Exodus

As far as bad days were measured, this was the worst Kara had ever experienced. What should have been a usual day in the quiet sand filled village had turned out to be one of the more memorable days of her life. A morning like any other, sun annoyingly bright, sand everywhere and mountains of paperwork that no one really cared if it was done or not. She had considered, earlier that day, working on some new poisons, or perhaps trying her hand at some less lethal pharmaceuticals. But her plans, shallow and vague as they were, had been rudely interrupted by an intruder. Not technically an intruder since Ei was a member of the village, usurper was perhaps a more accurate word to describe the young woman. Not that Suna had much left to usurp, the Kazekage had long since abandoned the village, without even so much as a word to let anyone know. In the short time that she had been in Sunagakure she had seen that happen not once, but twice. A third time would lend weight to her theory that the village was in fact cursed in some way.

The interaction had quickly turned violent for some reason and were it not for the intervention of one Nozomi Himitsu, Kara was quite sure that she would be dead. She knew little of Ei personally, mainly her achievements within the village, and she had been surprised when Ei had returned at all. The woman had been inexplicably missing for well over a year and then suddenly came back to assume power over the village. It was an odd choice but not one that Kara necessarily looked down on. Power vacuums were opportunities, to the opportunistic and less scrupulous members of society. Of which Kara was definitely one, but she hadn’t known Ei was. If things hadn’t become so dire Kara might have even been impressed with the girl. But madness and genius were two very distinctly different things, despite what the less intelligent masses liked to believe. And only one of them was impressive.

As Kara ran from the Wind Dome with her exquisite emerald green silk and taffeta gown wrapped firmly around her injured arm she did something that was rarely seen. She cried. Not the ugly pained crying one would expect from the lower classes. Silent tears that flowed down from her honey coloured eyes and onto her flawless milk white cheeks. If only looking at her face it would be easy to believe that she was posing for an artistic portrait entitled ‘The Beauty of Loss’. Looking further though showed the cause of those tears. Kara was still fortunately in shock, an injury like this was accompanied by the human body’s release of chemicals and hormones that allowed one to keep fighting assuming they had the will to do so. Intellectually Kara was aware that she didn’t have long before the adrenaline and crystalline focus would wear off and she would succumb to her baser nature; either an unintelligible crying and wailing mass or a mass that refused consciousness. From the Wind Dome the closest place that she was certain held some of her medical supplies was her sand skiff, near the front gates. She had gotten in the habit of keeping the thing stocked as she used it as her primary method for travel when attending the sick and injured outside the village. She had plenty of medical jutsu that she could have used to stop the bleeding, but with only one hand left performing the hand seals necessary would be quite impossible.

Kara was aware of the two companions of Nozomi still running with her, she appreciated their company even if she didn’t understand it and she would call out to them as they approached her intended destination. “This way, I need to get to my medical bag.” She didn’t look to see if they followed her or not, they were among the least of her concerns and they appeared more than capable of taking care of themselves should any more violence ensue. She made a mental note to thank them once the danger to her health had passed, they had stayed with her even at great personal risk to themselves. It was a gesture that would not be soon forgotten. She worried about the scene she had left behind, and hoped that Nozomi would be alright, that was all she could do was hope. Even before losing her forearm she hadn’t been able to do much, turning back now would just put her in more peril. Reaching the sand skiff she would press her stump into her torso and use her left hand to reach into the storage compartment of the sand boat, cursing quietly to herself as she did. The bag was fortunately right where she’d left it, no one stole from Kara Kazehana, not in this village. Not with her reputation among those that might be inclined to steal.

