Discovery (Kara)

It took some time what with the slow pace that they were walking but finally Tamwyn, Kara, and Doku arrived at the estate that belonged to the former. It was a large building on grounds large enough to not only fit it comfortable but also have an extensive garden around the property. Including a line of violets along the walkway up the house itself. One on either side of the stone walkway. Before they reached that however a large wrought iron gate stood before them, blocking their path forward and Tamwyn would reach forward and push the gate open. It was after all, him own home. The gate would open without a sound beyond the minor groaning of the metal moving. However it was clear that there was no rust to be found among its hinges and bolts. All in all it appeared as if the grounds were kept in neat shape. Although the Seraph of Lightning did in fact notice a few things different from the last time he was here.

Where once a large oak stood, proudly encompassing the pathway under a canopy that gave some shade on bright day. Now was flattened ground. Oh grass was grown over it of course but there was supposed to be a tree there and there was not. Furthermore farther up the pathway where a large white rock bench suitable for sitting on and enjoying the front garden there was nothing but empty space. Tilting his head to the side in curious the yellow eyed man would enter the gate and hold it open for Kara and Doku. "Please come in dear sister, you too Fido." He would say absently, keeping his eyes on the changes in his home since he had last been here. One of the beams on the roof, particularly the one over the door was new, he could tell due to the slightly different colouring of the wood from here. It would age to be the same shade as the rest of the beams in time but for now it was obviously a replacement, but why? Had the home been damaged in a storm since he had died?

Once his sister and her pet poodle-er bodyguard, were inside he would close the gate behind him absently. Something had certainly happened here since he had last been here but he could ask Yenn about them when he got inside. Or wait till later and ask Walter or Larel. They would know of course and it was probably something fairly minor, like a storm or an earthquake or something. Turning toward Kara he would raise a curious eyebrow toward her. "Shall we?" He would ask, his voice quiet and subdued, almost nervous. Honestly, who could blame him?

Kara had been here before with Tamwyn, after she had arrived in Kumo and learned of Damien’s death. She had come here when she had merged their companies in order to discuss Tamwyn becoming an employee. It had been that fateful day that had led to her discovering that the two of them were siblings, a mystery that she still needed to unravel. As they walked she kept up light chit chat, the kind of idle conversation that kept one from spending too much time thinking on things that were best left for other times. Questions like ‘why did we only learn of this now?’ and ‘what deeper story is there?’. She knew she was going to have to track down her parents and question them, but for now she was still regaining some semblance of a normal life and adding more intrigue was not the best course of action.

As Tamwyn held the gate open for them Kara would give him an appreciative nod. “Thank you, Tamwyn.” And of course there was a less than subtle jab at Doku. Kara noticed the dark haired man’s face twist in anger as he drew his sword intended to attack Tamwyn. This was not ideal, she had just found her brother again and having her bodyguard attack him was. . . inconvenient. Fortunately they were alone so there was not much to worry about in terms of losing any of her hard won reputation, but she still couldn’t have him just flinging his sword about all willy nilly. Kara’s right arm would come up grasping the blade of the katana before it made contact, a distinct ring of metal on metal sounded as her adamantine fingers curled around the sharpened edge. Kara didn’t speak, she just fixed her golden eyes on Doku’s silver ones and stared. While she said no words, her gaze spoke volumes and Doku visibly shrunk away from the blonde woman’s glare. She released the blade of the sword and allowed Doku to step back, staring him down until he was a respectable distance away. If Tamwyn said anything in that moment, he would get the exact same displeased glare with an annoyed “Kill each other on your own time.”

Assuming there were no other interruptions, Kara would walk through the gate and turn to face Tamwyn squarely once she was sure that no one was paying them any mind. “To business for a moment. In order to fulfill your promise, I will need to apply two seals to you. So should I need you, or you need me, I can find you. It won’t hurt, I promise you, but you may want to choose a place on your body that’s not immediately visible.” She would wait to hear Tamwyn’s reply, keeping Doku within her peripheral vision in case he tried anything else moronic.

His jab at Doku would finally result in the victory of making the man mad enough to try to assault him. Tamwyn himself would note the attack however he would also note Kara's movement to catch the weapon Doku was attempting to swing at him. Now normally, he would stop that potentially bad idea however he saw her specifically lift her metal arm to catch the blade and given that she had probably made both the arm and the sword she was probably rightly confident that her arm would be fine in grabbing that blade. With that imminent threat to his life handled Tamwyn would do arguably the one thing that would piss Doku off more than anything else he could do. He would pretend not to even notice. His eyes of burnished gold would being looking around his courtyard at the minor difference the bespoke of some kind of damage before he heard the clink of metal on metal. He still would not turn even at that. After all, it could be the very arm Kara had used to catch the weapon touching against the iron gate. He wouldn't even given the a look as Kara began to speak to him, regarding business one last time it would seem.

