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Every shinobi has it's path set out for them. What path that may be only the gods will know. Set out to find your path in this crazy shinobi world
 
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 Raven Quest

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Lolk

Lolk


Posts : 164
Join date : 2014-12-14
Age : 24
Location : Texas

Raven Quest Empty
PostSubject: Raven Quest   Raven Quest I_icon_minitimeMon May 09, 2016 8:24 pm

The last of the water had finally dried, not that she minded overmuch. People did though, and although she had gotten over some of her phobia, attracting the attention of everyone in the market square by walking in soaked to the bone would still more than likely incapacitate her. that would be counterproductive to her goal of acquiring groceries. Perhaps not the most epic of goals, but an important one nonetheless. She did need to eat, after all. Of course, the amount of groceries she needed to buy was … was… was lessened considerably due to the death and dismemberment of her oldest friend. Apparently that particular loss still hurt. Good to know, she’d need to figure out if that was a good thing or not soon. On one hand, it was a point in favor of her being real, on the other emotional pain sucked. Annoying quandary, that. But one she would have to deal with, in order to interact with other people. Emotional pain and empathy would allow her to continue to reap the benefits of being in civilization. the benefits of civilization were easily worth the downsides of dealign with emotional pain. Send was worth the pain, as was the certainty that Yusuri would be remembered. For that, she could handle a little uncertainty. She felt she was on top of it, at any rate. She could deal. She had friends, and technically family.

In all honesty, she hadn't really remained in touch with her family once she went off to follow her calling. Mum still let her borrow stuff occasionally, but she hadn't been to the compound in ages, nor had she worked as a cashier. She really ought to get back in touch with them some time, but… she really didn’t have much of a connection. Not any more, at any rate. they had grown distant. Perhaps she would take Sena to meet them sometime. Or perhaps not. She really wasn’t sure. It might be a better idea to meet Sena’s parents first, so she could get a better idea of how to do such a thing.


At any rate, she needed to acquire groceries, and was now dry enough to walk around town without attracting any more attention than she would otherwise. After a moment of thought, she dons the leather coat. It technically belonged to her now, but she still couldn’t help but think of it was Yusuri’s coat. She was glad it hadn’t been torn apart when Yusuri had been violently dismembered. There was additionally the concern that people would notice the coat, but Yusuri had hardly been conspicuous. Outside of other students, she couldn’t imagine too many people suffering from the double-take of realizing Sylvan wasn’t Yusuri. Well, as long as they didn’t make a scene, Sylvan didn’t mind. She just wanted groceries so she could eat this week. Sighing at the necessity, Sylvan walks out of the woods, towards the town. She had recovered form the initial shock of Yusuri’s death for the most part, or at least compartmentalized enough of it to function. The latter was sadly more likely, but no helping that at the moment; she was busy. Busy with living her life, specifically. At some point she’d really have to deal with that compartmentalization, but now was not the time, not the time at all. She was still getting stronger, there was no time for fighting inner demons. Well, not demons that damaging. One thing she could think about without inconveniencing herself is questioning whether or not to try and clean the bloodstains out of the coat. On one hand, they were a memento of he long dead friend, and they weren’t THAT intrusive. On the other…. they were bloodstains on a coat she now owned. People might try to throw her into a bath again. She did not want that, not at all. Her friends meant well, of course, but they could be a bit overbearing at times. She didn’t mind much, but being forced to bathe was a little humiliating. Well, embarrassing. Humiliating was perhaps too strong. They were her friends, after all. They meant well, the just go a little… over enthusiastic sometimes. everyone could be, she knew. She had not yet experienced it yet. she knew she would, one day.