As if fate itself had intervened, his mission was running towards him. After the concussive blast he had heard from the direction of The Wind Dome, he had begun moving towards it, ready to be on the attack. Moving to the crumbling infrastructure that was now only dusty buildings filled with sand, Seigi's feet carried him onto the rooftops, stopping only once Kara and her companions came within view. The woman seemed to be injured and crying, Seigi noticing the bloody stump where her forearm was. Quickly checking the horizon to make sure they weren't being followed, Seigi would move into action. A single leap would close the distance between himself and the group, Seigi positioning himself on the opposite side of the skiff, 10 meters away from Kara. His sword would still be drawn but pointed down to the ground, away from the group.

His attire hadn't changed since seeing Damien, ditching his usual white robes for a set of black that fit much tighter around him. He ditched his armor for more speed and maneuverability, but the same fox mask sat comfortably on his face. His white hair was tied up in a small ponytail behind his head, and a single yellow eye peered out from behind the eyes of the fox mask.


"Kara Kazehana," Seigi would say, to get her attention, waiting for her to notice him before speaking further. "Damien sent me to retrieve you. If you will allow me, I can help." He would say, holding his hands up to show her he didn't mean any harm. Assuming she would let him help, he would approach quickly, putting his sword away in the sheath, his eye on the wound. It was a clean sever, just below the forearm, which was good, or as good as it would get in the situation at least. Forming the Ox and then the tiger signs, Seigi's hands would begin to glow teal, and he would gently place them over the wound, the warm tingle of chakra warming up his hands as he commanded Kara's cells to begin repair.
"This will only take a moment." He would say, looking past her shoulder to her companions, curious as to their story.
"We need to get to Kumogakure as soon as possible. Moonspire was attacked. I don't know Damien's status." He would say, coldly. It had been a long day.

used: Mystical Palm B-rank 10 cost

Kara was in such a state that she almost didn’t notice the fox masked man ten meters from her. Had he not spoken her name she might not have noticed him at all. She would look up immediately, her eyes moved to the sword the man carried and then back to his face. She was half expecting him to cut her down right then, it would have been a fitting end to her very unfortunate day and she was in enough pain that she probably wouldn’t have minded much. “I am she and you have my attention. What do you want?” She would reply through gritted teeth, even if he were to cut her down she wasn’t going to ignore him addressing her. His explanation made her choke up, a lump of raw emotion forming in her throat and making speech impossible for a moment. She managed a nod as acceptance of his help and would turn so that she could sit on the edge of the sand skiff while he healed her.

She was so relieved to hear that Damien had sent the man that she nearly broke down and actually cried right there. Nearly. She still had the etiquette and decorum of her whole life firmly implanted in her and so she would attempt a smile at the curiously one-eyed man. With him standing closer to her she could see that one of his eyes was damaged, and it looked as though it had been that way for quite some time, possibly his whole life, but without a thorough examination and the removal of his mask it was impossible for her to know for certain.

The relief that she felt was short lived. As soon as his technique began to take hold and she felt the warmth of healing chakra repairing what was left of her arm a new pain coursed through her. Time seemed to stop as he coldly delivered the news of the fall of Moonspire and of Damien’s disappearance. She looked into his eyes as she searched for some other meaning behind his words, a lie perhaps or a poorly time jest. Though neither would have been appropriate, either would have been acceptable to her. She was not easily shocked or surprised, but today she was learning that she may not know everything, even about herself. “What do you mean. . . you don’t know his status?” Her voice was quiet and small sounding; fearful. She couldn’t imagine a world without him in it, and she needed to hear something, anything that would give her hope. Who would attack Moonspire? And why? It didn’t make sense at first as she fought to keep her composure.

