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The darkness and the chill of Makkura was welcoming after being gone so long. It felt like ages since he'd been back home; back to the country he'd pretty much stolen from another world. He could see the movement of the dark dwelling creatures below in the ruins of the long forgotten lands below, once being beautiful farms and plains. Now that they'd been ravaged by Makkura's former parent country Hana, these lands were badlands, inhabited by man eating creatures. Alec didn't much mind though.

Lights were in the distance, signaling that he was close to Makkura. The first thing he'd do was eat something, then probably smoke something. After checking in with the family, then it would be time to sit down somewhere and get some rest after running around so long. Makkura was from a whole other world, so Alec didn't have to worry about Templars coming here. Besides, he doubted that they would make it past the man eating beasts that roamed the plains.

...Where was he? The last thing he remembered was being dragged into a hole that swirled on the inside like a tornado. Then, he was here. He was in a dark place that once looked like it was a typical countryside. Now, it looked like a nightmare. Kuro didn't mind this. In fact, it put a smile on his face. He was right at home in the darkness and shadows.

Kuro felt far more powerful than he was before he entered the swirling hole. He began to think that whatever that hole was, it had brought him to another world. A crow flew down to land upon Kuro's shoulder as he stood up from lying in the dead grass. He looked at it, then upwards at the surrounding dead trees to see the red eyes of other crows looking down at him, some of them cawing. So his companions had followed him here too.

His senses, hearing and nose were more fine tuned too. Many manner of beast were all around. Kuro found that he could tune in on specific sounds and drown out everything else to listen to them. He could hear things that seemed to be miles away; more specifically, he could hear the hustle and bustle what had to be a village. Perhaps someone there could explain things to him, although he didn't much fancy being around a lot of people.

Something above him flew past. Whoever it was, they were very powerful. Maybe this person could tell him where he was now, if they didn't think he was a threat. Activating his flight technique, Kuro took to the air, with his crow companions taking off with him. Kuro didn't feel the drag of chakra like he usually did when using jutsu. this was strange, but it just made him grin more. Maybe he was dreaming?

Kuro set off after the person above him...

Artemis had done some growing: rather quickly too. Of course, she had only aged a few years; making her look about seven or eight instead of four or so as she had been. She was still up the usual mischief: currently stalking a little baby bunny as it hid in the shadows. Artemis knew that monsters lived in the shadows around Makkura, and they would feed on such helpless little animals. So, as usual she was stalking this one in order to capture it and “sneak” it inside.

”Come here little bunny fuzzy butt... come on. Come to Artemis. If you stay in the darkness there are things that will eat you...”, she said softly attempting to coax the little bunny out of hiding. It turned, looking at her strangely with red eyes, its nose twitching as it sniffed in her direction.

It was then that Artemis turned her head, looking up into the sky, and tilting her head as if she were listening for something. The little bunny with the beady red eyes hopped closer to her...

Alec suddenly felt like someone was following him as he got closer to Makkura. He spun in mid-air to face his tail, reaching behind him to grab the handles of his Desert Eagles. Closing his eyes, Alec used his radar to zoom in on this individual.

He was a boy, maybe 15 years old. He was surrounded by what looked like crows, or ravens. Alec was using his advanced radar, seeing that the boy was a bluish color, meaning that he wasn't coming toward him with hostility, so he took his hands off of his guns.

Before returning here from a brief trip to another world in which Amaranth was the Kage of a desert village, and Kinzoku was her bodyguard, Kinzoku told him a story of a strange guy who could control crows, and was a Sage sort of like Kurai. The boy didn't seem to like too many people and preferred to be alone most of the time, and he always dressed in black. Could this be the same guy? Was he from that world, and had found his way here somehow?

"So shinobi are still crossing dimensions, then... Maybe i'm mistaken, but could your name be... Kuro? Kinzoku told me about you. Do you know him?... Maybe he told you about me too, my name's Alec Kane."

Kuro and his crow crew flew closer to see that it was a man. He didn't look much older than himself. He looked like he was reaching for a weapon, and Kuro was left to wonder if he were about to be attacked, but it seemed like the man changed his mind at the last minute.

Then he started talking, which made Kuro somewhat surprised at his words. Crossing dimensions? So, he really was in another world. Kuro thought such things were impossible, but here he was... The man knew his name, and said that Kinzoku spoke of him. Kinzoku was here? That metal sand user, and probably his only other friend.

