After Hours Lounge

[Kido]

What is that Kazuma's problem? He acts as if we are at war or something Gornok thought as he ignored the shinobi's insulting tone with a smile Maybe you were right Nubi, maybe he should be food for the others outside. Be on alert for him, any more insults and the scorpions have dinner in this village as well. He looked him square in the eye and hissed "I'm not a vile creature, just not like you. The desert doesn't belong to those with your stench. Don't push any further or I or my friends won't be civil with you. No one of my clan would ever commit a crime to be placed in your sniveling book."

He turned to Shirahime and looked at her curiously and said Your family has also been dishonored? So have mine. It is also the reason for my birth and visit to my birth parents. It's not easy to bear, is it? People like him always look down on me, because I'm different.

"And its good to meet you Terrick, you and your partner, may her ways bring you good tidings in the future." Gornok responded calmy and he fought the urge for war.

"I have a secret I also have been hiding from you" He said with sadness in his voice.

[Prophet]

"MY STENCH!? MY STENCH!?" Kazuma shrieked in outrage. "Talk about calling the kettle black!!!!" Kazuma slammed the table with his fist in rage and glared at the suna-nin. "Take your little roaches and leave me in peace lest you truely anger me....Freak." With that, Kazuma turned back to his drink and struck up a conversation with Terrick about their battle, completely ignoring Gornok.

{OOC} Btw man, my guy never said anything about the bingo book out loud, and don't take this the wrong way....but he just HATES scorpions. lol Terrick's the only scorpion guy he can handle being around. Sorry! It's a quirk of his.

Edited February 20, 2006 by Prophet

[Terrick Sukrai]

Terrick slapped his hand over Kazuma's mouth before he could utter that last word. "Kazuma, I realize that you've been messing with lightning jutsus, but I think you need to stop for a while, it's obviously frying your brain..." Now, it wasn't that Terrick necessarily liked the mist-nin, but he knew better than to get in the middle of a bar fight with five other ninjas.

[Nappers]

Rei kept his head down as the commotion around the now lively bar got louder. It didnt seem like something that he wanted to get involved in at any rate. Sand, Mist, and Grass-nin.

He found some comfort in that the Sound nin were in force tonight. Rei sipped at his glass and continued to analyse how these events were progressing, keeping an eye on his Sound compatriots. Minding Shirahime who had been somewhat kind to him earlier, you know, in knocking him over on the stage .

[Kido]

{OOC}Sorry dude, read it wrong.

Gornok looked at the man and shook his head. Feeling alone, he thought about all of the people in the academy who called him names. Freak, devil, scorpion boy, beast, animal....No more hiding myself, if they are going to fear me for my looks, give them something to really look with fear. My pride, the pride of Kolyma Clan; The Koylma Cleric!!

Gornok unfolded his second pair of arms as the front of his robe rippled. He let his arms move into the sleeves and let all four of his arms come into view. With a small motion, he unraveled his scorpion's tail from under the back of his robe and let the others see the extent of their 'differences'. The other patrons looked at him odd as the tail moved like a snake dance, the stinger looked dangerous and others in their booths moved away slightly

Now that feels better He thought as the restrictions were off.

"Another water for me." he said as he signaled with his tail.

[Prophet]

"There you are. If you ever wish to become a true shinobi you musn't be ashamed of who you are." Kazuma stated, his tone shockingly different from before. Now he spoke with the feel of great experience. "You're not the only one who's been shunned from society because of who they are." Atane Kazuma stood from the table and removed the bandages covering his arms, revealing horrificc burn scars, the likes of which no one present had ever seen before. "You may be an outcast because of your gifts....But I have been branded far worse than you young one."

Turning to the crowd that had gathered around his table he said in a wearisome voice, " in the Village oMy own family now calls me Traitor. I betrayed my own blood brothers because I feared their violence. I turned them in and had them locked away for life. As penance for my cowardice, I was to be burned at the stake by my own family."

Wrapping the bandages around his arms and body again, he turned to Gornok and smirked. "Lucky for me, I'm stubborn." he said with a small chuckle. "Next time you're in the neighborhood, I wouldn't mind sparring with you, you know, just for kicks." With that, he sat back down at his table and pulled up a chair, offering it to Gornok.

{OOC} Sorry guys, didn't want to start a fight so this is all I could come up with. Lol! Again my humble apologies!

Edited February 21, 2006 by Prophet

[Kido]

Gornok looked at Kazuma's scared arms and felt ashamed for his outburst. He knew that it was the scorpion side of his mind which brought his system to rage, especially the venom from Nubi that was pumped into him. He nodded at Kazuma and accepted his friendly overture. He looked towards Shirahime and saw her uneasiness with his true form and felt ashamed for alienating her.