She struck off towards the market place. Hmm. The ravens were out and about today. Odd. The stench of death was suspiciously absent. Ravens ought not to be out in such numbers. She was going to grab groceries, but she didn’t have to to do that immediately. She turns from her original path. Approaching one of the buildings, she quickly scrambles up the wall and onto the roof. The building wasn’t the highest, but it still provided a pretty good view. Looking around, she couldn’t see any dead things. Perhaps the ravens had spotted something shiny, or there was an unprotected food stall? None were in sight. Why would ravens be out and about? Hopping of the building, she begins to walk around the market, curiously peering round curtains and hunting for the dead, just as she assumed the ravens were. Except… They weren’t. They were watching her. All of them, or at least the ones she could see. It was highly unnerving. They just sat their and stared. At her. No one in the market seemed to notice. She didn’t understand. It was terrifying. She ran, ran for the forest- No! They wherefore creatures of the forest than she. She ran for her house. She found it. Opened the door, slammed it behind her. Locked the windows. She huddled in Yusuri’s old room, still left impeccably neat and ordered like always. Looking around, she realized she hadn’t really been in here that much. This was the only part of the house she didn’t clean, Yusuri preferred to take care of that. It was barren. A few scrolls on dancing, but otherwise empty. It gnawed at her. She did not notice the first tear, or the fifth, but by the twenty she was muffling the sobs with the sheets. It felt wrong, to disrupt Yusuri’s old room like thus, but she couldn’t help it. She missed her friend. There was always that comforting feeling of stability, of championship without distraction. It was a comfortable, comforting presence that made no demand of her. And now ti was gone, for reasons she couldn’t understand. Yusuri had fallen prey to the fear that ran Sylvan’s life; futility. Cut down without a chance to defending herself. She ha dorm friends then she ever expected she would, but it still hurt to have her oldest one taken away. And none of them felt as … “anchored” as Yusuri had been. Rosie was grappling with Kitty, and Sena would soon have to face the music. Sylvan knew very well that her shortest friend would soon have to make the choice between innocence and survival…. And Sylvan knew which one Sen would choose. Ultimately, just like the rest of them, Sena would become a killer. she would have to. Rosie and Nathan, she felt, could probably handle the choice and come out okay. She herself had solved the problem by compartmentalization. By the time she had to unite, she would be able to deal with it, or so she hoped. But Sena… She knew the girl would have to lose her innocence, but hs did not want her to lose her spirit, her morals. At the same time, she would have to learn to kill people. Perhaps Rosie could help with making her understand that, along with her own support. We should do it quickly. Like taking off a bandage.




Sylvan hummed to herself as she worked. Well, trained. No, worked. She sighs abrupt, her peace ruined by the internal conflict. She was learning to shape water with her chakra at the moment, in her grove. She looks around, having decided she might as well take a look around before she went back to it. There were several ravens on the trees. Three, to be exact. Odd. There were no dead animals around. She liked seeing them around, but they didn’t normally stay by her grove. Still, she thought nothing of it, and went back to her w- CAW. Synchronized. Perfectly unified. Unnaturally so. She glared at them in suspicion, backing away. “who are you?” The crows caw disharmoniously, feigning innocence. Sylvan runs for the village. She slams the door shut, locks the windows, and quickly drafts a note. “The crows of three caw in harmony by my grove.” she stuffs it into the bed, then leaves the house, grabbing her coat off the hook. She would die in it, or at least fight in it. Hopefully neither event would occur though.

She had eventually gone back to the grove. A fourth raven had appeared. She glared at it at them. Every time she tried to focus on her training, they would make that forsaken racket. It was a perplexing problem. She did not want to attack them for a variety of reasons. If they really were just ravens, she might accidentally hurt them. Then no ravens would ever come by. If they were ninjas, she might not be able to hit them hard enough. They didn’t seem to be attacking her now, but that could change very quickly if she attacked. for the moment, she would try to ignore them, focusing on different skills; she had on shortage of thing she needed to practice, after all. Hopefully they would go away, if not… Well, maybe she’d find out what was going on.
Stil, she wasn’t quite ready try talking with them, not unless things got worse.
Hopefully they would go away. They won’t. They’ll just stay there, until they get impatient or we make the first move. I’m with Pragmatism on this one. We should just ask. No! I’m in charge here, so we wait for them to make he first move! Why are you in charge?! Because I said so! Um. Grrrrr