It would not be the first time he had had a seal placed upon him. Although he kind of hoped this one wouldn't seep into his very bones like the last one had. Still, her suggestion was simple enough. Although he didn't know what she would do to get to him even if she knew where he was. Anytime they would need each other if they were apart there wouldn't be much they could do for one another now could there? Regardless, he would move down his shirt and begin to unbutton the buttons on the front. It was a collared shirt after all with buttons that went down the front. It was very well armored and well made by Ryuko herself actually. Within moments his shirt would be open and his form would be visible. He wouldn't be overly muscular, he was only about human average for strength and physique but he would have a lean form that spoke of speed and agility. With his shirt unbutton he would pull it aside before speaking. "Very well, place them upon my abdomen, one seal on each side if you will. My attire will hide them from view normally. What will they do?" He would ask, needing to know what to expect should he use them at all.

Kara noticed that Tamwyn appeared to not notice the exchange with the sword. This of course only served to further anger Doku, but he (for once in his life) chose the intelligent course of action and did nothing. Later that night Doku would storm around his rooms in a huff and eventually find the card with Shimiko’s details on it, and then call on her. But until then he would be the perfect picture of surly obedience. Stepping aside he would remain quiet and attentive.

Kara explained what the seals would do as she channeled chakra into her finger tips and began drawing the symbol of the sun and moon on the left side of Tamwyn’s abdomen. The seals would glow a bright gold as she applied them and then eventually fade to a burnished gold that in the right light could easily be mistaken for a shadow on his skin or even a birthmark. A birthmark was less likely due to their shape, but she’d seen stranger things. “This one is my personal seal for Flying Thunder God. I will be able to instantly transport myself from anywhere in the world to your side. And don’t worry, I won’t be using it for sport, as amusing as it would be to show up at interesting times, I don’t think I’m the type of sister to engage in pranks. Not yet at least.”

Once the Flying Thunder God seal was applied she would move to the right side of his abdomen and using the same process would channel chakra into creating the Twin seal there. “And this one is a custom creation of mine; I call it the Twin Seal. We will both have one. Its use is limited and simple, if you channel chakra into it, mine will heat up uncomfortably and vice versa. The only way to stop this process is to ‘reply’ as it were, channel chakra into it and the heat will cease. If you use it, I will come for you immediately if I am able. And I would hope that you will also come for me should I summon you. These don’t help with knowing where the other person is, at least for you, I don’t need to know where you are to teleport to you.” Once she had applied the Twin Seal onto Tamwyn, she would repeat the process on herself, lifting her silk shirt and suit jacket to place the seal on the right side of her torso along her ribcage.

As an afterthought she motioned for Doku to come closer, which he did, and she reached out and applied a Flying Thunder God seal behind the man's right ear. “There. Should it be required, I can get to either of you instantly. Now that that’s done, what about that drink?” Kara was eager to continue drinking, there had been far too much emotion in one day for her liking and drowning it seemed like the best option for her.

Notes:

Tamwyn would listen to the blonde haired, golden eyed woman explain the seals as she applied them. One of which being a seal that would allow her to teleport to the seal, and therefore him, at any time. Such a seal would be invaluable as it would allow her to escape to his assistance if necessary no matter what might be happening around her. Not only that but if she or the village itself needed him here and he was gone she could easily retrieve him within moments. The second seal was almost as invaluable, as it would allow them to have a form of communication. Very basic communication of course but enough to request her presence immediately or for her to request his. Obviously it would take longer for him to return to her than it would be for her to come get him but in that case all he needed to do was trigger the seal himself to tell her it was okay for her to come to him to bring him if necessary. Honestly the concept of the 'Flying Thunder God' seal as she called it was more or less terrifying and he wondered what the limits of such capabilities were. Idly he considered what they might be as she worked and applied the seals to each side of his abdomen and then to the back of Doku's ear.