The man asked if Kuro knew about him, and said that his name was Alec Kane. The criminal Mastermind, who was said to have destroyed a village and taken over another one. The villain who was said to have shaken up the other villages and had them scared to do anything about him.

"Yes," Kuro responded. "He did tell me about you... It seems i'm in a whole new world I know nothing about, Mr Kane. I don't suppose I could ask you for some assistance?"

Artemis stood up, ignoring the bunny for a moment. In the distance she could clearly sense her father: though she still couldn't see him. Tilting her head a bit she waited for a moment, expecting him to appear but not seeing him. Frowning a bit to herself Artemis engaged her wings, her halo popping into clearer appearance above her head and glowing softly. ”Daaaadddy! Are you hiding?”, she called out loudly as she opened her wings and took off in the sky, and in the direction she knew her father to be in.

She flew rather slowly; she knew she was capable of faster speeds, but she preferred to take her time with flying as she still worried about accidentally running into something – especially given all of the darkness. Her halo began to glow even brighter, perhaps in response to her thoughts, and pushed back some of the darkness.

”Daadddy!” She flew closer until she saw two individuals: one was dressed in all black and the other... the other is where the sense of familiarity was coming from. It was her father – only he looked a lot younger. ”Daddy... did you get a hair cut and dye it?”

She then turned her silvery colored gaze onto Kuro. ”Whose that?”

So this was Kuro of the Nara Clan... The Nara's were renown for being able to do things with shadows. It was quite interesting, and made Alec remember the Chimera technique he'd developed in the other world. He was about to answer Kuro's question when he suddenly heard a familiar voice calling him. Closing his eyes once more, the radar sought out his youngest daughter, Artemis, headed towards him.

When she got close, she noticed that he looked different, but she could still recognize him. It made his sarcastic grin appear at his lips again. Artemis didn't really seem to care that her father looked like a young man again, but there was still Avery.

"Nah. Your great grand dad gave me this necklace and it turned me young again. When I was young I had black hair like this. It's a long story... And this, his name is Kuro, he's from that other world your mother probably told you about. If i'm right, he might be staying here in Makkura with us..."

Alec noticed that Artemis had put on a little bit of height herself. She was looking more and more like her mother. While putting an arm around the child, he motioned for Kuro and his flock of crows to follow him. Alec went the rest of the way to Makkura and landed on the main street, to be waved at by villagers and Dark members, once they recognized who he was since he was holding onto Artemis and still looked a lot like her despite being young looking again. Alec waved back while walking down the main street towards the tower.

"So, would you be interested in staying here, Kuro? Kinzoku told me you weren't really the sociable type, I can make sure you won't be bothered. I thought of giving you your own house in the village somewhere, but instead you can stay in the tower. there's only a few of us that live in it; you'll have all the space you want..."

Alec Kane was offering him the opportunity to stay here in his village. A little girl came flying up, described to be Alec's daughter. Apparently this wasn't how Alec always looked, as she made it clear that he now looked different. it wasn't too much of a big deal.

While flying toward the village with them, Alec said instead of giving him a house, that Kuro would be able to stay in the tower in the center of the village, where he and his family lived. It was a big gesture towards someone he'd just met, and had only heard about through word of mouth. Kuro decided to be loyal to Alec and his family from here on.

"That sounds fine, Alec... I accept. I promise to be a loyal member of Makkura," Kuro said, sincere in his words. Kinzoku had been his only friend, and now it seemed he had another one.

Makkura looked like the perfect village for him. It was the middle of the day, but it was as dark as night, which lead Kuro to believe that it was always dark here. He was fine with that. Alec had to be the Kage of the village with the way everyone waved to him. He also had to be a beloved, fair leader. Kuro was also fine with this...

Artemis giggled when she was picked up and reached up while her father flew them back towards the village and played with his hair. It was shorter then it had been, and it made her giggle. ”I like your hair...”

She then heard that Kuro would be staying with them and clapped her hands: Artemis like people, and she liked the idea of another person in the Tower. ”If you like the dark you'll like Makkura. Makkura is awesome.”, she said, nodding happily. She looked to the waving villagers and then off towards the tower from which her mother swooped down on her large fan. Avery hovered in the air a moment and then landed nearby, grinning: she too recognized Alec easily enough.

”Alec~”, she would close up her fan and wonder over as she sheathed it on her back once more. She would give him a gentle kiss and smile. ”New look? I like it.” Avery would then look towards Kuro and give a nod of greeting. ”Hello, I'm Avery.”