"You know Kazuma, I lived among my order until a year ago in our shrine. I never felt different than the others because of my looks. They said that I was Kolyma's greatest achievement, the first to be blessed by the mother of my clan. Even when the Kazekage met with my Archbishop, he looked at me with pride of the village. It was only when I was brought to the academy and was with other children my age, they ran, threw rocks and sticks, they hated me, except for two others; my friends.

I need to meet my parents and asked why am I different than the rest; why me and not someone else.

I applaud your apprehension to violence; being of a scorpion, I see people in only two ways, friend and prey. Kolyma teaches that the strongest man doesn't need to fight with fists, but to war with the mind and spirit. It would suit my mantra to see you as friend...

As for sparring, you're on."

[OCC] - don't worry, we weren't going to fight anyway. Peace is the rule in this thread.

[Prophet]

"This Kolyma sounds like a wise being....We could all learn a lot from him. Anyways...HEY! SOLDIER BOY!" Kazuma yelled at Tarak'nai, startling the young warrior.

"Go grab us all some grub! Food and drinks are on me for everybody at this table! Come Shirahime, Rei, Mr. Stranger-dude-who-keeps-checking-out-all-the-girls! Come join us hungry ninjas!" he cried out with joy and mirth.

Turning back to Gornok, he asked "Tell me more about this Kolyma..." in an interested tone.

[Kido]

At last, people on the same path as me. Gornok said with his mental link to Nubi who was finally at rest.

"Kolyma was my direct ancestor and led his people to the caves where the shrine currently stands in the desert of my home. The Ancient scorpion was the beast that he battled for dominance of his home, and left him with her children to live as one in the caves. A person from my blood led every generation in the desert, until he met with one of the Kazekages. He deemed the man powerful and wise; one who understood the desert as much as my clan. Through negotiations, he gave honor to the Sand's leader and pledged our loyalty. It was the death of that Kolyma leader when they created the council, my family has never held leadership again.

The Council and the Archbishop soon pushed my family out of power totally, leaving the family to become blacksmiths with little ties with the clan. Then something happened before I was born and the clan paid my parents the dowry for ownership of me, they never visited. For years I thought the Archbishop was my father....That is why I must meet them, to know how this happened to me, why they gave me up, my blood."

Gornok looked at the food in front of him and his thought went to his meal in the desert. The scorpions had filled the body with venom and preserved the portions that he requested. It was a days journey on foot, three hours underground. The arouma of the meat made his stomach growl as he used his second pair of arms to eat with his chopsticks, his first to hold the chalace filled with water.

"I speak too much, I'm not used to speaking aloud for more than mere moments. I spend more time with Nubi than with other humans. Our Commander scorpions are made for our clan, we don't need words, just our thoughts."

[Prophet]

"No problem man! Tell me more about this Kolyma and his teachings, it's a heck of a lot more interesting then listening to my Tofu-sensei all day!" Kazuma replied jokingly, having nothing but respect for his honored sensei.

[Kido]

Gornok laughed loudly, which even made him smirk at the weirdness of his voice.

Is this what joy is? He thought as he continued

"Our teachings stem from the mother of scorpion, which is why those who pay homage to spiders are our deepest enemy: You kill to eat.

A spider sets his traps, waits for the weak to fall into its web, then what does he do? He binds him in more webbing and stores him for food for later. A scorpion is of a different mantra, it attacks only to feed. When it protects its home, it feeds. Even the enemy he finds respectable, he feeds on their carcass for honor of the being. It's their wastefulness my clan find dishonor with, we fight to avenge the dishonor of the dead."

He looked around and blushed slightly as he found others listened to him. Unsure of the others intentions, he kept his voice to a whisper for only those of the table to hear.

"In my village, our pact with the Kazekage is bound for life; we will serve and protect him as long as the village exists. We are his poison testers and food taster, we are the villages undertakers and blacksmiths, our blood before the Kazekage's is spilled by one drop. The true head of our religious order is the Kazekage, for I was created as his retainer.

Our bloodline was made within me, the first of the new Kolyma; the Cleric of our religious order. With all the attempts on his life, a steady stream of carcasses flow into our shrine to feed our young Commanders, and our clan. That reminds me, send word of your travels through our land before you reach, I don't want a friend of mine to fall victim to our workers in the sand. There are many tunnels leading to my clan's underground shrine in the mountains, all riddled with death from the scorpions. Only the Kazekage has ever seen the shell of our ancient predecessor."

[Terrick Sukrai]

Terrick was listening in carefully, curious as to this story. "Can I ask you a question, Gornok?" he said. "Was this Scorpion Queen's name Sarazel, by any chance?"

At this, both summons had taken an interest in the conversation. Having both been born from the current (and only as far as they know) Queen, they had to wonder if Terrick was guessing right...

