AN: Aaaaah OMG three reviews and 9 followers! Y'all are rad as heck \(U3U)/~kissu kissu
This chapter is brought to you by homework-related procrastination and lots of plotting. The author apologises for the excessive exposition and lack of any actual action. She promises some next chapter.
EDIT: Added an extra scene in, just to lead up to next chapter.
"Kaa-chan, how come I have to do the Darkroom?" Akari questioned. It was a day after her second birthday, and she was curious to know.
"Well, Kari-chan," Asagao began. "Have you looked in a mirror lately?"
Confused, the little girl shook her head. "No…"
The blonde woman grinned and stood up from where she had been sitting. She walked out of the room and returned near immediately with a hand mirror. Kneeling down before her daughter, she raised the reflective object before her face and asked. "Channel your chakra and tell me, what do you see?"
Scrunching her eyes up in concentration, she summoned that feeling of brightness back and welcomed the tingling throughout her body. Akari opened her eyes and blinked. "Whoaa…" she said in awe.
Her eyes had turned into glowing pools of gold. Around her pupil, there was a ring of black surrounding it, while the rest of her iris shone. Above where her eyelashes were, there were two glowing triangles jutting outwards for each eye, with another under her eye. "Kaachan, wha'ssis?"
"This is your heritage," She said, putting down the mirror. "These are the eyes of our clan. The Asahigan. The Rising Sun Eyes, born out of a desire to protect. With these eyes, the sun gives you power. As long as the sunlight touches you, it gives you its power. Have you ever noticed that you have more energy when it's a sunshower?" She said, referring to the spells of rain that happened occasionally, where it rained but the sun still shone.
"Yeah!"
"That's why you have to do the Darkroom training," she explained. "Your power comes from the sun, which means that once it's gone, you don't have any more of it left. So we have to build up your own strength without the help of the sun."
Akari sniffled. "But I don't like the dark…"
Asagao soothed her gently. "I know, sunshine, I know. No-one in our clan likes the dark – we're children of the sun, darkness goes against what we are. But it's a part of nature, so we have to learn how to deal with it, alright?"
Akari nodded. "'Kay."
In a room underground, surrounded by darkness, a woman, a girl, and a child sat together.
Overhead, a string of glowing coin seals dangled from the ceiling, shedding dim light, enough so that a regular person would be able to discern shapes. Sat in a triangle formation, the three Yoakeno women had crossed legs, with hands on knees.
A faint aura of blue hovered around each, flickering and flaring. On the woman, it burned strong and steady, covering her in a sheen of blue. On the girl, it burned softer, gently rippling as if she was covered in water. On the child, it flared erratically, burning high and low at random points as she gained and lost concentration.
((Dun like it…)) Akari muttered in her head. ((Too quiet, too dark.))
A long suffering sigh. ((It's meditation, Kari-chan, you have to be quiet, even if it's boring.))
Akari sighed back, and quickly caught her concentration slipping as her chakra sputtered and then returned to life.
"Kaa-chan, are we done yet?" Akari whispered, the sound echoing in the room.
"Just about," she smiled. "Can you do a flare for me?"
In response, Akari clenched her eyes shut and let the warmth wash over her and shoot high. She heard her mother laugh. "Good job, sunshine! What about your nikkoton?"
Akari grinned and inhaled. With her breath came an aura of radiance that bloomed bright, seeping from her skin and illuminating the room.
Haru whistled from where she sat. "That's pretty slick, Kari-chan! I wasn't nearly that good at your age."
Asagao nodded, and stood. "Then let's do some katas before heading up."
She slid into a horse stance, and gold light flared around her. The other two followed, three auras pulsing in sync and wiping away any darkness in the room like a shade of a bad dream.
Nighttime in Amegakure was cold, wet and dreary. Though the Mizushima house was a decently sized and well-kept one, its inhabitants still suffered the same as anyone else in the village, with howling gales pounding at the walls and doors, raindrops battering away at metal roofs, and the incessant yelling of feuding neighbours. Often the youngest in the house would find herself trembling at the noises and jumping at shadows, but with the help of her inner babysitter she coped well enough.
Tonight, however, was a particularly bad one. Ame was subjected to seasonal rains all year round, with light spring showers, heavy summer rain, wild fall storms and bitter cold winter drizzles. It never got cold enough to freeze or snow in Ame, but it never had to – the chilly wetness was enough to keep the people shivering throughout the season. On that March night, winter had its final hurrah, letting loose windy hounds with frost-laden breath to take the village by storm. The rattling of roof metal haunted many a house, as the storm took them by the metaphorical shoulders and pummeled them in the face. The earth-shaking boom and electric crackle of thunder and lightning led to a young girl with a shock of red hair to let out a muffled scream and flee her room.
