Chapter 5: Serpents and Kings

Sakuya sat back on the boat, she had been paddling here and there to correct the course of the raft, but at the moment the wind and the waves were in her favor and pushing her slowly along towards Sunsilk, how long that would that would be hard to tell. It was during this period of relaxation that Sakuya pondered the training she had received that had gotten her along this far in her journeys. She recalled her kind and loving father and the years spent training in his Dojo after school and the lessons on writing he gave as well that helped Sakuya manage her thoughts and express them. Though she hasn't shown her writings to anyone just yet, though since they are sitting in her room at her parent's home she was sure her father had sneaked a peek by now.

 She then thought about her time at Ravenghast Academy which she spent mostly for the gain of knowledge, but she did show some magical talent, but her preference to the sword and fist kept her from pursuing it too far. She had been pushed to go to Ravenghast by her parents because aside from being the top school in the area, one of her father's colleagues taught there as an instructor for those who pursued an elective study in the martial arts. His specialty was in the art of Ninjutsu which her father felt would be a good next step for her because she was already familiar with both a sword and her fist. 

While she studied at Ravenghast she stayed with a friend of her mother's instead of at the dormitory areas. Her mother had convinced her father that it would be for the best as it would save money and keep her further away from the school's male population. Her father agreed, but little did he know that this friend was actually a Kunoichi, the one who had taught the girls at the brothel her mother used to work at how to defend themselves. While this Kunoichi was no longer active, she had a great knowledge of the extra skills a female who practices the Ninja arts required. It was there that Sakuya had her first relationship. She had been training along with the Kunoichi's daughter who was around the same age and they bonded deeply over the shared experiences, but once their training was over their lives pulled them in different directions. They ended the relationship but promised to stay in touch.

Sakuya didn't see anyone there, but she knew she had not imagined it. She did not panic, she remembered one of the key lessons she received during all of her martial arts training. She closed her eyes and calmed her self, making her mind serene and clear as a polished mirror. In this state her already sensitive senses were heightened and while her mind was calm and still her body was in the starting pose from her father's form. Her ears twitched a bit as they focused and her tail gently swayed back and forth. She then waited for whoever had whispered to make another move. She felt a rather bit weird not having her sword in this situation, but she felt it would be best not to enter the academy with her weapons unless she gained permission. Right now she had a set of Bokken of the same length as her normal weaponry.

Sakuya listened as he ran his hand over the books, listening closely to see which was his hand was facing as he did so, was his nail rubbing over the book first or was his finger. Given how the majority of people would do such an action she used what she heard and judging by how far he had moved over the books at the different heights tried to pinpoint where he would be based on the info on the range of his arms. She made all these observations quickly, this was the benefit of the serene mind. This had taken very little time and she decided to quickly attack. She quickly grabbed a pair of her bokken, while one pushed over the books and through the book shelf towards the supposed attacker the other one hit against the bookshelf on the other side to make a noise loud enough to draw attention in her direction to hopefully deter any negative action against her. She then quickly jumped back, she didn't pay attention to if she hit anything or not because the objective wasn't to harm anyone, her bokken remove the killing edge from her attacks, but to hopefully back them off. Once she had jumped back she put her bokken back up and kept her senses at aware, the jump back had removed her from the situation of being stuck in between the bookshelfs and was now in a more favorable area to defend herself.

"It isn't like I ever called myself a Ninja, how am I insulting them!" She screamed back as the traps began to activate. She was sure that this ninja that was targeting her probably felt she was over reliant on her senses. She had done plenty of training where her senses were dulled or removed entirely. There were plenty of times where she could not hear, see, or smell what was going on around her. This allowed her to not only hone her abilities but also hone how she used her senses while she had them. She could hear things moving through the air, she could see them, but she could also feel the slight changes caused by their disturbing the air with her sense of touch, the change in the breeze as it were. She felt that there was nothing wrong with using her available senses while she had them. She could tell that a gas was now flowing into the room, and she could tell that prolonged exposure would most likely be harmful, and as such she was able to remove one of the sleeves she kept tied to her arms and use it to cover her face, so that when she did have to breath the air would be lightly filtered. Of course she had planned to hold her breath as long as she could between breaths. She was thankful she had jumped back as she dodged a fair amount of the initial kunai that the traps had sent her way, however she still had plenty to deal with. She knew her bokken wouldn't be much helpful for full blocking and as such she knew she'd have to deflect most of them that were coming for her. She also knew that her bokken might take a beating, thankfully she had 3, though they were all of various sizes, and she hoped she wouldn't have to get through more than one of them. If she were to run out of the bokken her only real defense would be natural cover or the metal plated bottoms of her Geta or the Jika Tabi underneath. She looked around trying to pick an exit and as she moved towards it she harnessed all her senses and her training to try deflect as many as she could from all sides that were coming towards her.

