Of Snow and Ink: Part 2 - Bitter Reunion
#2 of Of Snow and Ice
Seven years have passed, now. The Northern Province that Nikamura called home was seeing a time of peace and prosperity. The mute that everyone thought would grow to be a stellar artist was now following a dream she never thought she'd pursue. Already graduated from the Academy, she had quickly risen in the ranks to a class just below the elite squads. And she wasn't far from getting there either.
Nix, now a member of a four member squad, had found her calling as a distance oriented support type. Her method of creating favorable situations was useful, but could take time to complete.
In her squad was a dingo by the name Katsu, one of few foreign clan members who were allowed to serve in the ranks. An inherited talent allowed him to control flames, a skill he was warned against using frivolously, due to the effect his blazes could have on the cold climate.
The second member was a white hare who went by the title of Jackhammer. He specialized in martial arts, especially ones involving kicking as main attacks. As a hare, his legs were powerful, and with his constant physical training he could break almost any physical barrier such as walls or heavy doors.
The last member of the team was a wolf named Cassandra. She, like Nix, came from a family not known for training ninjas, but had found her calling as a medical specialist.
While the four worked as a team on high priority missions, simpler missions were often left to individuals. Since there was little along the lines of high priority situations, most of Nix's time was spent taking care of low risk missions that civilians would request, because there WAS risk involved beyond the capacity of most people.
It was getting to be late afternoon, and Nix had completed her assignment for the day. It was as simple as fetching a kite from a treetop, but for a young child, the endeavor would have been dangerous.
She was enjoying a meal in the village center's market. She was sitting by herself, simply drinking a coffee to warm up a little, and put something in her stomach. It seemed like an ordinary enough afternoon, but something happened that spurred her interest. Someone unfamiliar walked by. At this point, she had sharpened her memory to the point that any face that went by was locked in memory, and this was one face she had not seen before. The way they dressed, cloaked in a weather worn robe, with right sleeve tattered and ripped at the edge, the figure seemed quite travel weary. She took note to remember the face, which showed the heritage of the snow fox, and a distinguishing feature, a missing eye, and a tattoo around the other.
She took out a scroll from her pouch, and spread it on her table. While she could, she drew a detailed drawing of the woman. It was a practice she got into to help remember faces. Any unfamiliar face she drew, so if she saw them around more often, she'd have the face memorized. But she had the strange feeling that this person was not commonly here.
Nix was just finishing the drawing, and ready to put it away and get up to follow the woman, but when she looked up the last time, she was no where in sight. She put her items away, and headed into the crowd. No one could vanish from notice that easily except for those with special training in espionage.
She ducked off the busy street, and into a small alley, leaping between the two close walls to scale up to the top of one building. She looked out, hoping to catch a better view to spot the woman, but even from the high vantage point, she did not see her again.
She had a bad feeling, so she decided she'd report the mysterious woman to the council, and request a watch for her. Something about the aura she gave off wasn't right.
She took a back alley away from the village center towards the council chamber. She felt odd though, as it was oddly quiet. She stopped and looked around, but she saw nothing out of the ordinary. She lifted up her nose, and took a whiff at the air, but was stunned.
She couldn't smell anything!
As a husky her sense of smell was always superb, but now she couldn't even smell anything. And a moment later it got worse. She could hear the dull sound of the crowd she left behind still, but that soon went dead as well, as if she were suddenly deaf. She knew something was wrong, but wasn't sure what.
She couldn't smell or hear, but she could still see. She looked every direction she could, behind her and to each side, and even above. But she couldn't spot anything.
It occurred that she might be caught in an illusion. She quickly pressed her palms together, and focused on her chakra flow. As if resetting herself, she let her chakra flow stop, hoping that any invasive effects would be washed out. But when she tried, she couldn't eliminate a certain trace of chakra flow. But she did note something about it that helped. She somehow could trace the source of this flow to outside her body, and generally pinpoint the source.
A second later, she could no longer feel her palms pressed together, or even the feel of her clothes weighing on her body. She was getting frantic. She followed that small sense of direction she got, leading her through a few different back alleys. She made the last turn, and there she saw the woman, seeming to be in a meditative stance. She quickly grabbed a brush from her hair, and dipped it in her ink holding pouch. She tossed it like a kunai at the woman and retreated back, poising her hand over the scroll she drew the woman on before.
Just after the brush was thrown, her sight went black. She panicked, now having no way of detecting the outside world. She noticed even her tongue had been numbed, perhaps the first to go of her five senses. She cringed, expecting to find herself dead soon enough.