She was not an emotional woman, she wasted little time on true emotion. There had been only one exception to that rule though and it was Damien, her Prince. She was also not the type to faint, but the longer her mind worked through the possibilities the dizzier she became, finally leaning heavily on her good arm against the sand skiff and taking a few trembling breaths at the news. “No. He has to be fine. He needs to be. Someone must know something. He has so many guards, he should be fine.” Her words were the most illogical she’d ever entertained, and yet she said them aloud regardless. In her mind she was constructing a future where he had escaped the attack on Moonspire and was waiting for her in Kumogakure, safe and sound. “We’ll go straight there. How did you get here? I have this vehicle that can take us across the desert, but it won’t be good outside of it.” Looking down at her arm she would wince as the reality of what had just happened to her came rushing back. In an uncharacteristically grateful manner she would speak again, her tone mournful and slightly apologetic. “Thank you by the way. For fixing. . .” she would gesture at her bloodied arm helplessly before continuing, “. . .this, uh, problem. It seems that being a doctor only helps if you still have both your hands.” She finished her statement with a bitter laugh, shaking her head in continued disbelief as she leaned against the boat once more.

With his sudden onslaught of information for Kara, he had expected an onslaught of questions. With her bloody stump no longer bleeding and the skin slowly beginning to repair itself, he would focus on her wound as he spoke.

"As I was leaving Moonspire, the tower fell. I don't know if Damien was in it for not, but whoever attacked did so quickly," He would say, recanting his brief view outside of the airship. "And without a single notion of mercy..." He would mutter, thinking of all the people lost. The absolute power and destruction that happened so quickly reminded him of his run-ins with The Sage on his own plane.
Hearing the hurt in Kara's voice made him feel slightly guilty. If he had turned around, perhaps he could have at least got Damien out of there, but he had his mission. He would keep his head on a swivel as he glanced around quickly, taking in his environment.
"I also have reason to suspect you may also be a target. It was only moments after giving me this mission that Moonspire fell, so it's mostly a hunch but..." He would look to her arm. "What happened to your arm?" Seigi would ask, still worried that it might have been the same people who attacked previously.

Kara spoke of going there immediately, to which Seigi shook his head.
"No, I'm sorry, but we can't." He would tell her, just as he finished up the technique. "Your best bet at safety currently is within the walls of Kumogakure. We can go there and then-" He would take a moment to look at her, taking a deep breath.
This woman had just lost her arm, probably her lover, and was now being commanded by a foreign ninja to come with him. Sighing heavily, he would relax his shoulders a bit. After a bit of silence, he would nod.

"We'll go to Moonspire. See for ourselves if he is okay. And if not, then... we'll figure it out." He would say, trying to help give her something to hope for. Mentioning use of the skiff, Seigi would nod. He had come here on foot, letting the airship head back to Kumogakure without him.

"Very well. We'll use the skiff for the desert and then go on foot from there."

Resting his hand on his sheathed blade, the wind would pick up slightly, cooling the sweat off of Seigi's body. Something in the wind felt troubling, but maybe it was just Seigi. Kara thanked him for his work on her arm, to which he would nod.

"I figured you could use a hand." He would joke. He wasn't very good at jokes.

Kara stayed quiet as the man sent to collect her continued tending her arm and further explained what he had seen befall Moonspire. It was such a strange event and one that she needed to know more about in order to piece together. Her first order of business though would be to get away from the insanity that was the remains of Sunagakure. Since the time she had arrived here those few years ago she had experienced either complete and utter boredom or this most recent brief but violent event. With considerable effort she would fight back her rising emotions and focus on forming a strategy that might have her see the day out without losing any more body parts.

She would raise an eyebrow as her mysterious escort warned that she may be a target of whoever had attacked Moonspire. While she was fairly well known it was a known fact that her power came from business sense and money, she hardly thought anyone would consider her an actual threat, as much as she loved to think so she was aware that money and power were not equivalent. Though she had been surprised once today by someone making that mistake, so if this unknown shinobi protector had reason to suspect she might be in danger she would be a fool to ignore his warning. “I think you would know better than I, since you were there. Though what anyone would gain from killing me is beyond my ability to fathom. Some ryo perhaps, though honestly if that’s all they were after it would be more beneficial to keep me alive. It is infinitely more difficult for me to make money when I’m dead.” She spoke with an air of humour, dark though it was.