Artemis simply giggled and then spotted her little bunny she was stalking as it began to wander off and into the darkness. "No bunny! Don't go that way! There are monsters that will eat you!"[/color]

Artemis reached up and ran her little hands through his hair, saying she liked it. As they neared the Tower Avery appeared on her fan to give Alec a kiss. She didn't seem too surprised; honestly he thought she'd have a worse reaction. But in the end it didn't really matter. As Avery introduced herself to Kuro, Alec put Artemis down so that she could go chase after the animal before it was devoured by some beast in the dark.

"This is Kuro, he's from that other world. Just arrived here. With the craziness going on I think he should stay here with us. I'll give him the spare room in the tower. There's some things going on in the world that I think both of you should be aware of. I'll explain once I can go inside and sit down..."

Alec motioned for Kuro to follow. He walked across the bottomless moat and through the two double doors, relieved to see the purple walls and the black and white checkered floors again. It seemed like ages since he'd been home.

After an elevator ride to the top floor, he walked to his room and flopped into the big recliner with fluffy soft upholstery situated in front of his global monitor device after taking off his jacket and throwing it across his large bed. Alec let out a long sigh, finally able to relax after so long.

"Ok... where do I begin..."

The little girl said that Kuro would like it here if he liked the dark. He nodded to her with a grin since this much was true. While they walked through the streets, his crow companions took it upon themselves to perch along the gutters and roofs of various houses.

A female approached on a flying fan to land and give Alec a kiss. Was this his wife? Girlfriend? She introduced herself as Avery, and Kuro waved as Alec told her who he was and where he was from. The child called out to a small animal, and Alec put her down so that she could likely chase after it.

Alec said there was crazyness going on in the world. This peaked his interest. With his hands in the pockets of his black hooded jacket Kuro followed after Alec over a pit that looked as if it didn't have a bottom. They entered the tower, and took an elevator ride up to the top floor to enter Alec's bedroom.

Kuro was very curious to hear about the "craziness." Perhaps he'd be able to get involved, and test his skills against opponents in a whole new world...

It took Artemis all of roughly five seconds to scoop up the tiny little bunny rabbit with the red eyes, keeping it from venturing into the darkness. She held the tiny thing within both of her hands and brought it up to her face so she could get a better look at it. ”Don't go in the darkness, silly bunny. There are monsters in there that will eat you, and I can't protect you in the dark...”, Artemis whispered softly as she headed across the bridge and into the tower – following everyone else.

”Come on, I'll bring you somewhere safe that you only have a small chance of being eaten at – but most of the monsters in here are friendly.” It was mostly true of course: Artemis had yet to come across something in the Tower that tried to harm her – in fact, most of the monsters either adored or avoided her.

Avery glanced back at Artemis and chuckled: another rescued animal. It still amazed Avery that Artemis could even find them, but she certainly had an eye for spotting adorable and small fuzzy creatures. Still, it kept her busy and entertained, and that was what mattered.

Avery followed after Alec and Kuro, curious to hear what Alec had to tell them. What could be going on in the world now? While Avery was all too used to the rest of the world ever since they had returned from the shinobi dimension she hadn't bothered to venture back out again – Makkura was home, and she was more than happy here, so she had had little urge to. But, she was still curious to hear what would possibly be going on. "What's going on? I haven't bothered venturing out of Makkura since we came back..."

Alec kicked off his Mesh boots. He was thinking that he was definitely going to take a few days rest right here before doing anything else. A few days of nothing but lying in bed and feeding his face. After running for his life in a zombie infested city, to then go survive in the wilderness of his grand daughter's island, to then confront an alien in the ruins of a dramatastic city; Alec figured a break was due.

"There's these guys in Edge, and possibly other cities, they're called Templars. These guys are into everything. Basically, they want to rule the world, control everything. Against them are Assassins, an order all about freedom and liberty. For thousands of years they've been fighting over artifacts called "Pieces of Eden." They're devices from a civilization long past, devices that give their users the power to do anything their mind can imagine. The Assassins had the upper hand, until they were betrayed and wiped out. Only one of them remains, a girl named Jayr. She knows my dad from way back when, in the middle ages. The Pieces of Eden are scattered around the world and the Templars are looking for them. My dad has one locked in Darkman Tower, and from what i'm told, there's one inside of Amaranth's island. Now, there's no need for you to be worried about anything Avery, because The Land of Shadows is from a whole other world, so none of those things would be here. Besides, I don't think those Templars would survive the beasts roaming around out there... Jayr is trying to bring back the Assassin Order. She recruited the skateboard dude Yata..."

