Survival Adventure Part 3 [Open][NR]

The Cherry Blossom Orchard. It looked like it was snowing pink. Unlike the areas they were in before, this place was flat. There were various walkways, and benches to sit down here and there. The orchard was eerily quiet, besides the chirp of a bird every so often.

Alec didn't want to try sleeping here, but he did take his time while walking. He never knew Amaranth had such a peaceful place back here on this island. it looked untouched, and Alec wondered if anyone had ever been back here, even Amaranth herself.

He didn't want to taint this place by trying to sleep here, so Alec moved along one of the paths while taking in the sights...

A surprised gasp escaped Seraphina as her silver colored gaze fell upon the beautiful scene around them. Pink petals fluttered down like snowflakes; silken and soft. Several of these beautiful petals landed in her hair, bringing with them the wonderful smell of the world around them. This place was peaceful, untainted by the harshness of the world, and almost magical in a sense.

Seraphina stepped softly, her smile huge upon her face. She had never imagined such a place as this existed on Amaranth's island, and was shocked that there weren't people here besides their little group. Could this place be as untouched as it looked?

As a huge flower fluttered down from above she held her hand out, palm up, and caught it gently. She used her left hand to run her fingers along the silken petals and smiled as she lifted it up and placed it in her hair. "I could never have imagined such a place like this could exist", Seraphina whispered softly, feeling the need to keep somewhat quiet so that she didn't startle the nearby birds who were singing softly.

"Yaaahooooo!", Kouki exclaimed loudly as she went speeding across the ground: her board still in 'hover-board' mode. The terrain was too bumpy and dirt covered for her skateboard or any of the other forms to match, and she hadn't yet made it up to the mountains to do some epic snowboarding. At the moment she was speeding across the island, swerving around giant gated areas, and moving to a very pink area in the distance.

Kouki's long blond hair with purple streaks was blowing in the wind behind her; thrown up in a messy ponytail to keep it out of her blue colored eyes. Due to the heat she had only on her white tank top, the lime green hoodie with the graffiti writing tied around her waist. Black capri shorts with pockets down the sides kept the bottom half of her covered, and her feet were planted firmly in black shinobi sandals. She had on her usual make up of black eye-shadow lightly done, black mascara, and black eyeliner. Around her arm, though there was no point in wearing it anymore, was a Hinowa headband with a line going straight through the symbol: a sign of defection from the village.

Kouki did a quick swerve around a tree in her way, narrowly avoiding a head on collision with the thing as her grin grew: Kouki loved moving at these speeds, and was glad that so far she hadn't run into anything...

"Someone else is here... they're moving around quite fast. I can't quite see them though because they seem to be moving just above the ground."

There was no time to check out the scenery. Someone, or something, was out there. If it was that fast, it mean that who or whatever it was wasn't something out of the ordinary. Kurai began to get excited again. Would it be another one of Alec's Company members? Someone who lived here? or was this a real threat, like those people with the cross that Alec mentioned?

Little Kong seemed excited too. This was the most action they'd seen in ages. First that Yata person, and now, whoever or whatever this was. Little Kong jumped up into the trees, and Kurai put his camouflage into play, turning himself for the most part invisible, blending into the raining pink petals to wait until this latest intruder happened by...

Camouflage:

"Yeah... already ahead of you on that. Looks like it's a girl..."

Advanced Chakra Radar:

Alec had already spotted her with the radar. His advanced version let him see the route that she would travel, as if she were traveling it herself. She appeared to be extremely strong, and if his eyes weren't deceiving him, a carrier of a tailed beast. If she kept along her current path, she would happen right by them. Alec didn't know if she were a threat or not, but he did notice that she had a ninja headband; the symbol upon which he didn't recognize. Was she from the ninja world too?

The Symbiote became active and disguised Alec in his "old man" garb, complete with a large umbrella-like hat that hid most of his face from view. He escorted his sister to the nearby bench and had her sit upon it, then made as if he were attending to the nearby trees, humming a peculiar tune...

