly wave to Seraphina. "Hello, I'm Avery.", she introduced herself. She then glanced down at Artemis and grinned. "Don't worry, one day you won't be that short." She then looked around at all of the villagers; everyone was happy to see that Alec had returned safely and it seemed almost like a little welcome home party had just erupted out of nowhere.

The days had been filled with training. He'd run around the village many times, so he knew the entire layout of Makkura like the back of his hand, especially with the fact that he could see the whole country just by being in contact with the ground. He'd been sharpened into a razor. Besides minor battles with monsters outside of the village, he'd never had any major brawls.

It was fine. It had been so long since the incident with Hinowa and it's leaders. The only one of them he really thought about was Kouki. Was she alright? How was she doing? Did she give birth to those children with no complications?... He'd wished that she'd stayed here in Makkura, because she'd be here in this world now, and not with those other two useless losers. Kurai could only pray for her safety.

Kurai, as well as Little Kong, were sitting upon the roof of a house nearby the tower. Kurai was reading a manga as he most of the time did, while Little Kong was taking a light nap. As the chatter on the party line began to pick up, their attention was turned to a gathering on the main street down near the gate. It seemed the Kuraikage had finally returned from a journey into a village of people who ate other people. Kurai wanted to hear about this adventure, silently wishing that he could have gone himself. He longed to explore the foreign lands outside of Makkura, and wanted to see if possibly the Kuraikage had something else planned in the near future...

"That? That's home. It might look a little scary but once you go inside it's pretty awesome. You'll see..."

Artemis found her way to him, as he figured she would sooner or later. She instantly recognized Seraphina as part of the family and gave her a hug, before wanting to be picked up by Alec. He reached down to scoop up his daughter from the ground. Avery wasn't that far behind, and she introduced herself next.

Nothing had changed back home, except for the people's hospitality. It was hard to believe that this village was once a cesspool of the world's worst scum, and some of them had to die for the rest of the people to fall in line. Today the village looked far from what it had once been, a pit of misery created by Hanagakure, it's former "parent" country that Alec had bombed, defected from, killed it's leader by way of slitting his throat.

"Huhhh... that food hit the spot. I think i'll go right to sleep once I hit the bed sheets..."

Alec countinued walking down the main street after thanking the vendors and waving to everyone. He could sense someone insanely powerful down the way, 2 individuals, but both of them felt very familiar.

Seraphina looked down as the cutest little girl she had ever seen made her way over to her and hugged her. She could sense that the little girl was family, Alec's daughter, and returned the hug before letting the little girl go. She watched Alec scoop up the child after explaining that the tower she could see in the distance was home. The darkness of the place wasn't bothering her as it probably would bother someone else, not with how friendly everyone was and how safe as a whole the village felt.

Next came a female with long blond hair and who was wearing a rather interesting outfit that had a flaming heart on it. She introduced herself as Avery and Seraphina smile and nodded before introducing herself back.

She knew her brother was tired, and figured that she would do some exploring of that large tower while he rested up, wondering when they'd be starting that survival trek he had mentioned that he would like to go on. This was definitely going to be an exciting chapter in her life.

Artemis instantly hugged her father as she was picked up, her head resting then on his shoulder. "Daddy's tired? I'm sleepy too.", she said through a yawn. She too was sleepy, and after the initial happiness of seeing her father back home that tiredness was once again kicking in. Little Artemis' eyelids fluttered shut and she was snoring softly with her head resting on her father's shoulder within half a minute or so.

Avery just chuckled softly as she watched her daughter fall asleep so quickly and shook her head. "She seems to have developed a talent for falling asleep instantly." She then looked to Alec and smiled. "I figured y'all would be quit tired after that journey. Probably going to get bombarded with a hundred questions though."

He'd jumped and landed lightly on the left side of Alec, careful not to make a sound. Little Kong scurried about underfoot, soon making his usual screeching sound. "Kuraikage," Kurai said.