[Prophet]

"I'm more concerned about one of you guys falling into our traps." Kazuma said sadly, barely repressing his shudders everytime somebody said "scorpion", "You see, a member of your clan recently murdered a Kiri-nin. And based off reports of his remains, your clan was added to the Kiri Bingo Book." Kazuma rubbed his chin with his fingers for a moment, lost in deep thought. He remained like this for a few minutes before snapping his fingers, a light dawning in his eyes. "I know! I'll talk to my Jounin-sensei! He's the Mizukage's personal assistant! I'm sure he can talk Mizukage-sama into removing you from the Book!"

Kazuma pumped his hand in a sign of victory. "Yes! Man, we are so lucky we ran into each other here."

[Kido]

Gornok thought of the question deeply, even asking Nubi for the answer to their queen's name to no avail.

"Alas, my friend, I don't know of her name, only her appearance. She was thirty feet tall with a diamond like shell, light will make her shine like a prism. Her shell was hard to penetrate with the weapons my people yielded, and she was terrifying. My ancestor and the ancestors of the council slayed her, with Kolyma the first to partake in her life restoring flesh.

Our Commanders are bred from the original, the diamond of scorpions. That is why she nevers leaves the body of one from Kolyma, for their master is their home.

Tell me of this Sarazel? and more about your honoured companions."

[Terrick Sukrai]

Terrick was silent for a few moments... Natasha was practically cowering next to Terrick's throat, while Mitoki was pacing along his shoulders. When Terrick finally did speak, it was haltingly, as if he didn't know how much of what he was saying should be said at all...

"Sarazel is the Queen of the Jungle Scorpion tribe, and as such, all the scorpions in Plains, Fire, and even Rice countries. When I found the contract for them, I also found a lot of lore surrounding them. It was said that Sarazel's sister was a magnificent being, as luminescent in the daytime as Sarazel was invisible in the night... It is also said that the Jungle and Desert tribes once held a contest to see whose clan was the strongest... It was very similar to the Chunnin exam actually, and is supposedly where Kusa got the idea for their testing. After months of competition, it was decided that the Desert tribe won, though only through the strength of the matriarch...

Terrick went quiet a moment longer before continuing. "It is also said that shortly afterwards, the Desert tribe's Queen disappeared, leaving her children to wander the sands. Noone really knows what happened to her, only that noone has seen the Twin-tailed Queen for a long long time... If the one you speak of is the Desert tribes' Queen, I'll definitely have to relay that to her sister.... Natasha and Mitoki here are her youngest children, actually..."

[Kido]

Gornok bowed to Natasha and Mitoki, giving them homage for their stature while never taking his eyes off of them while smiling.

"This is magnificent! A sister tribe! Our queen was found in the base of the caves, trapped on all sides by the weight of the mountain above her, never to see the light again. As I said, our Commanders are bred from her children my ancestors found in the pit where her diamond flesh covers our statue."

Gornok gave work for Nubi to come out and meet her sister family from the jungle. The scorpion was as large as Gornok's back, his shell seemed glossy and crystalized in the light, but strangely absorbed the light around her instead of reflecting it. At first, Nubi's tail was on guard, but then it relaxed as she laid it around Gornok's shoulders. Her dark eyes with red iris looked at both of the scorpions in silence and observed their movements.

"I'm sorry for her silence, as you know our companions are territorial, and my body is alittle too close to her sisters." Gornok said as he laughed and moved his chair slightly away, until Nubi became more social.

"It is my life long passion to find the contract of the diamond scorpion, and possibly serve as her host."

[Prophet]

Ugh, what is it about me that I always wind up making friends with the scorpion people? Kazuma thought with a shudder. "Whoa man, that's some heavy stuff. When I went to sign the porcupine contract, all I had to do was defeat them in combat. If i wanted to summon stronger versions after that, I had to pass a test of their own design. Nothing about no legacy...."he said, looking away rather abrubtly and diving into the just-arrived plate of Greek wings.

[Cloudnine]

((Well...lots of things happened since I was last online. Awful painting project. Paint got in my pants and through my underwear. XP *shot*))

Shirahime shuddered slightly in the face of all the rising tension. ((This is soooo long ago.)) A little quiet through all the heated words, she looked down at her hands. I thought that I could get away from all this. But soon, the anger turned around and returned to its shakey equillibrium. Like with all those strangers she had met, she had not questioned or shunned the differences of others. As long as no one probed into her life, she wouldn't ask for anything more of them. They wouldn't want to see my little secret. I wouldn't know how to stop it either.

She quietly listened to their delightful talk on scorpions and clans and the like, happy that the tension had resolved itself peacefully.