A second later though, all her senses returned. She was a little startled, but she could see the woman had reacted to the attack. She had brought her hands up to catch the brush in her left hand. Nix watched closely. From the brush's tip, a single drop of paint leaked off and landed in the woman's lap. Score.
The woman glared at Nix, and drew herself to her feet. Nix noticed that the tattered sleeve held no arm, but on the left side of the woman, a sword emerged from beneath her robe. And the last surprise was the most alarming; a set of nine fox tails fanned behind her, waving in random motions behind her.
This trait seemed familiar, she thought. That one moment of thought almost proved deadly, as the woman swept at her with blinding speed, drawing the blade at her side in almost an instant, and cleaving it down at Nix's head.
Nix somersaulted behind the woman, and pulled out the scroll. She took another brush, and dipped it in her ink pouch, quickly working a few extra items into the sketch. She turned to see how quick the woman recovered, just in time to see the sword aimed at her throat. Nix brought up her brushes, and parried the blade with their handles. After all, she always went with metal handled brushes now, just in case.
With the woman momentarily off balance, she grabbed up her scroll, and wrote a quick seal on it, placing her hand on the seal to activate her specialty technique.
In seconds it took effect. From the ground burst several chains, each tipped with a cuff snapping like a mouth. Though the woman brandished her sword against them, no matter how many she managed to beat back, more came after her, eventually even coming out of the walls to subdue her. She was left tangled and cuffed, and thoroughly held in place. Even then she struggled against them, and she finally spoke, though her first words were words of cursing and hate.
"Damn you! When I get out of this, I'll cut off your fucking head and drink your blood through your eye sockets!"
Nix, though not threatened by the presently helpless woman, was quite taken aback. She'd heard threats like that before, long ago, from someone she knew. She stepped closer, and looked deep into that single remaining eye.
The woman spit at her as she drew near, but it didn't even seem to faze her. She knew that eye, though she remembered there being two. For a moment she felt like crying, realizing who this was. It was a long lost friend; one she thought had been killed. Ashryn.
Nix took the drawing she made, and etched her signature on it, and held it up for the woman to see. She pointed out the signature, assuring that the woman's attention would be drawn to it.
Indeed the action worked, and she did look where she pointed. Her expression shifted from rage to confusion, then to a look of realization. She tilted her head up to look at the woman who had caught her in such a predicament.
"Ni-nikamura?" She said in a stammered voice.
Nix nodded, but her expression did not shift from the rather cold look. She was a bit upset that Ashryn had turned up missing, and never was told the honest reason. Something was still amiss. She took up her brush and paper, and asked in writing: "Where have you been? Why are you here now? Why was I told you died?"
Ashryn read the questions, and took a slow, deep breath. "I... was kicked from the Academy. I was told my ambition to be like my father was too strong, and my temper too rough. I wanted to find a quick way to unlock my Kitsune Gene. I wanted to be the best... but they said I was too eager, too ambitious, and couldn't be trusted. I... I attacked the Academy headmaster. He completely blew me away, and told me to leave. So I left."
Nix narrowed her eyes, and pointed to the second question again with more emphasis.
Ashryn couldn't help but laugh a bit. "Right, right... why am I here..." She closed her eye, clenching her fist. "I was going to get him back. He was willing to tell the best student he'd ever have to 'hold back' to be patient, to let strength come with time. I didn't want to wait... and now I'm even stronger than my father! I've all but mastered the illusion my great grandfather was famous for... and I came back to show that coot that he was wrong!"
Nix shook her head. It was bad enough that she was told her best friend had died. She was even more hurt that she would be prone to revenge like this.
"Nikamura... I don't know what to tell you. I'm glad to see you, but I'm a bit surprised... since when did you become a ninja?"
Ashryn's words alarmed her. She bit her lip, and put her brush to the paper again, and held up her answer: "I wanted to realize your dream for you. I thought you were dead."
Ashryn bowed her head. "I'm sorry... I guess it's fitting that you should catch me."
Nix had to apprehend her and present her to the council. For all she knew, Ashryn was planning an attack on the Academy with the intention of killing the headmaster. She wasn't sure she could trust her friend anymore, though part of her wanted to believe she could help her change, as she had done before.
She drew a new image, and marked Ashryn again. When she activated the jutsu, Ashryn was encased in something like a coffin, locked from the outside. Nix took it by the handle, and began wheeling her away, heading to the council chambers.