Symbiote:

Seraphina closed her eyes as she listened to Kurai speak, saying that someone else was coming. She used her new-found chakra radar to see this newcomer too: a girl with pretty hair who was moving along right above the ground on some sort of neon orange colored board that was allowing her to hover in the air. She noticed Kurai hide himself and then Little Kong move into the trees and Seraphina opened her eyes again, careful to make sure she didn't continue to use her new sight with her eyes open.

She sat down upon the bench her brother led her too and giggled as she saw his appearance change before he pretended to be tending to the trees. She forced herself to not look in the direction she knew the female was coming from, not wanting to give herself away, and so she stared upwards at the continuously raining petals. One of the petals fell right on her nose, tickling it, and she giggled.

She removed the petal from her nose, knowing that her shoulder length white hair was likely littered with the pretty pink things. She strained her hearing, listening for any sign of this females approach and wondering what it was she wanted or if she was simply just planning on passing through.

Kouki continued to speed across the ground on her hover-board, remaining at the +10 speed she could naturally move. As she moved she took notice of how the trees changed slightly, becoming closer together. Then one was instantly in front of her and she went barreling straight into it: there really was no avoiding it for her at those speeds she was moving.

She turned on her board, attempting to avoid it anyway, and putting her back towards the tree as impact was made. Skin that would have normally been ripped to shreds upon impact suffered no harm at all as Suiro, the boil release dragon bijuu within her, woke up and caused her back to instantly be coated in scales. The tree snapped in half as Kouki went straight through the thin trunk. She rolled several times after making impact with the ground, each part of her body that would have hit the ground and been injured protected by the appearance of scales.

Suiro:

When she finished rolling she laid there on her back staring upwards; the scales fading away slowly as Suiro assessed the situation from within her and decided on if it was safe or not. "Ugh... thanks Suiro. That would've sucked...", Kouki muttered as she sat up. Suiro responded with a voice that whispered on the wind itself around her, "You're welcome, Kouki. Try and be careful next time, or I'll tell your mother." Kouki winced at that idea and then took notice of the girl seated on the bench and the old man nearby who looked to be tending to the trees.

She reached up, her cheeks turning red in her embarrassment, and scratched at the back of her head. "Uh.. hehe. Sorry about that..." She glanced over to the tree she had cleanly snapped in half only to notice that it had... somehow repaired itself? Weird. She had heard this island had 'magical powers' but had never expected it to fix itself like it had. Mega odd.

Kouki looked around again to notice her hover board laying several feet to her left, upside down. Her headband had fallen loose on her arm and she quickly fixed it: she wore the slashed Hinowa headband with pride after all.

"You're welcome, Kouki. Try and be careful next time, or I'll tell your mother."

Kouki...it couldn't have been her... could it? Little Kong seemed to totally disregard the plan of taking her by surprise and jumped out of the tree to go running over to her first. The simian jumped up and down while screeching, looking over-joyed.

Kurai himself started walking over, causing his camouflage to wear off. She didn't look the same as she did over in the other world, but besides becoming somewhat more muscular, Kurai still looked the same: same black body suit, same wild hair, same red eyes.

Little Kong seemed convinced that it was her, but Kurai was still uncertain. "Kouki... is that you?" he asked. "Do you remember me?..."

Little Kong jumped out of the tree and ran over to the girl after she took a fall. She didn't seem hurt, and Alec speculated that the being inside of her saved her from serious injury. But the question at the moment had to be, why was Little Kong acting like that? The monkey was more intelligent than most humans, but it had blown its cover and was acting like an excited little kid.

Then Kurai came out of the camouflage he'd put into play and walked over to her, calling her Kouki, asking her did she remember him. Kouki... He remembered that name from somewhere. It was over in the other world. It was after Kurai and Hikari both left that village that appeared after he and Jr blew up the old one, Korikagure. Someone named Kouki came along with someone else, named... Miz-something.

Alec remembered the story. There were 3 leaders in Hinowa. Two females, one male. Only one of the females had shown the kids any attention, Kouki, while the guy was off doing... whatever, and the other female was said to be a whore. Was this the Kouki from the other world? This seemed likely because of the headband.