The exit she had chosen was across the way from where she was now, but along the way there were places of cover that she could quickly move under if she felt she needed to do so. Most of these pieces of cover were things like tables which were normally used for reading during normal library operations. She had wondered to herself during this moment, although briefly just who this ninja was that he could shut down the library of the biggest and most prestigious school of science and magic inside of the city states of Ramoa. Clearly he had to have some clout inside of the school if he was able to so quickly empty out this library and setup traps that would not have been sprung by anyone who had been in there before she had managed to come in, because after all it isn't like Sakuya had walked into an empty library, because then she would not have been able to check out any books and would have assumed that the library had been closed. Again though this thought was brief as she was far more concerned with saving her life which she believed to have been placed in danger. The only ninja she had heard about in the past from her father would have been the one he mentioned having saved in the past, but she felt surely this couldn't be the same one, because if it was this would be the worst way to pay back a life debt that she could possibly think of at the time. She made some progress movement wise towards the exit, but the way toward it was still going to take quite some time, or at least what would feel like it, because in these adrenaline filled moments it seemed like time slowed to a fraction of what it is normally. She could tell from her sight during these moments where time seemed slowed that the kunai had something on them which only increased her desire to deflect or avoid them at all costs. It was at this time that she wondered just what kind of person could have trapped her like this.

OOC: Roll 1 is for Gas and Roll 2 is for Kunai

The member 'dovenwolf' has done the following action : FFMSL Dice

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#1 'Challenge' :

#1 Result :


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#2 'Challenge' :

#2 Result :

Chapter 5: Serpents and Kings
Flashback
The hidden blade in the dark

Challenge 1 complete, Poison gas evaded. 500 XP (x2 because you're level 50) =1000 XP awarded

Challenge 2 failed, Poisoned Kunais have hit Sakuya. 250 XP awarded (x2) = 500 XP awarded

Total XP gained: 1500 XP.

Sakuya falls into a delirious state after being inflicted by poison from the Kunai. She begins to hallucinate and sees several dark entities coming towards her. These beings were more like shadows, with in the shape of wolves. They each had glowing white eyes, and sharp white teeth. They also walked on two legs, and looked at Sakuya as if she was a delicious meal.



The Shadows converged at Sakuya, her hallucinations had manifested themselves into her own reality. One of the shadows got close enough to breath its foul hot breath at the Wolfqin. Another, one was growling at the back of Sakuya's head. 

Sakuya was still being tested, but there was something odd about these visions. They seemed to be apart from everything else, like something else was controlling them, something dark and powerful. Sakuya had a choice, either to believe in what she see and fight it. Or she can accept the shadows and let it claim her.

CHOICE EVENT

Write at least 250 words, indicating Sakuya's next action. If Sakuya chooses to fight the shadows, this thread will lead into a battle.

Sakuya knew she had been hit by the poisonous kunai and assumed that the current state she was in was most likely because of it. Normally under these situations it would be wise to not strike out at the hallucinations she is seeing. However she was in a library that had most likely been emptied out to trap her due to the amount of kunai and the poison gas. So if she hit anything during this it would most likely be her attackers or some inanimate object. She noticed some of her hallucinations taking on a more definite shape, those of a wolf that was walking upright and not just one of them. She sensed there may be more to them than hallucinations, but wondered what. One could think an upright wolf could reference the more beast like side of a wolfqin, the features and behaviors that they share, but this wasn't the time to philosophize about this, they were moving toward her and seemed determined to attack her. She could sense it by the look in their eyes and the smirk of their fangs. She still had her blades at the ready but tried not to make any sudden movements, instead letting the shades move in a bit closer. Once they had gotten so close that she could feel their warm menacing breath on her and could so clearly hear their growling she made her move using her blades to attempt to strike out at the shadows around her.