Sylvan was in a tree. This in and of itself was not uncommon; what's
was uncommon was the fact that the tree was onyx beneath a
blanket of Ravens. All of which were cawing at her. Loudly.
Needless to say, Sylvan was not pleased with this turn of events. She
was, oddly enough, scowling. Her neutral manner had dusted in the face
of being woken up by eighty crows cawing in harmony. Under other
circumstances, she would've found it quite lovely. These were not
normal circumstances however, for her sleep last night had been ....
Fitful. Strange dreams, gel filled things moving across her
sight, annotations and diagrams plastered across their forms in a
language she could not make heads nor tails of ... I'll omens, most
certainly. She had elected to keep them to herself, deciding that if
nothing else, failure to heed them would bring a bit of excitement to
Konoha. The Festival had more or less shattered her already battered
psych and sense of self. Her friend was dead. Yusuri was dead. She had
gone back and seen the gore, the blood. And it had amused her,
prompting an earnest giggle even as sobs wracked her lanky frame. That
scared her. Why had she found it amusing? It didn't make any sense. She had more or less come to termswith herself, and her duality had merged as far as she could tell. The
pair sometimes ringed out in separate tones, but that was rare these
days. I'm here still. Yusuri was her constant companion
for so long, longer than Sena even. Whereas Sena held the fascination
of the unknown, Yusuri was the familiar comfort eventually sought by
any adventurer. What could've prompted a giggle at such a horrific
loss?I fit the bill. Gods, what if the same thing
happened to Sena? We should make the kill. How would
she- "CAW!" Oh. Right. The Ravens.



They did not go away. In fact, there were more of them. This was not going to go well, she could tell. A full twenty now. All of the looking ta her with beady eyes. It was actually quite terrifying, in all honesty. She was still unsure of what they wanted form her, but she doubted it was something she was willing to give. What other reason could there be for such a blatant display of force? That being said, she doubted they could acquire substantially more numbers, given that sooner or later most of them would get hungry. In order to keep ravens on her at all times, they would have to rotate, which would cut the amount of corvids watching her in half. Maybe then she would try diplomatic methods, once there were few enough to not intimidate her into silence. She hoped they could talk, since the alternative would be trying to chase them off. She was not entirely sure who one went about chasing off this many ravens without being savaged by a wall of beaks. She didn’t want to find out how tough they were, but even if they weren’t summons, they could still probably cause her problems. Perhaps in hindsight, she should’ve signed on the with the mantis. They were perhaps a bit too flamboyant for her tastes Ha! but they only knocked her through a window that one time. They hadn't interrupted her training or persistently harassed her.
These ravens on the other hand… They weren’t polite at all. They apparently intended to bully her, one way or another. She was knew she would have to negotiate eventually. She had things to do, and the crows could probably afford to pester her endlessly if the were smart enough to do this. She was;t sure why they were origin this. She was afraid to ask. all he beady eyes glaring at her. It was more than a little terrifying, honestly. She wished Sena were here, but she could not let them set their sights on her.




A swarm of ravens was incredibly threatening. There was no way Sylvan was going to antagonize fifty or more ravens. Maybe three, but not fifty. Of course, that left her in a bit of a bind. She needed to get work done, but she couldn’t with all their cawing. Perhaps talking to them would work? Or maybe avoiding the grove for awhile. She didn’t understand how this many birds could mobilize in one place. There weren’t that many dying animals in the vicinity, surely? Whatever the reason, it seemed it would quickly grow out of hand.