For now, Alec continued to tend the trees, humming his tune...

Seraphina gasped as she watched the girl take the nasty fall, her hand going to cover her mouth. However, it quickly became apparent that the female wasn't hurt: what looked like scales covered her until she stopped moving before they looked to be fading away. What was this girl?

The girl thanked someone that Seraphina couldn't see and a voice spoke back to her, saying that if Kouki wasn't more careful she was going to tell her mother. Then Little Kong was giving himself away as he jumped around and screeched excitedly in front of the female, and then Kurai as well allowed his presence to be known as he too came over to Kouki, calling her by name and asking if she remembered him.

Seraphina remained on her bench, watching curiously while continuing to hear her brother hum that peculiar tune that was rather catchy and getting stuck in her head.

Kouki looked momentarily startled as Little Kong jumped out of the tree he had been hidden in and began to jump around and screech excitedly. Brows furrowed as memories from the other world assaulted her mind briefly. Could that be Little Kong? The companion of... yes, because there was Kurai approaching her next and asking her if she remembered him.

A grin spread across her face. "Course I do, Kurai." She then looked over to Little Kong, still grinning. "I remember Little Kong, too." Kouki got slowly to her feet, checking and seeing that all of her clothing had made it through mostly unscathed: nothing was showing at least so she was happy. Kouki glanced over to the female who was now watching them and the old looking man who was still humming away, before turning her attention back to Kurai and Little Kong. "It's good to see you guys again. What are y'all doing here? Do you guys live in this world too, now?" She had thought her and her family were the only ones when they arrived in Neutral, so it was quite a shock to find more shinobi around.

"My mom, dad, and two brothers live in Neutral City with me.", her grin disappeared for a brief several seconds: obviously she wasn't happy with that - the place was dangerous, 'lawless' even.

So it really was her. Little Kong threw himself at her, aiming to be caught in her arms so that he could hug her. He barely weighed anything, so it wouldn't be like he'd knock her over. "Well, that's a long story..." Kurai said, scratching a hand through his wild black hair. "I don't know if you'll believe it, furthermore... Alec, the Kuraikage, got tired of living in the other world, so he transported the whole country of Makkuragakure as well as everyone and everything in it here, to this world. That darkness on the horizon is where Makkura is now."

She looked younger and different than she did in the other world, and suddenly found that he couldn't stop staring at her. "It's good to see you too!" he said. Kurai began to look at her in a new light, but was suddenly reminded of Isao and Mizuko. Reminded of Isao never really being there. Reminded of the slut bitch Mizuko, who did nothing but lie around with her legs up in the air. Who tried to throw a pregnant woman onto the front lines of a potential battle. Were they here too? He restrained himself in the other world for his, his family's and Alec's sake, but here... here...

" Uh... how exactly did you... end up here?... the last time I saw you, you looked... older, and you were also pregnant with triplets, and now... now you look about my age. How is that? And are those... other two here with you as well?"

Yes, this was the Kouki spoken of from Hinowa, the only competent leader from the village. Somehow she ended up here. Sometimes dimensional travel had certain effects on people. Now she was a young girl around Kurai's age. From the way he was staring, Alec knew Kurai liked her. But why wouldn't he?

"Neutral City, huh?... Sounds pretty dangerous. Any friend of Kurai's is a friend of mine, why don't you move in with me?"

An old man approached. He had a mask of a beard and mustache that hung down below his waist. He wore and old grey rove and a straw hat that looked like an umbrella. All that could be seen of his face was the beard. He was still humming the strange tune as he came over.

Seraphina watched as Little Kong hugged the female and figured that she had to be alright if they both looked so comfortable around her. This caused Seraphina to relax as the pair spoke, and she got up and followed her brother as he walked over - though he still looked like an old man. She stood nearby, really having nothing to say to the female, and not wanting to interrupt the conversation.

She took notice of the way Kurai was staying at Kouki, and could easily see why: Kouki was pretty while also looking like she could whoop someone's ass if she wanted to. Seraphina had guessed from the conversation she heard that Kouki was a shinobi from the other world that her brother and some of his family had visited, so she was interested to hear how Kouki had ended up in this world too.