He would consider everything she said as she worked before responding before finally doing so. "There's no need to hope that I would come to your aid. Know that I would, although it might take me longer to come to you than it would be for you to come to me I suppose." He would say, wrinkling his nose a bit in wry amusement. "Say you trigger the Twin Seal because you need my presence and I clear it on my end. Can I send my own signal through to inform you it is safe to get me? If you're talking about teleportation there's no way I could be fast enough to get back here at the same pace you can move at. Should you be unable to come to me to facilitate my arrival you could simply send another pulse back through the Twin Seal once more and I will simply come the old fashioned way." He would say, the suggestion coming easily. Of course he did not know how chakra intensive utilizing such teleportation was. So he would not be surprised if there were limits to what she could and could not do. He also didn't bother to mention that if she was able the clear sign of that would be her imminent arrival. Which was not necessary to openly point out in his eyes.

Regardless of her answer when the time came for her to ask about the drink he would nod his head in acknowledgement before raising both eyebrows as if having a thought. "Ah, sister-mine, let me go up first if you don't mind. I believe any reunion between my wife and myself will be quite..emotional. I've returned from the dead in her eyes after all, and dropping the bomb that I have a sister as well will be a one-two punch I doubt many people could maintain their nerves for. Let me reunite with my wife and speak with her to prepare that for a few minutes. I'll signal it's safe for you to come up with the Twin Seal in a few minutes." He would say, his yellow eyes meeting hers as he spoke. He did expect quite a spectacularly happy reunion with his wife and he didn't want that to take away from the joy of getting to tell her he had a sister. Or vice versa, best to add a few minutes between them and to allow himself and Yenn to reunite alone.

Should she agree he would nod and turn to walk up the pathway toward his home. The difference in the area still sticking within his mind as he made his way up the path to his door. He wouldn't bother knocking, this was still his house after all, and with a certain degree of apprehension he would open the front door and step inside. His yellow eyes would take in the scene around him, everything looked, odd. Not dirty, not even different. Everything seemed to be exactly where he remembered it being. Spotlessly clean and neat. What few scenic pictures he had on the wall for the eye to see as people waited remained. The floor was scrupulously clean and there was not a hint of dust anywhere at all. But everything seemed to have a sort of, lifelessness about it. As if this house had been lifeless itself for a long time now. Furrowing his brow in confusion, he would look around a moment before calling out. It was his home, but his wife was a trained shinobi and while surprising her with his resurrection was one thing, startling the trained killer was something prudent people avoided. "Hello? Yenn?" He would call, his voice echoing out. A gasp would be heard in response from another room and a man walked out wearing the fastidiously tidy attire of a majordomo.

Tamwyn's features would brighten at seeing Walter again and a smile would blossom across his features. "Walter, it's good to see you old friend. Ryuko found a way to bring me back." He would say, a small smile on his features as tears welled up within the man's eyes. "Please Walter, tell me where Yenn is? I want to see her more than anything." He would say, his heartbeat racing in excitement at the thought of gazing upon the visage of his love once more. Of looking into her breathtaking violet eyes, of holding her against him and cherishing every single second of the contact. He would find it hard to breath as he thought of her as Walter opened his mouth to speak, then closed it, then opened it again. "I-We, don't know sir." He would say, his voice dry from a nervousness that Tamwyn caught immediately. Now normally Walter saying 'They didn't know where Yenn was.' was innocent enough. She could be out in the village shopping or on a mission or something and he would legitimately not know where she was then. He was a civilian after all, without the intimate knowledge of the shinobi capabilities. Evidenced by the fact that he had taken Tamwyn's own word that he was in fact Tamwyn and not some doppelganger impersonating him to get access to money or something else. However the nervous trepidation to the man's response and the inclusion of the word 'we' set alarm bells ringing within the Seraphs head. Narrowing his eyes at the man, Tamwyn would respond. "Elaborate." He would say, the one word response not a request. To which Walter would nod his head in acknowledgement.

"You see sir, Yenn has been gone for over eight months now..We know she had a mission, but that's all...You're children, Damien and Chloe, are being taken care of. However we haven't known where Lady Yenn is in almost as long as you've been gone." The man would say, prompting Tamwyn's eyes to widen in surprise. Generally missions did not last that long unless one was in the Black Ops in deep cover. Had his death pushed her to join the covert forces? Furrowing his brow in thought again he would nod his head before beginning to turn away. "I'll look into it immediately. Go back to your duties Walter, Lady Kara and her bodyguard might spend some time here while I'm gone. They are welcome as honored guests." He would say, deciding at the last moment to keep the knowledge of his familial relation with the woman a secret. It might be safer for both of them if it was kept that way and he would have to ask Kara herself about her preference on that information.