They were there all days, following her around. It was actually becoming something of a problem.
She was getting a little annoyed at the constant attention. She couldn’t even have her own thoughts without the ravens constantly cawing in her ears. Sighing, she looks to the closest one, contemplating simply attacking the things. Ultimately though, she decides against it. That would be rude, and Sylvan did not want to be rude. Thus, she was about to have a conversation with a raven while hanging from a tree. Groaning internal, she asks “What do you want? I would like to be alone.” The Ravens caw. One steps forward. “Sign.” The word echoes back across the unkindness, pinging back and forth. Sylvan quirked an eyebrow. That was admittedly not what she was expecting. “Sign? Sign what?” One of the ravens waves a scroll in its beak. It looked suspiciously similar to the mantis scroll she had nearly been tricked into signing several months earlier. Ah. So that’s what it was.
“Why?” she asks, keeping a grin to herself. The one word conversation was starting to become kind of fun, actually. Was also curious as to why these clans seemed to want to get shinobi to sign up. Perhaps they wanted agents in this realm? “Because!” the ravens gave the impression of smirking.
Sylvan gestures to herself “Why me?” One words would insufficient if they wanted to be cheeky. Still, she wanted to be conservative with her speech. “Some potential!” was their reply. Confusing. “Others too” she says. “No choice.” they say. That damn beaky smirk. They did have a point, at least in the interpretation that she would eventually cave. “Leave if signed?” Three words. They were definitely winning. but she did need to know if she would have peace once she signed. “All but three.” the Unkindness chorused, matching her. An unusual concession to make. How strange. “A moment.” she says, backing down to two words. This warranted some thought.

Sylvan had come to a decision. “A game perhaps?” she says, favoring the unkindness with a genuine smile. The blanket of feathers swirls, a shuffling conferral. “We’ll pick.” Contractions were a cheap loophole, and everyone here knew it. “Mind over matter.” Sylvan shoots back, heading off an easy corvid victory. She did not intend to fail for something like a flying competition. There was an affronted shrug from the unkindness, as if they would never stoop to such. No one was even slightly fooled. They were absolutely planning on a flying competition. Now that that was out of the way, they had to resort to other methods. Their reply was “Riddle game.” Hmph. Standard, but they were Ravens. “Ground and Air.” was her reply. More disgruntled shuffling. Honestly, they should’ve expected this from her. “Accepted.” “Agreed.” The game was on. This would be fun. The Ravens stepped forward, claiming first turn. Unorthodox, but acceptable. The game was best three out of five. She would question afterwards how she had known this. The short word context would also be suspended, by necessity.

The Unkindness cawed “The armored Juggernaut, strides inexorably. No barrier or wall can block it, only delay it. ’I’ll have you yet!’ Shut up!
The glittering treasure sown into the great blue slay it. Of what do we speak?”’I’ll have you yet!’ Shut up!
An interesting opener. Interesting, mainly because of how easy a riddle it was. The answer was definitely snails, or at least that would have to be Sylvan’s answer. The “glittering treasure of the great blue” was probably the slat in the water, which would definitely kill a snail. She knew slugs and snails had some capability to climb up and over obstacles. And snails did have an armor of sorts. Regardless, her brain was hopelessly homed in on snails, so she was unlikely to find a better answer.’I’ll have you yet!’ Shut up!
The human mind was troublesome at times… “Snails.” “Correct. Pass turn.” … But it came through when it counted. Her turn then. This would be challenging. The scoring system was quite simple really: first to miss three riddles lost. Perhaps Sena would like the game. They could- No. Now was not the time to go off on a tangent. All her focus was needed, except for the portioned off bit that watched for surprise attacks. A riddle, then. She would have to craft a riddle, preferably one the cows didn’t know. Being able to literally fly much farther afield than she, Sylvan was acutely aware that they would quickly exhaust her knowledge if the game was allowed to continue for too long. She needed to end this in one game, if possible. What then, would a Raven not know about the ground and air? ’I’ll have you yet!’ Shut up!
“It does not halt or divert the energy of life, it changes it. None will partake of the feast, for it has made the courses intolerable to them. The shroud of death spread, a strong contender in the quest for survival.” There. ’I’ll have you yet!’ Shut up!
That one would be quite difficult, she hoped. A bird’s eye view did not mean they knew exactly how all the things in the forest worked, after all. Sylvan knew certain kinds of tree changed the soil with their roots so other things could grow there; she was hoping she hadn’t been too overt. They confer again, eventually answering “A tree.” “Correct. Pass turn.” The outcome of this contest was bleak. Still, she would persevere. Signing on with the Ravens was… Well, not that bad an idea, actually. She would theoretically be able to summon them. However, there was the principle of the thing; Sylvan did not want to sign on their terms, but on her own.