Kouki caught Little Kong as he jumped up to hug her and returned the hug. She then reached back and into the side pocket of her bag with her right hand where her snacks were kept and removed a banana which she handed over to Little Kong with a grin. "Something told me when I was packing my snacks for today that that might come in handy.", she said before focusing her attention on Kurai.

She listened as Kurai explained how the Kuraikage had gotten sick of the other world and had decided to transport not just the entire country of Makkuragakure, but everyone with it to this world. After everything she had seen since she arrived this didn't surprise her as much as it likely would have had she still been 'green' to this world: though she had to admit that that had had to take some serious power to pull off, especially from the other world. She also now knew what the darkness on the horizon was: she had been curious about that when she had spotted it on her way over.

Then Kurai was asking the question she had been expecting, and at the same time she noticed the way he was looking at her - something she found that she didn't mind. Her grin slipped off her face a little bit as she thought about his questions. "Um.. well. I suppose I should have listened to ya'll when you said to stay in Makkura instead of going back to Hinowa like I did. I started thinking about things and decided to leave one night: I waited until it was super dark because I didn't know if Isao and Mizuko would try and stop me, and the last thing I wanted was to end up fighting them. Anyway... I... I didn't make it. I went into labor early and died in the arctic wilderness. I didn't make it more than about fifty miles or so from my village." She cleared her throat, forcing herself to go on. "I thought that was it, ya know? But, then I woke up and found myself in Neutral City. My parents and brothers were there; they said I'd been sick. That's when I realized I was young again... My parents don't remember anything after arriving in Niwaurushigakure after our village was destroyed and neither do my brother's... I remember everything but I don't have any intentions of telling them, they're better off not knowing."

Then her face took on a slightly angry look, and she could feel Suiro squirming within her as the dragon responded to her anger. "As far as Mizuko and Isao... well, I don't know if they're here, but I have no intentions of looking for them. When I realized I was young again I realized I was getting a second chance, and I plan on making some different decisions this time around."

Then her blue eyed gaze fell upon the old looking man and the young female. Her brows furrowed again, a curious look replacing the angry one. "No offense, but that sounds kinda creepy coming from an old man... Who are you?", she asked, her grin slipping back into place on her face.

She'd died. It was something that rocked Kurai down to the very core. Kurai, normally calm and level headed the majority of the time, rarely ever got angry, but now was one of those times. He'd gotten so pissed off at those two other useless pieces of shit that the pink petals began to move away from his body. His anger was so much that it was able to wake Kua from his slumber.

Kua:

"Ah... Kouki. Fancy meeting you here," he said, the aura of a large bull suddenly appearing around Kurai's frame; a bull with two horns, the body of a muscular man; his right hand clutching a large hammer. "The neglect of those other two 'loved ones' caused you to die and reincarnate here, then? This is good news... not good news that you died and lost your children, but good news that you are here, around good people. You should consider actually coming to Makkura this time, Kouki. Second chances like these don't come often."

Little Kong took the Banana and quicky peeled it happily."Yes, come with us, you can live with us this time," he added, in another one of his rare moments of speaking, before cramming his mouth full of the sweet yellow fruity goodness.

"For their sake, I hope those other two aren't here..." Kurai said, forcing himself to calm. There wouldn't be any calm were he ever to cross paths with the two of them again. He could still remember the threats made by Mizuko, when they came to find out why he and Hikari had left Hinowa.

Neutral City sounded dangerous, and Alec said there was an organization or cult behind the scenes kidnapping people. Kurai worried about her safety. Were something to happen to her again, and he let this opportunity pass him by without doing something about it, he wouldn't be able to live with himself. "I don't want to force you to do something you don't want, but... at least allow me to teach you something to get out of a dangerous situation should you find yourself in one, alright?"

Alec's form suddenly started changing back to normal; his old man garb melting off of him like plastic wrap being bunched up. Alec's normal appearance took it's place. He looked like a teenager though he was far older. Alec, standing 6 feet 6 inches tall, had silver eyes, shoulder length white hair and a pale complexion. He was wearing a sleeveless black top with a big collar. He had on white baggy pants and black sneakers now instead of his steel toed boots.

