Two children stood in rows in front of their masters. One was a boy named Arrick and the other a boy named Toru. They were each around the age of ten. It was not unheard of, but it was unlikely that we would take on recruits any older than seven. These two must have done something noticeable that got the Judge's attention. Not that Rae cared, she was only a spectator on the sidelines watching their joining. A witness to make sure that the branding went as planned.
Or so she thought.
The Judge-Yasuo-was present in the room when the red head arrived and he asked Rae to be the one to do their joining. Rae sighed audibly as she walked over to the fire, the metal rod sitting on a marble table just to the side of the pit. She placed it carefully in the fire and waited a few minutes before taking it out, though putting on gloves first so as to not burn her hands. Arrick was told to kneel and Rae walked over to him from behind.
"Arrick, do you accept the terms of becoming a Priest? To obey your master and the council as they have their rights over you? And you accept that what they do is to protect you and not to harm you?" I asked.
"I accept." Arrick pledged, reluctantly.
The children knew their choices-if they could even be called that. One either accepted the mark, or they were killed on the spot. The Priests suffered no one who refused to pledge their loyalty, killing them swiftly to prevent knowledge of the Order from getting out. They were humble, religious folk to the outside world. It would be a horrendous oversight to let any slip ups escape to spread word of their true mercenary ways.
Rae placed the heated metal on the young boy's neck and pressed it in. Surprisingly, Arrick only grunted through clenched teeth as he tried not to scream. Rae was impressed with his restraint. After a couple seconds, she pulled the metal away and looked at the burn mark of Arrick's neck. Satisfied, she told him to stand. She handed him his cloak and a set of his own prayer beads. Whether or not he wanted the beads, he would soon learn that they came in handy quite often.
Rae then moved to place the metal back in the fire to heat it up. Once it was glowing again, intimidatingly white hot, she walked over towards Toru.
"Toru, do you accept the terms of becoming a Priest? To obey your master and the council as they have their rights over you? And do you accept that what they do is for your best interest and is not to harm you but protect you?"
He hesitated a moment before replying, "I... accept…"
Rae then placed the twisted metal on the back of his neck. He let out a startled cry as the metal seared his flesh, leaving what would become a permanent scar. The red head pulled the metal away seconds later and inspected the mark. Then nodded briefly in satisfaction. Toru rubbed his neck but winced in pain as he grabbed a little to roughly at the freshly sensitive skin.
"I'd be gentle on your neck for a while." Rae said kindly.
He looked back at Rae and his eyes pleaded for acceptance. There was no going back for him now. She then handed him his cloak and set of his own prayer beads. He said his thanks before Arrick and he then walked into the middle of the room and faced half the council that was now present, the Joining complete. They were given a few more last words before turned away with their masters.
"Rae, come here a minute." The Judge said.
She walked over to the middle of the room and faced the council. "Yes?"
The Judge gestured for master Shujin to continue where he left off.
"Rae, we have another important mission for you once your week with Ahmi is up." He said.
She gave a questioning look, "Another mission?"
"Yes. We need you to go to Konohagakure and acquire information about the Hokage there. Some of our informants have told us that there is a new person in control and so we need you to check it out. Learn as much as you can. And then report back here."
"Why can't you make the informants do it?"
"They're not discreet. We can't have people knowing what we're doing there. Our average spies know next to nothing about true stealth. They're all still learning. You've been with us the longest, and so we need you to do this."
Rae pondered what he said before nodding alowly. "As you wish."
The council nodded back to her and then she was permitted to leave. She walked to her room that was on the eastern side of the Temple. There she could at least think things over in her head. A lot had happened today. She couldn't say how long she sat there on her bed, but when she looked out her window, she saw the darkness that was barely penetrated by the moon. Rae sighed as she got ready for bed. Then, as she lay down and shut my eyes, she let her mind fall blank. Rae didn't need to think about anything else for the moment. All she had to do for the rest of the week was help Ahmi with her training. Then she would be gone for who knows how long.
Konohagakure was quite a journey.