He was a shinobi wearing a black body suit, bagging around the legs. He was barefoot. He had while black hair that looked like it needed combed, and red eyes. In his left hand was a Manga. Because of the Yanagi ability of Shinsai, he didn't have to watch where he was going, stepping over things and around people even with his attention on the book in his hands.

"Good to see you back home. I take it your adventure in the village of cannibals was successful?"

"A hundred questions... I expected as much."

Atremis fell asleep while holding her so that she was seated upon his left arm. The powerful individuals that were nearby lumped and landed next to him, and he could see that it was Kurai. The kid seemed like he'd been training daily. Alec figured he had to be itching for action.

"Yeah, it was... interesting, to say the least. This is my sister Seraphina. When she's here I want you guys to look after her, alright?"

Alec would do his best to make her feel welcome and wanted where ever they went, be it Edge, Sunset or here in Makkura. He wanted to be the family member that a certain other person had failed to be with Demi, and had failed to be with a clone and a sister that had been missing for as long as she had been. She wasn't going to have that problem as a Kane.

Seraphina looked over to Kurai as him and his companion jumped and landed next to Alec. Kurai seemed to not be watching where he was going, but at the same time he didn't run into anything and was even able to step around stuff in his path. How in the world was he doing that? Her eyes then went to his monkey companion and she giggled softly.

She waved as Alec introduced her and smiled gently when he told them he wanted them to look after her when she was here. She then let her silvery colored gaze wander around some more as she took in more of the sights of Makkura. Just with the few moments that they had been here the darkness no longer un-nerved her. She had a very strong feeling that if anything came out of that darkness and tried to hurt her it would never be heard from again. Not that she intended on putting anyone in that position or anything.

She looked over at little Artemis who was now fast asleep and snoring softly despite all of the meeting and greeting still going on and then looked to her brother, curious as to why he had gone to a village where there were people who ate other people. "People who ate other people?", she asked, her nose wrinkling slightly at the idea. "Gross. I think I'd rather go hungry then do that... "

"I agree, Seraphina. I totally agree.", Avery said with a grin, looking to the girl who had wrinkled her nose at the thought. She then looked to Alec and gave him a one armed hug, careful not to disturb their sleeping daughter who seemed oblivious now to what was going on around her. "So, you want to give us the run down of what all happened now? Or wait till you've rested up a bit. I can't imagine how you're even still standing after such a tiring adventure.", Avery asked.

Artemis took to curling a strand of her father's hair around one of her fingers in her sleep, continuing to snore as pleasant dreams in the form of her finding more kittens and sneaking them into the tower filled her head.

Alec had a sister? This fact made him look up from his book and over at her. She looked a lot like he did. They both had the same glowing ring above their heads. A beautiful female Kane. Kurai gave a nod of his head as he looked at Alec. "Of course, Kuraikage. I'll treat her with the same respect I treat you. Should I have to take a life to protect her, I won't hesitate."

Little Kong, jumping around but being careful not to end up under someone's feet to trip them, gave a screech that he too would protect her, even though he was capable of speech.

Kurai heard what Avery said as they got closer to the tower, and imagined that Alec had to be quite tired after running around so much. "If you're exhausted Kuraikage, then don't force yourself. I'm sure I can hear the whole story once you wake up. I'll come find you again once you've slept, yes?" Then he and Little Kong jumped and were soon out of sight.

/Exit/

Kurai said he'd hear the story when he got a chance to rest, then jumped off. At that point they were crossing the bottomless moat in front of the tower and soon walking through the front doors, into the large lobby with the familiar chandelier, purple walls, and black and white checkered floor.

The familiar scent of the tower hit his nose. Nothing had chanced back home either. With being back here, the tired feeling was beginning to hit him even harder, and he swore he could hear his bed calling him from here.