Wrapped in her blanket, trembling and glowing with flickering light, she barely made it out of her room before a concerned father's arms collided with her tiny frame and hoisted her up effortlessly.
"Sunshine, what's wrong?" He murmured quietly, careful not to wake the still-sleeping blonde women. Akari, still scared stiff, made incoherent blubbering noises and gripped her father's rough sleeping shirt with white knuckles.
"Is it the storm?"
A red head bobbed up and down, the rest of the glowing body clinging tight to the strong frame of the swordsman.
He sighed and brought a rough palm around to pat her head, the other holding her closer. "C'mon, sunshine," He said, walking back into the room he had emerged from. "Let's go find your kaa-san."
The bedroom was dimly lit by glowing, wooden, coin-shaped seals that dangled from the ceiling, attached to a string that looped around the four corners of the ceiling. In the middle of it, up against the wall, there lay two futons, pushed together to make one.
Sitting up on the furthest one was a blonde woman. Her eyes glowed faintly in the dim. Ken gently kneeled down and gave the tearful little girl into her waiting arms. Akari sniffled and buried her face in Asagao's robe.
"Oh, sunshine," Her voice came rough from sleep. "Bad dreams?" The little girl nodded. Asagao smiled gently. "Then let's have a story."
As Ken settled into bed, pressing up against her as a comforting solidness, the Yoakeno woman cradled her baby girl in her arms and began a tale of her clan.
"Long ago, in a time of gods and demons, where great spirits prowled the land and cared none much for humankind, there lived a warrior's daughter with long black hair and warm brown eyes…"
The daughter was a fierce and hotheaded young woman, who longed nothing more than to be stronger to protect those she loved. You see, Akari, spirits didn't care about for small beings like humans, and so we often got caught in their crossfire. People died young and feared them very much.
The daughter was angry that this was so, but was kept in the village by her father, who didn't want to see her get hurt. Even if she was one of the best young warriors around, her father would rather she stayed safe than go out for glory. So for sixteen years, she bided her time and trained and trained and trained, fending off suitors (that's people that want to marry you, Akari. Yes, I know, it's gross) and spirits alike.
On the eve of her sixteenth year, she got her chance. Two spirits were battling in the woods where the village was, and threatened to destroy the settlement and its people. They had already destroyed the neighbouring one, after all. So the daughter tied back her long black locks, sharpened her blade, and in the middle of the night she rode out to confront them.
The two spirits were a young blue firebird and the god of the river, a great red dragon. The firebird had taken some fish that the humans had left out as offering to the river god, unaware of the deadly offense that it showed. The firebird was still a young and ignorant child, though not without considerable power. The dragon, enraged by the firebird's theft, rose out of its waters and attacked.
The firebird fought back, obviously, with jets of azure flame that set the forest aflame but barely scorched the river god's scales. The dragon shot streams of water in the sky that only briefly extinguished the firebird's flames. The forest, meanwhile, was being burned and drowned at the same time. In the midst of this chaos, the daughter rode up on her black horse, leapt off, and with a great yell, caught the two's attention.
"Who dares interrupt this battle of honour?" thundered the dragon furiously.
"Begone, small one!" warned the firebird in a voice that burned hot like flames. "What transpires here is not for those of the mortal realm!"
The daughter inclined her head respectfully, and spoke.
"With all due respect, great spirits," she said loudly, so they could hear. "Your petty squabble has destroyed an entire village full of humans, and threatens to raze my own. It would be appreciated if you ceased your fighting."
The firebird scoffed. "Pah! Mortals should know better than to get in the way of a feud of spirits! They were fools." The dragon stayed silent, for he knew the look in the daughter's eye, and decided to wait patiently and see what happened.
Filled with increasing rage, the daughter spoke. "Great firebird, lord of the waters," she addressed them both. "Cease your meaningless dispute, or I will do it for you."
The firebird laughed. "Hah! What could a mortal such as you do to one of my kind?"
"Try me," The daughter said.
And with that, the daughter unsheathed her blade and struck.
It was a furious and fierce battle. Though the river lord stayed in his waters, put out fires, and observed as a spectator, the young blue firebird was of a power far surpassing any mortal. Indeed, even as a mere chick, he had struck down many a foolish human who tried to take down a spirit. But the young mortal, with her brown eyes full of fire and rage, laid blow after blow on the great bird. He spat fire and clawed with white-hot talons, but swift as the wind she dodged, and what she could not, she endured.
Finally one fell, feathers of fire falling down around the body as the firebird crashed and collapsed on the forest floor. The daughter, her long black hair burnt and streaked with ash, her brown eyes teary from dust and embers, stood tall before the downed beast, sword in weary hand.
Defeated, the firebird raised his head. "How?" he croaked out tiredly.