A one strap bag was on his back. There were two swords at his side, one of them glowing; the air moving and shimmering around about it as if the weapon were on fire. Alec had sliver bracers on each of his forearms, and a glove fitted with metal pieces on his right hand. A polished walking stick was in his left hand. What set apart Alec from most - even though his sister had the same thing - was the golden halo hovering above his head.

"Sorry about that, didn't mean to sound like an old perv. I don't know if we've ever met, but i'm Alec Kane, Kuraikage of Makkurakagure. I took in Kurai and his family back in the day, been looking out for them ever since. He told me the story about you and those... other two. With as much as you looked out for them, I have no problem doing the same. Neutral City... it's dangerous to live there."

A frown formed over Seraphina's face as she listened to what the young female had to say. She had been pregnant in the other world and when she had been on her way back to Makkura she had ended up dying and losing not only her life but the life of her children. It was a sad tale, and one that also made Seraphina a bit angry. Why would someone ignore their loved one to the point to where they wanted to run away? Seraphina could never imagine doing something like that to someone.

Then suddenly there was another voice as an aura surrounded Kurai. This aura seemed to know Kouki too, and was glad that she was getting a second chance at life once more.

Then her brother was changing his appearance once more and she giggled a bit. "That's nifty.", she commented before turning her attention back to the newcomer. She nodded in agreement with everyone else. "Makkura's awesome; you should definitely come live there." She figured it couldn't hurt to add her own opinion, and if this many people knew and cared for the young girl then surely it was better than being off in some dangerous city where anything could happen.

Kouki noticed how the petals seemed to suddenly be repelled from Kurai's body before the aura that was rather familiar surrounded him: she had a feeling that what she had told Kurai - about how she had died in the other world - had angered him and she couldn't blame him. She grinned as she heard Kua's voice, her own bijuu sealed within her 'moving' around a bit more as Suiro's excitement grew at the presence of another bijuu.

She listened as Kua said that it was good news that she was getting a second chance, and how he recommended that she come to Makkura: this was something that Little Kong and Kurai seemed to agree with as well. And then the old man wasn't an old man anymore as Alec Kane, the Kuraikage, removed his disguise in a manner of speaking. She grinned and nodded to his words: she was glad she had looked out for Kurai and his sister when she had, and glad that Alec had looked out for them after they had left.

Kouki knew that her own family would be far more comfortable in a ninja village than out in a dangerous city where any power could be used at anytime. So, she nodded in agreement. "I think that's what I'll do. I'm sure my mom and dad would be a lot more comfortable in a ninja village compared to some city - my mom worries constantly about my little brother, and I do too frankly. Plus, it'll be awesome to be around people I know!" Yes, that was definitely something to look forward to: being surrounded by people who care, who would step in if something bad happened.

She then looked over to Kurai, wondering what it was that he wanted to show her. "Alright, show away.", she said with a grin. Kouki loved learning knew things, and never turned down an opportunity to do so. "I love learning new stuff." She had a feeling that whatever she was about to learn was going to be either dangerous, or really awesome.

She agreed to come and live in Makkura?... This was good. Perhaps even, it would give him a chance to get to know her better...

"Alright," he said. "What I want to show you is a way to increase your speed; speed so fast that only very few will be able to match you... It's something that was shown to me called Swift Release. You achieve this Swift speed by pushing a set amount of chakra into your legs... Allow me to demonstrate."

Kurai seemed to just vanish into thin air. He moved so quickly, it seemed as if he were in several places at once. He was everywhere, and he was nowhere. He moved all around them, and short of Alec, Kurai was sure none of them would be able to keep track of his movements.

Swift Release:

Then he was sliding to a stop neabry Kouki again. "There's a delicate process to this, though," he said. "Too little chakra, and you won't go fast enough... too much, and you could do yourself serious harm. Let me show you first, then you'll get an idea of how much chakra you'll have to use."