The healing chakra on her arm was a tremendous relief and within moments the pain had dulled to a phantom ache, instinctively she tried to flex the fingers on her right hand as the masked man asked what happened to her arm. Her brows would furrow in annoyance as of course the fingers that were missing did not flex. “To be perfectly honest, the answer to that question is both confusing and ridiculously complicated. I will attempt to sum it up succinctly. Ei Kanagawa, a former or present jounin of Sunagakure her status is a bit confusing as she had been missing for well over a year, she had decided to claim leadership of this village. I don’t know why she, or anyone else for that matter, would actually want to. Sunagakure has a long and storied history of being abruptly abandoned by all those that attempt to lead it, but regardless I gave her my blessing; it made no difference to me who runs this pile of sand. I can only assume that she is still suffering from some effect of her unexplained absence or I gave some unintentional offence as that was promptly met with violence. And in a stroke of serendipitousness, Nozomi Himitsu of all people arrived and decided I was worth rescuing. Or at least, my death did not intersect with whatever her plans were, I can’t pretend to know her intentions. During the parts of the exchange that I observed three techniques that were used against me by her; Temporary Paralysis, the Extremely Steaming Murder technique unique to the Fujio clan and Beast Tearing Gale Palm. The third of which is the reason for my missing arm. I wish I could provide a better reason for it, but frankly there isn’t one. If those attacks on Moonspire are connected I’m not sure how, although as I said, Ei had been missing for some time. I suppose it’s possible that she fell in with terrorists during her absence. Her last recorded foreign location was Kirigakure according to the previous and now also missing Kazekage.” Kara’s mind worked furiously to put all the pieces together, even though she knew she was still slightly emotional and would have to evaluate her position later when in a calmer state of mind. “And she was sent there by the also mysteriously absent Second Kazekage. Curious. Regardless of the whys. We need to leave, or at least I do. I am unwilling to be subject to that amount of unreasonability. I only have so many limbs I’m willing to lose.”

Kara knew she was likely to have the full force of loss hit her later, but for now sardonic humour eased the pain of her predicament. She appreciated that the masked man seemed at least moderately sympathetic to her plight even if, knowing Damien, he was being paid a good deal for this job. She would nod at his suggested plan, pointedly ignoring the mention of the possibility that Damien may not be okay. She couldn’t think of that now, it was too much, and she needed to be clear headed as much as that was possible. Pushing herself up from her seat on the sand skiff with her good hand she would narrow her eyes at the man’s ‘joke’, and then laugh. She let the remainder of the tears in her eyes roll down her cheeks as she allowed the tension to leave her. “That was good. I’d give you a round of applause for your efforts but. . .”  Since it was her arm that was missing she didn’t feel it was the least bit inappropriate to make jokes at her own expense. “Help me gather a few things and let's be on our way shall we? You can keep me entertained as well as protected, and I’m sure those arms aren’t just good for wielding a sword Mr.?” She expected him to help her and she would go to her home, gather her creations and return to the sand skiff ready to head away from the madness that was the village hidden in abject misery. Whether he gave her a name or not mattered little to her, she was used to not referring to people by their names. Nozomi’s companions were equally outside of her concern, they were capable enough on their own and could choose to stay with her or return to their commander as they saw fit.

{Exit Thread}

Seigi would do as Kara says, silently helping her get her things together and packing the skiff as he went over the information that Kara gave her. If Nozomi was in the village, then maybe it warranted him looking for her before they left, but Kara didn't seem interesting in staying in the village much longer. With her skiff packed, Seigi follow her until they were a safe distance away from the gate.

"You go first. I'll follow behind shortly after. I don't think the guards would take kindly to seeing me here." He would tell her, allowing her to take the lead out. He would keep his head on a swivel, constantly scanning the horizon, as well as the direction from the Wind Dome, making sure there wasn't going to be any surprises waiting for him. Slinking into the shadows, he would watch and wait from about 100 yards away.

[exit to gates]