Time had passed, although the warrior of fire would not be aware of it. Almost two years had passed since Valen Minamoto, arguably one of the strongest fire wielders in the world, had fallen ill. Victim to the plague that oft times ravaged those with its debilitating effects. Almost two years since Sayuri, one of the three princesses of Kirigakure and his own liege lady entombed him within a block of ice in order to preserve and protect him from the ravages of the plague. Since he was taken to her shrine room within her ice castle and placed there to await developments. Now, finally, after so long, his body, being of higher temperature than most others and the freezing cold of the frozen entombment had eliminated the plague. That had occurred not too long in his imprisonment.
The rest of the time was spent in stasis, dreaming dreams that had no sense to them. As if dancing on a razor's edge of sanity and insanity. Within those dreams he seemingly relived the demons of his past. His enslavement to each individual ship's captain that had owned him. He relived the horrible branding upon his back from each of them over and over again. The pain ever real in his mind. Now however? Now his mind and body had rested enough. His eyes blinked first, the sensation strange after so much time. He looked around carefully, noting that he could not move his body. He recognized the clear translucent ice entombing him and he recognized the room beyond. His mistress's shrine room. She must have saved him and brought him here. As she had Azrael, at least according to her.
He doubted he would be fortunate enough to have someone come and check up on him. He did not know how much time had passed since he had fallen unconscious and them frozen. However he did know that it was probably enough to warrant very infrequent, if any visits at all. He would need to get himself out then. That of course was simple enough, ice was ice after all and it would do what ice tended to do. Which meant standing obdurately so long as the temperature within and around it was maintained below the freezing point. Something that he, being a talented fire user, could cause to no longer be the case. He channeled his chakra, kindling the fire within him and bringing it out. He could not move his hands, meaning no seals. But simple fire chakra manipulation would do for this. It would just take time.
Time of course was something he had. It took hours of course for the thick ice to first begin to condensate, drops of water forming on it’s surface. Then it began to weaken and become watery. The image outside became a bit more hazy as the ice lost it’s glasslike quality and began to melt. He waited patiently, working to move his body, to twist and move to look for any give in the ice. Eventually, he would succeed. A flexing of his fist would could the ice around it to crack a bit, and he focused there. He worked the cracks, twisting his wrist and arm and causing the cracks to spread. Spread they did of course, and as they did larger cracks splintered the icy prison. He twisted his hips and caused the entire top half of his prison to shatter. He took in air and twisted his legs sharply, once each, freeing them too. With that he was freed from his prison. He looked down at himself. He was still dressed in the black compression shirt and shinobi pants. His gloves, cloak, and sword were conspicuously absent. Meaning they had been taken before he was frozen. He would need to locate those, if they had not been pressed into service for someone else, soon.
His clothing was of course dry, his hair too. The bonus of using fire chakra to free oneself is that it tended to evaporate water particles on you and in your clothing as well. He nodded to himself before turning to see the state of the shrine room. His escape had caused some manor of mess and he frowned in annoyance. This was his mistress’s sanctum, he could not leave it like this.
So first, he fixed the room, removing the chunks of ice he had escaped from by the simple expedient of touching them and melting them. He set things up as he remembered them from his first look at the place. Back when Sayuri had told him he could have a room here and to not disrupt her shrine. Doing it this one had been a simple accident, however when he left the castle the shrine room would be in it’s former state, as if he himself had never been imprisoned there. Now of course it was time to get some information. That meant he would need to report in. Frowning to himself he would consider his options. Sayuri might not actually be in the village to report to. However as a member of the Nightmare Brigade his direct superior was actually Sero. That meant he could report to him. Sero, if he was not there currently would eventually end up at the Nightmare Brigades office and barracks. So without further ado the Fire Swordsman traveled there.
[Exit]
The rest of the time was spent in stasis, dreaming dreams that had no sense to them. As if dancing on a razor's edge of sanity and insanity. Within those dreams he seemingly relived the demons of his past. His enslavement to each individual ship's captain that had owned him. He relived the horrible branding upon his back from each of them over and over again. The pain ever real in his mind. Now however? Now his mind and body had rested enough. His eyes blinked first, the sensation strange after so much time. He looked around carefully, noting that he could not move his body. He recognized the clear translucent ice entombing him and he recognized the room beyond. His mistress's shrine room. She must have saved him and brought him here. As she had Azrael, at least according to her.
He doubted he would be fortunate enough to have someone come and check up on him. He did not know how much time had passed since he had fallen unconscious and them frozen. However he did know that it was probably enough to warrant very infrequent, if any visits at all. He would need to get himself out then. That of course was simple enough, ice was ice after all and it would do what ice tended to do. Which meant standing obdurately so long as the temperature within and around it was maintained below the freezing point. Something that he, being a talented fire user, could cause to no longer be the case. He channeled his chakra, kindling the fire within him and bringing it out. He could not move his hands, meaning no seals. But simple fire chakra manipulation would do for this. It would just take time.
Time of course was something he had. It took hours of course for the thick ice to first begin to condensate, drops of water forming on it’s surface. Then it began to weaken and become watery. The image outside became a bit more hazy as the ice lost it’s glasslike quality and began to melt. He waited patiently, working to move his body, to twist and move to look for any give in the ice. Eventually, he would succeed. A flexing of his fist would could the ice around it to crack a bit, and he focused there. He worked the cracks, twisting his wrist and arm and causing the cracks to spread. Spread they did of course, and as they did larger cracks splintered the icy prison. He twisted his hips and caused the entire top half of his prison to shatter. He took in air and twisted his legs sharply, once each, freeing them too. With that he was freed from his prison. He looked down at himself. He was still dressed in the black compression shirt and shinobi pants. His gloves, cloak, and sword were conspicuously absent. Meaning they had been taken before he was frozen. He would need to locate those, if they had not been pressed into service for someone else, soon.
His clothing was of course dry, his hair too. The bonus of using fire chakra to free oneself is that it tended to evaporate water particles on you and in your clothing as well. He nodded to himself before turning to see the state of the shrine room. His escape had caused some manor of mess and he frowned in annoyance. This was his mistress’s sanctum, he could not leave it like this.
So first, he fixed the room, removing the chunks of ice he had escaped from by the simple expedient of touching them and melting them. He set things up as he remembered them from his first look at the place. Back when Sayuri had told him he could have a room here and to not disrupt her shrine. Doing it this one had been a simple accident, however when he left the castle the shrine room would be in it’s former state, as if he himself had never been imprisoned there. Now of course it was time to get some information. That meant he would need to report in. Frowning to himself he would consider his options. Sayuri might not actually be in the village to report to. However as a member of the Nightmare Brigade his direct superior was actually Sero. That meant he could report to him. Sero, if he was not there currently would eventually end up at the Nightmare Brigades office and barracks. So without further ado the Fire Swordsman traveled there.
[Exit]