((Writers block and extreme mental overload. XP))

[Prophet]

"Hey are you okay Shirahime?" Kazuma asked the pretty young oto-nin. "You don't look so good....Here." Kazuma stood up from his spot on the comfy bench and motioned for he to take his place. "Best get you off that rickety old chair and let a fine young lady such as yourself sit somewhere more comfortable." he said softly with a small smile. "Oi Barkeep! Another green tea for the lady!" Turning back to her he tilted his head sideways and asked "What's the matter?"

[Nappers]

((Even though this is my own topic im lost myself right now, so catching up on all these events and will be up-to-date shortly and be fully active ppl's ))

[Cloudnine]

Shirahime got off the stool and settled in the couch. "I-it's nothing. I'm just a little lightheaded." Not that it was totally wrong, but not 100% truthful. "I-I'm sorry f-for making you worried." The green tea came and the girl sipped at it. She closed her eyes. "A-all of you are so brave for giving into y-your differences. A-and talking about them too." And I wish I could do the same as well.

She smiled at Kazuma. "S-seriously, i-its nothing."

Edited February 21, 2006 by Shirahime

[Kido]

"I'm a monk Kazuma, a Kolyma Cleric. I have to attain my strongest form for our mother scorpion, or I'll be deemed unworthy."

[sliding the wings in his direction so he won't let his scent linger in his nostrils for a long period of time]

Gornok stomach started to growl as Nubi returned to the pouch in his back. She received a message from the scorpions in the area that tasted his flesh, they found a spider shinobi four miles away and posioned him to death. Gornok gave Nubi the message to relay to the scorpions in the desert to feed on the wanderer, he had other meat to feed on.

He looked at his new friends and said as he stood and straightened out his robes.

"Friends, I have to handle something in the quickest haste. I'll return in a few moments, our conversation is not done I hope." After bowing to all he had met, Gornok walked quickly to the door and once his feet hit the dirt outside of the Lounge, he melded into the ground quicker than any eye could see.

~Ten minutes of travel-Thirty minutes of feeding-eight to freshen the kill from his clothes and flesh-Ten minutes of travel~

Gornok returned to the lounge and seen his friends finishing their meal and drinking happily. He sat down in the chair that he left and was refreshed. The flesh he consumed filled his belly and he also felt his chakra circulatory system strengthened. His friend's scents no longer bothered him.

[Prophet]

"Come now milady, don't be shy! As you can plainly see," with this, Kazuma waved his hand around pointing at all his new friends. "We're all friends here. You can tell us. I promise you if you do not wish it so, it shall not leave this table! Thus I swear as a shinobi of Kiri!" *strikes hero pose again, this time with Tara'nai filling in for Piroki*

{OOC} Go ahead and post, I'm out for the night but I'll see you all back here tomorrow! Dakara!

Edited February 21, 2006 by Prophet

[Cloudnine]

((^^ Imma gonna disappear soon too. XP))

"I-I..." She wrung her hands and paused. Just how could she explain? She had no idea what went on. It would've just been better to demonstrate, but wasn't it only stopped when her mother basically punched her out and threw her into a wall? "I-it's better to demonstrate th-than explain..." But I don't know how to trigger it much. ((The following has not been made official in the genuine RP and the bloodline has been retracted for an uber makeover. But, eventually, it would go somewhat like this.))

She closed her eyes and set the tea cup down so that the contents did not spill from trembling. Come back here. I know you're always there calling me names and laughing at me, beanpole. I'll let you out for just one minute. The laughing inside her mind became richer, more pointed at her. She felt the rush of handing her body over to the strange being, the numbness of her arms and legs. "Call this the mark of the fallen. I give you every right to punish me for my actions while I am in this stage. I...am nothing but a puppet for my martyr." Her breath shallowed and began to rattle. The cerulean of her eyes began to frost over as the pupils disappeared into nothing but pinpoints. No! Your taking this too far! Push it back! Shirahime fought against the strange will set upon her, tearing her consciousness away from her body. Her body stood up in a strangley limp way, like a slumping doll with weak joints.((Eeeeeeeeh...cheesy. Will improve on the special effects later. Tired. XD))

Edited February 21, 2006 by Shirahime

[Prophet]

"Shirahime!!" Kazuma cried as he dove across the table, catching her before she could fall. "Shirahime!!! Wake up!!! Shirahime!!" he cried as he shook her gently, trying to revive her.

"Tarak'nai! Give me a cold compress now!!!" he yelled at his summon. The screature dove into a flip over the bar, swiping a damp cloth out of the sink, splashing a very surprised bartender, and then spiralling back through the air towards his summoner. Slapping the cloth into Kazuma's hand, he then immediately sheathed his weapon and helped Kazuma lay Shirahime out straight on the table, taking Gornok's discarded robe and folding it to use as a pillow.

"Shirahime! Can you hear me?!" he tried again to wake her. No answer. "Terrick! You're the medic-nin here! Help me!"