“They are everywhere, breathing life into the ragged and worn. Mushrooms in the forest of man.” Hmm. Odd. “Soup stands, the pots of broth sold cheaply to those without money on street corners.” “Correct. Pass turn.” Why were they going so easy on her? ’I’ll have you yet!’ Shut up!
“Hammer or silk, life or death. Its presence is known in every setting. A set of four.” “Water.” “Correct. Pass turn.” It was strange. Neither of them were trying very hard. The answers thus far were easy to guess, so what would- “How is a raven like a writing desk?” … … … In hindsight, she really ought to have seen that one coming. After a moment of struggling, Sylvan comes up with “Both have blackened feathers?” “Good try. Pass turn.” Her turn. "What is he that builds stronger than either the mason, the shipwright, or the carpenter?” “The revolutionary, for he can overturn them all.” “Correct Pass turn.” Their turn.’I’ll have you yet!’ Shut up!

“What is accountable only to the lowest of accidents and the highest of Monsters?” This was it. If she failed this, she would technically have to sign. “A god?” “A Hero. You lose. Sign.” It was at this point Sylvan made what was perhaps an unwise decision. She bolted for the village.
Based on the storm of angry cawing that followed her, this was indeed a bad decision. The almost continuous splintering noise seemed to further promote this idea. Why did we do this?! This was a terrible idea! WHEEEEEEEEEE~! Oh.
The bigger tree trunks survived the raven storm, though scarred. Their leaves were shredded by the wall of beaks. The flap of wings and cawing of ravens clamored throughout the forest. Her ears ache din agony and she ran to the village.



As it turns out, hiding from an army of ravens was hard. They didn’t all move as one big clump; they dispersed across the village, each on hunting for her. When one found her, the rest would converge upon that location to chase her until she shook them off again. A lot of property damage occurred, but she would worry about that once she had survived. For now, it became apparent she would need to appease them somehow. She wasn’t sure how though, that was the problem. And she quite frankly refused to get involved in the problem. Maybe if she- “CAW!” And she was off again.



Those currently in Konoha were treated to an interesting sight, as Sylvan ran hell-or-high-water from a massive, drill-shaped unkindness. Those people, if they had any self-preservation instinct, would then immediately duck for cover before an Raven took their eyes out. For once, Sylvan had no issues with the crowded market place; her paralyzing fear was ousted from the castle in favor of pure survival instinct. That survival was the only thing keeping her ahead of of the cyclone of angry crows. She really should’ve just signed, since now they would have every justification to chase her; she had, after all, reigned on a contract. She had lost. by all rights, she should sign…. and yet… There was something. Some voice telling her she shouldn’t sign, that it would cause problems, for her. Not minor problems, but serious things. Doom and gloom.’I’ll have you yet!’ Shut up!
Of course, all of that was moot if she died here, and so she kept running. ”Leap over that cart!” ”On it!” The biggest issue was that they might be too made at her to let her sing, in which case the would chase her till the end of time. Best to check.
“sign?” “Die! Caw! Came Caw!” So yes, she had offended them. Which meant… what? What would she do? She could go to one of the Jounin, but that struck her as the wrong way to go about things. There was a certain storybook element to this, and she believed she saw the path ahead of her. ”Why do you think that will work? What would it change?” ”It changes everything! We just need to sign!” ”You make it sound so easy…” ”Who cares? It’ll be an adventure! Now let’s go!” ”Then again, maybe you’re right, and this isn’t a good idea.” ”No take backs!”