Chapter 5: Serpents and Kings
Flashback
The hidden blade in the dark

CHOICE EVENT

Choice event complete! 500 XP awarded.

When Sakuya struck the shadows, they seems to dissipate and disappear completely. She soon managed to clear every shadow in her surrounding, the rest of them retreated back to the darkness. After banishing the shadows, Sakuya saw that she was surrounded by her peers and mentors. They all had a blank, disappointed stare at Sakuya.

It would appear that the test is over, but did Sakuya pass? The expression in everyone's face says it all. Her primary mentor spoke to her and said, "You're a failure... Go back home. Your place isn't here."Said her master

As soon as he finished speaking, the rest of the crowd turned their eyes away from Sakuya, in shame and then they walked away, and disappeared into the shadows. What did she do wrong? How could she have failed when she's done all that she can to over come her fears? This test was all about Sakuya's fears and worries. If she cannot conquer her fears then she cannot become a true ninja warrior.

When her peers and masters have all gone, a lot of bystanders started forming around Sakuya, watching the Wolfqin holding a wooden sword inside a library and swinging it around like a complete lunatic. It made them talk ill behind Sakuya's back. Some of the side comments about her were loud and audible enough for her to hear.

"Who's that nut case?"

"Is she holding a wooden sword?"

"I hear all qins are like that."

"Stupid little kitty."

"I think she's a wolf,"

"Who gives a shit. Their all the same, dumb animals."

Sakuya saw the shadows fade away and the scenery shift, for a second she thought perhaps her hallucinations were over, but she knew it was probably too soon for that, also the room that was just filled with kunai and gas was now full of people. She recognized some people around her from having seen them in the halls, she then heard the guy who was yelling at her before calling her a failure. Sure she got hit by one kunai but she didn't feel she was a failure considering she did so without training in the ninja arts he was using. She saw people walk away and fade into shadow which only served to confirm her suspicions that all of this was still a hallucination and as such she paid no mine to the people who seemed to have a somewhat negative view of the Qin people.

She turned her head towards the people as she kepts her bokken at her sides. "Yes I am a wolfqin and not a nyanqin, thank you one person for noticing. Also not all Qin are like me we are a very diverse people." She said as she continued to focus on things around her, she knew there were auditory hallucinations as well as visual and this seemed to be the case, this person seemed to want to rob her of her senses, but she wasn't as completely reliant on them as this ninja seemed to think.

Chapter 5: Serpents and Kings
Flashback
The hidden blade in the dark

Sakuya suddenly heard a large thud, like something wooden had just been hit by something really rough and hard. She begins to feel like her entire body was shaking vigorously left and right. Not a moment later, Sakuya wakes from her dream. She finds herself in the middle of a storm at sea.

Somehow, this all seemed all too familiar for Sakuya. There were whirlpools everywhere, this looked like a repeat of what happened to her days ago, when the ship she boarded was attacks by this unknown person who was manipulating the sea.

Instead of heading west, as originally planned, the storm carried her north. Farther and farther away from Sunsilk. She was now 12 km off the coast of Skullenport. Instead of being swallowed by the storm, it appears as if it was carrying her somewhere. It was the same storm which is currently pounding Luc and Marlow.

Suddenly, a 30 foot wave manifests at the port side of Sakuya's makeshift boat. The wave crushes on top of Sakuya's boat, destroying it and knocking the wolfqin unconscious for a moment. But she quickly regains consciousness moments after she hits sinks into the depths of the sea. Now Sakuya needs to fight for her survival.


*Challenge Event*


Last take for Job completion, Sakuya must roll 4 CHECKS out of 5 attempts in order to safely make it to shore. Failure to complete all four checks will result to irreversible consequences to Sakuya's character. The post must be 250 words long and must clearly state how Sakuya is trying to fight the storm, the sea, and the freezing cold, in an attempt to make it to shore.