Kurai took the opportunity to - his face slightly red - put his hands on her thighs. He pushed just enough of his own chakra into her legs so that she would get an idea of just how much she'd have to use to execute Swift Release. "Alright, give it a try. Be careful and mind your surroundings..."

Swift, eh. Very similar to his own Angelic Speed. Yes, Alec was able to keep up with Kurai quite easily. He knew that there weren't many others that would be able to. With an ability such as that Kouki would be well off. The sight of such sheer speed would be enough to scare off potential foes and perverts.

Kouki agreed to come and live in Makkura, and Alec replied with a nod. Perhaps Kurai would even have his first girlfriend, especially with the way he kept looking at her. She didn't seem to have a problem with it. The two of them had history. Alec knew Hikari would be happy to see her as well. He didn't mind new faces in Makkura at all.

Alec waited to see if Kouki would be able to pull off Swift Release...

Seraphina watched as Kurai seemed to just disappear; moving too fast to be seen. It was as if he was everywhere at once. She giggled softly as she felt the breeze blow, causing more petals to swirl around in the area they were standing.

Then Kurai was stopping and showing Kouki how much chakra she should use. Kurai was blushing and though she couldn't see Kouki's face from where she was standing she was sure she would be blushing too. Seraphina simply smiled and watched to see if Kouki could pull off this Swift Release that Kurai just used.

Kouki listened as Kurai explained that what he was about to teach her: how he was going to teach her how to increase her speed, speed so fast that very few would be able to match her. It was a technique called Swift Release, a technique she had heard about but had never seen. She listened then as he explained how she would use Swift Release by putting chakra into her legs. She then watched as Kurai demonstrated.

It seemed like he was everywhere and anywhere at the same time: he was there but not there. Then he was sliding to a stop near her and she listened as he explained how it was a delicate process because too little chakra would cause her not to go fast enough, while too much could lead to serious harm. Then Kurai was touching her thoughts and pushing enough chakra into her legs so that she could get an idea of how much chakra she would have to use: Kouki likewise was blushing.

When he was finished she gave a nod, excited to give it a try. She took off the same way that Kurai had: there but not there, moving so fast that she was able to be everywhere at once in less than a second's time. This was even faster than she was used to moving, and she ensured that she was careful not to run into anything or anyone. She came to a stop again near Kurai, grinning from ear to ear. "Wow, that's... that's amazing. Thanks a lot Kurai." She knew Swift Release would come in handy one day.

Kurai grinned back. Before today, he never remembered grinning so much. Little Kong was below, doing cartwheels and backflips. How had this all happened? Was he dreaming somewhere? Was she really here, in a younger, more attractive body without those other two morons?

He was left wondering what she'd do now. Kurai didn't want her traveling alone out there in these times, with kidnappers and weirdos on the loose. He most definitely didn't want her living in a city as dangerous as Alec was making it out to be.

"So uh... what-what will you do now, Kouki?..." he asked. He couldn't just let her go off alone, but at the same time he wanted to continue on with the survival adventure. He suddenly found himself torn between she and Alec...

She mastered the technique quickly enough, causing Alec to grin as well. Kurai suddenly started to seem confused. Alec figured that he didn't want her going off by herself, but he also wanted to tag along on their survival adventure. it just made him chuckle some. Kurai had been without a lady friend for a long time; he thought it about time that he get himself some... "Release," for lack of a better word, especially seeing as those two already had history, and those... other two didn't seem to be reincarnated in this world. And perhaps that was a good thing.

"She could come with us... Or, she can go and move her people to Makkura, and you can go with her, Kurai. I know this is something you've been waiting to get the chance to do, coming out here, but it looks to me like something way more interesting has presented itself... or herself. Choice is yours, of course, doesn't matter to me either way... We're currently on a survival expedition, Kouki. Exploring areas of this island that people have never been to before. The whole island belongs to my grand daughter by the way, so if anything were to seriously go wrong i'm sure she'd step in. But nothing's gonna go wrong. It's been all fun so far..."

Another person to tag along was fine with Alec. Or, were it to be just he and his sister, that would be fine with him too...