"Can't believe the bull crap coming from this book" a girl no more than twenty grumbled. She had semi-long dark blond hair with blue streaks that just reached the tip of her shoulders. She wore nothing but a simple pair of blue jeans and a light blue t-shirt. "The more struggling you do, the more I want to end your life" she whispered harshly to the pages of the book. The book that she was reading continued bombarding the main character with wraiths. They continued to drain the character's health making it impossible for them to move further into the dungeon until the character finally gave in and fell to their knees. They took one last painful breath and collapsed dead on the stone floor. "What the crap?! She jumped to her feet sending the small black chair to the floor with a dull "thud". She continued to stare at the book in her hands with fists slowly clenching around the hard cover until she spotted something on the second page. A look of excitement and curiosity crossed her face when the character began to get up from the ground. They began to stand with slow and measured steps. Her look quickly changed to that of anger when the character showed no signs of their former self, but instead began to take the twisted black form of the wraith that had just killed them.
She quickly snapped the book shut with both hands and began to speak in a hushed tone with ground out hate. "NO, I will not let evil… WIN! She quickly snatched up the chair from off the floor and stood on top of it. "Let this be a lesson to you she said while lifting the book above her head. Never mess with a BRONZE! She paused mid-throw when she felt a pair of eyes watching her. She turned her head toward the door and found that Pain was staring at her with his arms lightly crossed giving her a blank look. "Rynn, have you completed the book I assigned you"? She grinned. "I got halfway through with it and got bored." Rynn lowered the book she was holding and held it out to Pain. "I started reading this instead and thought it was a way better read." Pain unfolded his arms and walked over to where Rynn was holding out the book. He reached out and grasped the book and began to leisurely flip through the pages. No emotion escaped his gaze and Rynn wasn't sure if he was disappointed with her decision or not.
"And what have you learned from your new read?" Rynn began to reply with the best answer she could have gotten from the first chapter of the book. "The wraiths are evil and they should not belong in the realm." Pain closed the book and held the book out to Rynn. She took it without question and waited for his response. He looked at her with questioning eyes. "You seem so certain in your statement and yet you have only just scratched the surface of the entire story." Pain shook his head slowly. "You are quick to learn, but quick to throw accusations on things you don't quite understand" Pain said in a calm tone. "These wraiths you describe as evil are born out of a dying human's wish to continue to live." They are not quite the embodiment of evil. Instead, they are only raw emotion and only contain part of the actual soul." Pain paused his explanation and waited for Rynn to process the new information. Rynn's eyes widened with surprise. "So…" she began with hesitation, "Do they still deserve mercy"? Pein looked at her with amusement clearly shown in his eyes. He turned quietly towards the door without warning. As he took a couple paces towards it, Rynn clambered off the chair and crammed the book under her arm and stood in front of the chair awaiting Pain's answer. As soon as Pein reached the doorway he turned back towards her. A small smirk graced his face. "The question is Rynn, do we deserve mercy?" Rynn's face quickly turned from quizzical to anger in a second. "Oh come onnnn. You can't answer a question with a question!"
Pain's smirk still held strong. "And you will never learn if you don't figure some things out on your own Rynn. "Now it's time for you to get ready". Rynn's face quickly showed interest in a flash. "Get ready for what?" Pein continued on. "A couple of the members are coming here to do some jobs. They will be using this base as a place to stay". Rynn's face quickly lit up with uncontrolled excitement. "For how long?! Do I get to meet and train with them?! Pein continued knowing he now had Rynn's undivided attention. "How long they stay depends on how long it takes them to do the job. You will get to meet a few of them in a couple days". Pein paused a brief moment to take in the excited state she was in. Her eyes were practically jumping out of her head. "Whether or not they wish to train you will be up to them to decide. They are here to complete their jobs and extra work or training will not appeal to most of them. You will have to prove that you are worth their time. I have taught you all I can teach you, but I am afraid you will have to find your way from here. Pein paused for a brief second seemingly lost in thought. "You have come a long way from a small hatchling Rynn". Rynn frowned. "Quit bringing up my hatchling-hood."Pein's eye brows rose in amusement. "Don't tell Konan that or she will find the pictures and make you sit down and look at them again." Rynn shuddered. "No way, she gets too excited about that! She is always talking about the webbing in between my toes for god sake!"
Pein began to speak in a calm tone. "Konan only wishes the best for you. I know it is easy to overlook how much she frets over you, but not everyone you come across will have the same reaction. Not all wish well on your kind". Rynn caught the look of worry flashing across his face. Her smile faltered. "I understand. That's why I figured out how to shape shift. I would only show my true self to those who I trust". Rynn smiled shortly after."That's why I don't bother trying to hide from you and Konan". Pein's expression softened and a smirk replaced his worry. "If that's true, then why are you shape-shifted into a human"? Rynn's smile was gone in an instant. What replaced it was pure terror. "Konan tried to paint my wing tips with yellow nail polish. I ended up shape-shifting into a mouse and high-tailed it out of there. I ran into my room and hid under the niche in the floorboard by my dresser. She tried finding me, but gave up after a little while. She left laughing and saying "I had to come out of there sometime." Pein's smirk still held. "Well, you better get the rest of your studies completed or else I will tell Konan about your little hiding place. Rynn's eyes widened. "Alright alright alright!" Just don't tell her! That is the only hiding place I have left that she hasn't found yet. " Pein walked out the door and down the hallway all the while hearing Rynn flip through pages and scribbling down things as fast as she could.