Turning to leave the home he would walk back down the path, his pace now a purposeful stride that brooked no nonsense from anyone. Moving toward his sister and Doku he would speak, his tone almost absent, as if his mind were elsewhere trying to put things together. "It seems I have to cut our meeting short. My wife is missing, and has been for eight months. I intend to look into it immediately. You're welcome in my home however and Walter has been told to treat you as an 'honored guest'. I did not however inform him of our familial relation. How much we share of that should be a decision between both of us and I didn't want to take your say out of it. That said I'm going to start looking for Yenn, I apologize for the abrupt departure and hope to make it up to you at a later date. Until then, sister-mine, Doku." He would say, for once actually using the man's name which in itself might cause someone to realize just how off in thought the man actually was at that moment. With that Tamwyn would leave, moving not through the gate, but leaping over it and toward the nearest tree in typical shinobi fashion, intend on discovering just where his wife was.

[Exit]

Kara nodded in agreement to Tamwyn’s suggestion, it was beginning to be a bit more clear to her that they were related. While Tamwyn didn’t seem to share her raw intellect, he did share her wit, which was refreshing. “A clever idea, and one which I will implement should the need arise. Which I hope is never a need, but one can never be too careful.” When Tamwyn asked for some time alone with his wife before they came in, Kara nodded again, briefly touching his arm to finish up her last bit of business before the ‘emotional reunion’. “Of course, dear brother. One last bit of business before you go however; I will be creating your requested materials this evening, you may pick them up at your leisure or simply send a message and I will have them delivered. Previously you were under my employ before, you know, you died. I would like to reestablish that arrangement and will of course put you back on the payroll, I will also be ensuring that you are known as an agent of mine, internally at least. I leave it to your discretion to announce such within the world if you so choose. And you mentioned that you had started your own businesses; I would like to invest in those as I am eager to ensure your success.” After she spoke she let him go and motioned for Doku to join her at a small stone bench in the front garden.

The two sat in silence for some time, Kara going over her new reality in her mind and Doku. . . probably not thinking about anything at all. When she didn’t immediately notice any commotion from inside the home she felt a tiny twinge of worry. The fact that she felt any emotion at all was worrying in itself, this was not something she was used to. But when Tamwyn reemerged she cursed her superior intellect for always being correct. She stood when he approached and listened to his explanation for cutting their meeting short. It seemed his wife was actually missing, and he had even gone so far as to use Doku’s name properly which was a fairly good indication that something was wrong. “Not to worry, brother-mine. Attend to your affairs and we can speak when you have time.” Just before Tamwyn passed out of view Kara spoke quietly, she suspected that he would be able to hear her regardless of their current distance from one another. “And please come back to me.” The worry that had started earlier had grown and she furrowed her brow in annoyance at the realization that she actually cared.

Spinning on her heel she walked to the front door which was immediately opened by Walter. “Lady Kara, please come in.” The man looked nervous, though she could see from his appearance and the state of the manor that this nervousness was not a usual trait of his, but rather the result of whatever conversation had just transpired when she was out of earshot. “Thank you. I’ll see myself around and then eventually out. From what I can see you keep the place well maintained. If Tamwyn isn’t careful I may just snipe you for my own estate.” She gave the man a warm smile and a wink, enjoying his reaction as for just a moment he looked genuinely flustered. Whether that was embarrassment, intrigue or offence she could not quite discern, but it was amusing all the same. After a few seconds, Walter bowed and wished her well before returning to his duties. ”As you wish, Lady Kara. I will leave you to it then.”  

Kara spent the better part of the next hour wandering the halls and gardens of her brother’s estate. It was beautiful and she appreciated the little personal touches throughout. She noted a lot more greenspace than she would have designed and she found it curious but filed the observation away to ask Tamwyn about later. Finally she would take her leave, heading to the marketplace and then her shop to create the materials she had promised to Tamwyn. While in the market she purchased 20 units of Leather and 20 units of Fur, spending a mere 8,000 ryo on the materials. Once she was back at her shop she set to work crafting the compounds and left them for Tamwyn to obtain. Kara also ensured that Tamwyn was added to the Eclipse payroll before going to invest ryo into Tamwyn’s two shops; The Lightning Guard and Seraphim Armament. She spent a total of two million ryo, one million in each on behalf of the Eclipse Federation, which would of course see a 15% return on their investment and allow Tamwyn to receive a 5% return. Once all of her business was out of the way, she retired to her suite in Shimiko Towers, seeking to soothe Doku’s wounded pride.

[Exit Thread]

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