The ink had been surprisingly simple to acquire. She had simply grabbed it as she ran by the stall. Any hint of her guilt was erased by a swarm of feathers. The stall was one, everything was gone, all gone, gone, gone. ’I’ll have you yet!’ Shut up! She ran, ran for her life,e ducking through corners and stalls, leaving a trail of black feathers and destruction behind her. She ran for the forest, it was her only hope of survival. The ravens apparently realized this as well, since the dived down on her as soon as she was in the neutral zone between the forest and konoha. The barrels through the air just behind her, some of her tangled hair sheared off. However, once she was in the forest, her animation tipped the scale in her favor. He speed doubled, as the animation cover her tracks. She quickly left the ravens far behind, eating her dust if she had left any kind of trail at all. She could still hear them though, spreading across the forest in an attempt to find her. That was a smart move on their part; she couldn’t be tracked, but she could be found. Fortunately, she remembered where the scroll had been left. She quickly sped through the forest, keeping the ink supplies in a secure grip. Eventually, she arrives at the spot of the signing. The caws were getting louder, apparently the ravens had figured out her plan. She quickly grabbed the scroll, and sped off. A series of crashes and breaking branches let her know she had made it out just in time. Not many knew this, but she had a back-up grove. It was much deeper in the forest, and not as well kept. She hadn’t gone to it since the ravens had arrived, and even then she never stayed long enough to give any indication it was anything other than a good spot to rest. More importantly, it had a large, flat stone she could use to spread out the scroll. She arrives. Cawing in the distance, getting louder.r She whips out the quill, scrawling her name frantically, the ravens are coming-!
And then nothing. Not the nothingness of death, but of noting being crushed by an unkindness of ravens.




Sylvan finished writing the last bit of her name, whirling around and brandishing the scroll even as the storm of unkindness caught up with her-!
And every last crow dissipated into smoke. the scene dissolved around her. No destruction, nothing. She was sitting in her grove. Nothing had changed. Her coat was not covered din the splinters form the market stall, and her cuts were gone. No, not gone; never existed. And illusion, all of it, hidden in he mind like tears in the rain. A clacking is heard, like someone trying to clap with a beak. A large and dapper Raven seems to apparat on a branch of Sylvan. “So I See You Decided To Turn Yourself In.” Sylvan was, quite frankly, baffled. “What?” “You Signed Up, You Cast Your Lot In, You Cut Your Hand, That Sort Of Thing. You Are a Member Of The Family Now. You Had Better Do Your Part.” She could be forgiven this consideirng she had had a very fraught time of things, fleeing from the ravens.
The head raven, seeing her confusion, patted her on the back with a pitying expression. “We Can Talk Later. We Will Keep In Touch Poppet.” Sylvan waves uncertainly to it as it flies off, still very confused. In life of stability, she slumps against the tree as the adrenaline wears off. Well that was fun. Fun?! We were chased chased across Konoha by a bunch of riddling ravens that turned out to be an illusion to trick us into signing on with a clan… And you think it was fun?! Yeah! We had an adventure! And now we’re part of the raven clan! Who knows what that will involve? The future is a huge and uncertain place! Which could kill us! We’ll be crushed like a bug! You idiots.Sure, being crushed is bad; I’m not arguing that. Then what are you saying?! Quit contradicting yourself and speak plainly! You really, don’t get it, do you? Get what?! Life’s no fun without excitement and risk! There’s no point to living! Wrong! No point in dying either! Not sure, but that’s not what I mean! If you do nothing with your life, then you might as well be dead. You have to make waves in the world, impose your will upon the world! Otherwise you’re just another dead bystander, another piece of collateral damage! I won’t let that end by ours. You aren’t one of us! You’re far too different to be a part of us. You must be a foreign presence. Or maybe you’ve just shoved everything you don’t want into me. I’ve got quite a lot of each of you that I really ought not to have. There isn’t anything good about you! What could you possibly have that came form us, intruder? I have your willingness to kill, Pragmatism. And your drive, Innocence. You keep calling us that. Why? It’s who you are, sillies! Even if you won’t acknowledge me, I still know you. Who do you claim to be, intruder? Oh-ho! Warming up to me? Hardly. But calling you intruder is getting irritating. Calling yourself the attacker usually is. Very well. You may call me… Euphoria! Euphoria? Yep! You never let me out to play, you just briefly withdraw your more shaming traits when you need them, then shove them back towards me! One day that’s going to change though. I look forward to watching you both have to deal with that.
{5017 Words}
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