Alec leaned forward to reach around and scratch the large symbol that looked burned into his back; the Kane family crest. It was a sword with two wings coming out of it. Whenever Alec was in a stressful situation the symbol would glow sometimes. Alec didn't know what it was, or what it meant though.

"In other news, there's also this alien roaming around. He fought Vigilante 2 times and Vigilante along with Ka'lara was barely able to beat him, so the alien hates him. The alien seems like it gets stronger everytime he recovers from a beating, and now he has these tricks to where he can make himself super strong. He got into a fight with someone in Velo City and blew the whole place it, it's in ruins now. Me and Dez went over there to rescue some survivors. I went toe to toe with this kid; he has a big ego. He's way stronger than me but not even half as fast, so he didn't really stand a chance. I offerend him the chance to join up, cause it would be better to get cool with him rather than fight him. Fighting him would just leave a big mess..."

Alec described a cult of people that called themselves Templars. He said they wanted to take control of the world and rule it. The Templars had rivals called Assassins. They had been fighting for a very long time over artifacts that gave the people wielding them the power to do whatever.

The Assassins were betrayed, and the pieces were scattered. It seemed now the Templars were looking for them, and the remaining Assassin was trying to revive her order. it was a very interesting tale, and Kuro found himself wanting to fight these Templars, since he didn't fancy being ruled or controlled.

Alec also told a story of an alien that had the power to wipe out an entire city. Alec admitted that this alien was far stronger than he was, but not as fast. This also sounded interesting. Alec wanted the alien to join rather than fight it, which sounded like a logical tactic. Less bloodshed and the chance of another city being wiped out.

This world was sounding very exciting. The opportunity to test himself against someone or something was all but assured...

Artemis was distracted with her new little albino bunny friend; even though she had followed everyone upstairs. She didn't really care to pay attention to what was going on, she was far too excited between having caught the rabbit and her father being home, that she didn't care what was going on outside of the safety of their dark village. So, she stood near her father, hugging her little bunny to her.

Avery meanwhile listened carefully to everything that Alec described. A lot had been going on in the world outside of their own, and it sounded very dangerous. Still, Alec was right: it would take someone with a very distinct set of skills to get past the monsters and beasts that lurked the shadows around their home. Anyone not prepared for such a journey would perish before they were even perceived as a threat. And even then there was always those like Hikari and Kurai who could see the village as a whole, and Alec himself.

”Do you think this alien will join up? Or continue to cause trouble?”, she asked curiously with a light frown.

"Probably. Maybe. I donno. it'll be a pain to fight this guy cause he's as tough as a piece of rubber. You knock him down, he bounces right back up. We'll see..."

Alec reached forward to turn the holographic globe on the pedestal before him, to look at the area of the world where Velo was once located. It was still on fire; he could see this as he zoomed in on the area. The alien's energy signature was no longer there, so perhaps he'd moved on. Alec knew for certain that this wasn't the last of him...

Global Monitor Device:

"Kuro. If you go down the hall and take a left, and go into the first door on your right, you'll find a bedroom. You can have it, no one uses it. It has it's own bathroom and balcony and whatnot. If you need anything let one of us know. Also... this tower has a bunch of secret rooms and hallways, and I haven't been able to find them all. Explore and look around some, you might find some long lost treasure or something..."

Alec was putting a lot of trust into someone he just met, inviting him into his home with his family, something he rarely ever did anymore. His advanced radar had him painted blue though, which meant he was an ally. Someone would have to go through great lengths to deceive his radar, but Alec was convinced that Kuro would be a loyal member of Makkura.

"Thank you again for your hospitality, Alec. If I happen to need anything i'll let you know..."

Kuro nodded to he and Avery before walking out into the hall and following Alec's directions to the room in question. With the same dark design as the rest of the tower, Kuro found the accommodations satisfying. This would be a fine place to call home. Kuro saw no reason whatsoever to betray Alec and his family.

He opened the door to his balcony, and upon stepping out his crow companions flew up to join him, perching themselves at random points, cawing and ruffling their feathers. The balcony gave view to the large village, and some of the dark places beyond. Kuro thought he might have been dreaming, but this place felt too real.

For now, he would remain in his new room, getting used to the new surroundings.

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