"Seraphina... you're free to explore this place all you want... There's secret rooms and chambers in here that still haven't been explored, and there's also treasures. Who knows, you might find something pretty cool... My room is on the top floor. There's also a room up there for you too, at the end of the hall, through the double doors. After I get a few hours sleep, we'll talk more about that survival adventure, alright?..."

He gave her a hug, then moved to the elevator. When it came down and the doors opened, he stepped inside with Artemis...

Seraphina was quite shocked to hear how easily Kurai announced that he would take a life to protect her if he had to, and saw that his companion likewise agreed. Her smile grew and she waved goodbye to Kurai as him and his companion took off. By now they had reached the large tower she had been able to see in the distance and were cross across a drawbridge. She paused to look over the edge and winced at the drop before following Alec inside of the building.

She looked around with eyes wide in amazement and then looked back to her brother as he spoke to her. She nodded in understanding. "Alright. Have a good sleep.", she responded before returning to looking around the tower. She was going to do some exploring first, then perhaps go and check out her room and get some rest herself. Today had definitely been an interesting day, and she wondered who else she would get a chance to meet.

[Exit]

Avery followed Alec and Artemis, figuring she would get a chance to get some rest too. She had been so busy keeping an eye on the monitors just as everyone else had seemed to be doing that she too hadn't slept much. Now that they were home though it felt like a perfect chance to relax and get some much needed rest: Avery was sure another adventure was blooming somewhere in the horizon, especially as she heard Alec mention something about some survival stuff.

Avery also knew she didn't want to see another zombie for as long as she lived unless they were like the few that Destiny had created in her lab: smart enough not to bite anyone and injected with a special enzime that kept them from stinking, as well as constantly on leashes.

The elevator took them to the top floor. The doors opened, and Alec stepped out. He took Atremis to her room and lie her gently in her bed, then put the covers over her. After kissing his youngest daughter's forehead, he left out of her room and went to his own, taking off his many weapons and accessories to lie them on the nightstand next to his bed.

As he sat down and took off his shoes, assuming that Avery came with him, he began to tell her the story of Pacific City. About how he suddenly woke up on top of a bus. About how he ended up in that building, and Vigilante showing up to help. About the first appearance of the smart zombie Michonne. He told her about how Jr sent him his guns, and how they began moving through the city, the police station, Amaranth's appearance, the suburbs and the mall.

He told her everything leading up to the survivor camp and the final confrontation with Robert Randall, the man jealous of him and his father Darkman. About how he ended up as a bubbling puddle of ooze. By then, he was laid back on his bed, his eyes closed, his voice trailing off....

Avery watched as Alec laid Artemis down in her own bed, tucked her in, and gave her a kiss goodnight. Artemis let out a content sigh and remained fast asleep in her nice warm bed. Avery had then followed Alec into their bedroom where she took off her boots and laid down next to him on the bed.

She listened in silence to him tell the story of what had happened in Pacific City, of the whole adventure. Waking up on the bus, Vigilante showing up, first meeting Michonne who was a smart zombie, Amaranth's arrival, and finally the epic battle that ended up with the guy named Randall as a pile of goo. Alec's voice then trailed off as he drifted off to sleep and Avery shifted around so she could cover the pair of them up.

She too drifted off just moments later...

Alec awoke the next morning feeling like a slug. He didn't want to move. Energy came to his limbs and chest, and eventually he was rolling over. He copped a feel on Avery before eventually rising to his feet to put all of his weapons and things back on.

Downstairs, he fixed himself something to eat and properly filled himself, before stepping outside, into the darkness. Standing on the drawbridge, he stretched, feeling the chill of the morning air. Looking up at the purple clouds he was reminded of how Jr always used to fly around up there and entertain the villagers with his orange glow.

Then he remembered the situation over in Edge. He remembered that Cala was missing, and that Vigilante - in some kind of new suit - went blasting off after her. He hand to go check on things. So after engaging his wings, bringing about a bright glow that made people in the streets of the early morning begin to stare, he took off and headed in the direction of Edge.

/Exit/