The daughter simply brushed a fiery feather from her hair and knelt down. "Resolve." She answered, quiet voice ringing out like a bell through the battleground. "Love. Rage. And a healthy amount of possessive anger." She added on. "Because you see, the people you threatened to destroy – they are my bloodkin, my family, mine. My people. Not yours. And nothing on this earth will touch them as long as I still stand."
From where he lounged in the river, the dragon chuckled, vicious and low. "Fine then, young mortal of light. Ye've bested this young fool. But this insolent wretch of a thief dared to steal my tribute!" He snarled, waters churning around him. "I'll not go with such disrespect!"
The daughter gave the firebird a long, hard look.
The firebird, looking slightly sheepish, glared weakly from where he lay.
She gave a firm kick to his belly.
With a groan, the firebird rasped out. "Fine then, river god. I apologise for my transgression, on the name of my ancestors. I swear to never again disrespect you or your domain." Weakly, he flopped back down, and exhaled a cloud of smoke.
The daughter crouched down before the head of the bird and smiled guiltily. "I am sorry that I had to trounce you so soundly. It was my first true battle, and I am glad to have partook in such glory with you."
The firebird smiled back. "You have a soul like a spark of storm-light," he said. "Unlike any other mortal I have ever encountered. You burn like a tiny glimmer in a black sky. Truly amazing." The firebird shifted slightly, and the crown of flaming feathers upon his head flared bright. "For one with a spirit like my own, take one of my feathers as a trophy. It is a gift you have won with blood and steel."
Gratefully, and accepting the offering graciously, the daughter plucked a feather from the crown. Though the flames licked at her fingers, they did not burn. She tucked it within her robes, in a pocket against her heart, and reveled in the sensation of fiery warmth against her heart.
The firebird laid back and blew out a plume of ash. "I have been bested. It is a strange feeling. Not unwelcome, however."
The dragon snorted. "You had it coming. If the mortal had not defeated you, I would have. Child, come closer," he beckoned. Obligingly, the daughter limped up.
With an emerald eye, the river lord inspected the girl's form and swept over it with a wave of water that carried away the blood and grime and left scabbing wounds in its wake. "You are one of mine," he murmured. "But not quite. Yours is not a soul of water, but of light," he commented. "You do not belong here, brightsoul."
The girl frowned. "My loyalty is to my family and my village. Are you insinuating something?"
The dragon chuckled. "I'm implying that ye're not meant to linger in this forest of shadows and rivers. Ye have a future ahead, youngling. Ye must venture out from this wood and find yourself."
The daughter gripped her sword tight. "I belong with my family." She bit out. "I cannot. My place is here."
The dragon sighed. "Well, if ye insist, know that the fool of a firebird will be lingering here for the next few weeks or so as he heals. And you know where to find me," the dragon laughed. "Call, and I will come. I owe ye a debt, brightspark. If ever ye wish to leave, I will help as much as I can."
The daughter bowed low in respect. "I thank you, lord of the waters. I must return home now."
With a toothy smile, the dragon bid her farewell. "I shall see ye again, Brightspark."
Walking away, she called for her horse and slipped back onto her black steed. The daughter, atop her horse, rode home into the dawn, black hair flowing behind her, sword at her side.
Akari yawned tiredly. "Bu' why did the sword work?"
Asagao stroked her gently. "You see, the daughter's sword was but a simple straight chokuto. Though well made, it was merely a plain sword. But in the grip of one possessing of such righteous, protective anger, those feelings flowed into the steel and imbued it with power enough of beating spirits, and in the right hands, enough power to strike down gods. The sheer rage the daughter felt was more than enough to defeat a young spirit such as the firebird. Does that make sense?"
"Y'h. Wha' happened next?"
"I'll tell you later. I think it's time for bed now."
Akari gave a jaw-cracking yawn and nodded sleepily. "Okay." she muttered, curling into her mother's side. "G'night, okaa-san."
"Goodnight, sunshine," Asagao murmured softly, settling down, eyes slipping shut. "Sleep tight."
AN: The bedtime story Asagao tells is a traditional Yoakeno tale that they tell their children. It's only the first of a long, long saga, however. Remember it, because it'll pop us more as the story progresses.
To answer Vaengir's question: I use parentheses as quote marks for mental conversations because I need something to set them apart from regular conversation. The parentheses are supposed to convey an echo-y sort of feel.
To Archer of the Undreamed and sonyat: aaaaaaaaAAAH I LOVE THAT YOU LOVE IT :D
Next chapter:
((Tattoos?!)) Li exclaimed loudly, Akari cringing as the loudness echoed in her skull. Li quickly toned it down. ((Sorry, Kari-chan. But tattoos? You're only two! You shouldn't even have these!))
Please review and tell me what you liked!