Chapter 1x7: A Lone Prayer

While short, Ari got what she believed to be an honest answer, which was good enough for her. It was still plenty enough to work with, given that it was her. Normally mothers or adult figures getting that nature of an answer would think it was a shame that someone wasn't in school, but Ari wasn't to be placed in the same category as the norm parent. In that instant she thought about some of the pros and the Cons for someone to be in school, and following that simply thought that it wasn't for everyone. Only thinking about it after the fact of asking the question, she figured that it probably should have been a bit obvious that Kisayuri didn't.

" Ah Ok. School is good for a persons development...but I guess it could go the other way too so I guess it really depends on the individual. When we got settled down here in the land of Fire, I immediately thought to myself...I must get Val into school. A smudged canvas from erase attempts he is...I don't think he truly got into school too much. He just did what I asked of him without question like it was just another Task. I kind of wish he was more like you in that aspect ".

She looked to Kisayuri with an smile while rubbing the back of her own head.

" I mean that you showed your feelings towards the task being requested of you...I got to ask though. How is your mother ? I mean to me, excluding you, I can't distinguish the feelings of the plant life, but it's apparent that it's there, so I want to know what your mother is like ".

The Answer Ari receieved from Kisayuri was one that brought relief to her. While she didn't say anything that indicated the opposite, Ari knew that there were cases out there where the mothers only sought after what they wanted more than what was best for the child, and even in some of the worst cases even used the child as a means to obtain those things. It was a dreadful thought but a truth nonetheless. It may have been an odd thought, but it did come across Ari's mind of the kind of Mother Kisayuri's mother actually was. It was good though to have the thought cleansed away by confirmation of the daughter herself.

/ Maybe she thought that having her come would be good for the both of them...Thank you /

She felt like a tear was about to form in her eyes so she turned away from Kisayuri and towards Val. Her grip on Val's hand tightened slightly though never reaching a level of uncomfortable for the unconscious Yuki. Apart of her wanted to try to bring him back just so he could see Kisayuri there but knew that she shouldn't do it. Just looking at him, she could tell that there was some kind of struggle going on there, and a great one at that. His expression didn't look like he was at peace, and his body showed that in various ways. Ari wasn't an legal residence of the village, and did her best to keep under the radar, one of the reasons why she avoided high risk places like the hospital where certain information was kind of required in order to be seen. Ari didn't know what the Hospital policy was regarding obtaining medicines without the patient actually being there, and even if they allowed it, she herself couldn't make the attempt. She felt so much more helpless, not being able to do everything she could for him.

" I'm such a Horrible Mother. He don't look at ease, and I can't do much for him as it stands. It seems more than a Panic attack, but I don't know exactly what. He is suffering and there is Medicine that eases that, but I can't go to get it...Tell me, what would your Mother do if possibly helping you meant that she would end up sacrifice herself ? And how would you feel about her decision ? ".

Ari felt like she already knew the first question based on Kisayuri's description before, but needed a backing on what she was contemplating on doing.

:: Dream ::

After being slammed into the fourth building without stop, Val coughed up what appeared to be blood, and as he did, the scenery seemed to distort just a tiny bit, fading out for a second before returning to normal. It was almost as if the world created by his mind was becoming unstable. The reason for it was unknown, though there was a theory that would eventually hit him. For now though he had to get a grip on what was going on. He brought his finger tips to touch the bands that bound him, infusing chakra into his hands before expelling it, causing the bands to freeze a bit away from the wrists. Struggling to break free, the frozen bands would crack and shatter, freeing both arms as he quickly brought both hands to the one around his neck, repeating the process as quickly as possible. The ones around the legs were sliced immediately using a Kunai as his body motioned downwards. Now descending to the Surface, Val embraced himself for impact, having no actual way to make the landing smooth. Off from a distance a handseals were weaved with a single hand, causing water to materialize and then shoot towards the Falling Yuki, engulfing him while doing minimum damage. The water torrent would carry him down towards the surface, preventing what could have been a very damaging fall. Now drenched, his eyes shot towards where the water came from in shock.

" Val...Get up! Don't let me saving your ass be in Vain "

The Figure was of a young girl, a slightly younger than Val's current age with a similar complexion. Her build was smaller obviously, and her hair was quite unique for individuals of the Hidden Mist which was where she was from. Best way to describe it would be slick blonde hair in large amounts, most formed as two long drill curls with two black bows keeping it formed at the head. An face that on normal occasions be considered absolutely adorable was actually filled with a bit of anger, similar to a single memory of her that he possessed. She pointed at the Young Yuki while leaning forwards on her toes, displaying a great deal of eagerness in her whole body.

" If you die now, then you'll let your Mom down, and anyone else who at some point cared about you. It also means that you give up on finding me! You Promised you wouldn't ".

In that instant, pushing himself up to a standing position, Val recalled the instant this individual saved him back then when they were young, when she hid him before disaster struck. The tears he had at the thought of losing her, and the anger he possessed at the perpetrators. This did not bring about any new strength, but solidified the remaining, slowing the breakdown progress. Val rushed forward bringing up a single hand, weaving hand seals not only a bit faster than he did before but the actions seemed more stern and exact. Ice began to materialize around his hands in the form of a flat Diamond shape. The Bandages began striking at him in a whipping fashion, the Yuki jumping around dodging some of them, and then slashing at the ones that he couldn't dodge, switching these two actions in order to effectively avoid any damage that the whips could dish out. The whips eventually began to slow down as the Yuki drew closer, his left hand drawing back and the ice around it shattering instantaneously, forming shards that hovered around his now clenched Fist before being launched towards the Bandaged Man in rapid fire. They would not only enter the bandaged figure, but they would travel all the way through without decreasing in their speed.

" Why are you fighting so hard!? Damn it you're actually starting to piss me off. People don't fight this hard at this point. You give in, I draw upon you through your fear and despair, then at night I decapitate your head...well I mean I come behind you, eat your head, then go on about my business doing what I do. You're making this far more annoying!! "

Those words came out in a rather childish way, and also completely different than before or what he believed this individual to be like. It was something that didn't exactly fall in place of the dread he was dealing with as a result of the festival, being something like an its own entity and not an actual construct of Val's Mental state.

It wasn't the exact answer Ari expected, but still produced the same reinforcement that she was looking for. She also seemed like the individual that would try to be considerate of the other individuals in various situations, but at the end of the day she was a loving parent, and as much as she wanted to put Vals feeling as a heavy weight in the decisions, it would ultimately come down to what she in her heart truly believed was best for him.

" You're right, and who knows, maybe Konoha will have mercy on me. I have to remember that this isn't the Hidden Mist ".

Her words came to a Halt for a moment, thinking about what she was saying and whether it was okay to say it. She found herself okay with talking to Kisayuri, but then again the subject itself was not really relevant as she had already decided, so she would shift the subject.

" I have Faith He'll be alright in the end. Sucks he's not awake now to see you. Im sure he'll probably be shocked to see you, jump out of the bed blushing at the fact that you're here to see Him. It's kind of like When I first encountered Val's Father. One minute he was at my bedside with me being cold to him, another minute We're dancing like idiots...OH! Speaking of that, Do you have a loooooover ? ".

Thinking about her question, she didn't believe that the concept was something that Kisayuri had a grasp of, so if confirmed to be the case, she would go into explaining it.