Rainswept Impressions (Inarie)

He was back in the trenches again, or at least he was moving that way with speed as he made his down to them. A flare had gone up requesting aid, an Earth user had opened a line straight though No Man's Land to their trench and connected the Allied Nations trench to the Kumogakure one. 'This would be so much easier if the elements were specifically in their elemental nations.' He would think as he slide into the trench and tapped both men covering the opening on the shoulders. "Move aside, I'll cover the hole until it can be closed." He would say simply, prompting both to nod and move aside to throw kunai, and shuriken, and whatever else could be thrown at the other side. Some with explosive tags and some not. His Byakugan active Madrigal would drop into his gentle fist stance and take a deep breath. He could see the earth user across the way looking at him in confusion as his allies ran through the connecting tunnel. He would also watch the man sidestep once or twice, intent upon making another tunnel. 'Damn.' He would think as sure enough, a second path section was lowered, doubling the size of the path. "Need someone to cover the other half!." He would call as the first enemies reached him.

His hands flew like lightning, striking hearts, and other vital organs, causing hearts to stop, shutting off brain activity. Many wouldn't even be able to see him move given the speed of his strikes and once he had a bare moment of breathing room he flung a hand out and proceed to levy his response. An invisible blast of chakra would fly from his hand and slam into the next enemy in line, picking her up and slamming her back into her allies. As this occurred he reached up and plucked a kunai with an explosive tag out of the air and flung it at the stunned group laying atop one another. The kunai landed within the eye of the young woman on top of the pile, killing her immediately and her dead weight would be much more difficult to move even if she wasn't particularly large. The explosive tag went off with a concussive boom, killing the rest of the group and he dropped into his stance again.

The Trenches, such was a name for such an expansive network of tunnels that stretched from one end of the continent to another. Frankly Inarie wasn’t too fond of the idea that such a network existed to begin with. Even so, there were skirmishes going on under the surface, and Inarie more than once participated in these skirmishes. However for this instance Inarie found herself locked in a deadly dance of steel as she cut down a couple of the assailants. Blood began to coat her katana, and normally she could just wipe it off on the dead. However her sharp eyes could see that it was beginning to stick to her blade.

With a loud rumbling, a tunnel that was being defended by a wave of enemy shinobi had suddenly expanded. The entrance was bigger than their forces could hold back, and someone was at the front with lightning quick jabs that caused multiple foreign shinobi to fall before him. However he was indeed only one man, and so with a dash Inarie made her way over to the other half of the tunnel’s entrance. Nimbly dodging a sword before with a swift swipe Inarie slit the man’s throat open along the way as she continued to run past the enemy. Inarie engaged in this deadly dance of blades with several enemy shinobi, and she wasn’t playing games as she kept her strikes quick and efficient. By efficient, it’s meant to be lethal as Inarie sought to kill each of the enemies that came for her.

With a flash of lightning, an aura of raiton coated her body that proceeded to shock two other shinobi. A stun into their neural network that Inarie simply spun around to face them as one clean slice of her sword. Inarie slit both of their necks open as they were slow to fall. The aura dissipated almost as quickly as it came to life, but it was to be mindful of their allies since it was an enclosed space. For the moment, it would seem like Inarie might have a breather before the next wave.

”You looked like you could use an extra set of hands. Mind if I join this dance with you?” Inarie almost jokingly spoke to Madrigal as she forced a small smile to play on her lips. Unfortunately, her use in the raiton aura caused her metallic blue scales to have emerged. Granted the only thing that could be seen skin wise is her face. Her platinum blonde hair pulled up into a ponytail as she was garbed in her armor, tools, and a blood coated katana in her hand. Speaking of, Inarie flicks the excessive life liquid away from her katana as it splatters a thin line along the wall. Frankly she was beginning to sweat from all of the fighting, but she didn’t pay much attention to it as Inarie was just focused on taking out the enemy. Inarie looked over her shoulder at the rest of the men and women. Some were injured, and the rest were either tired or holding the line elsewhere.

”I take it none of you have the Doton chakra to collapse this tunnel?”

A second form moved into place alongside him and his Byakugan eye would easily allow him to watch her as he fought. She moved with speed and grace, as well a healthy dose of lethality as she moved like a dancer. The strange aura of raiton that came alive around her was certainly surprising and he watched two individuals become stunned by the sudden electrical shock to their systems before her swift blade reaped their life from their bodies. The aura dissipated as quickly as it arrived and once that was gone Madrigal would move in to coincide his movements with hers. He moved with her, complimenting her movements as he struck and moved with lightning speed, every bit of his body going into the effort. The rain came down and blood and mud covered the ground at their feet and Madrigal let time stand still effectively as he fought the forces that were moving down the trench.

After what seemed like hours but had probably only really been a few minutes, Madrigal and this woman who had appeared next to him to keep the hole plugged stood back at the entrance, both breathing much heavier than they normally would. As she spoke he would turn to her respectfully, although he didn't need to to see her. His eyes were still active, the metallic blue scales upon her features were interesting although didn't detract from her physical appeal at all. Granted Madrigal himself had the veins around his eyes bulging grotesquely due to his byakugan so who in the hell was he to judge exactly? At her words and the small smile on his face he would grin at her in amusement, an almost boyish expression on his normally almost regal features. He extended a hand for hers, intent upon taking it and kissing the back of it in greeting, gauntleted or no, it was the gesture that counted. "Madrigal, and I certainly didn't mind the help. I would relish the opportunity to dance with you once more." He would say before letting her hand go should the action have been successful. He would then reach to his belt and pull a canteen out and take a drink. The cool liquid helping him to recuperate. Noting a slight heaving of her own chest due to mild fatigue he offered the still open canteen to her.

Both of them seemed to be from the same village, or rather both were wearing the headband of Kirigakure. He hadn't had any time to get to know anyone within the village before being sent out to the trenches. He had a headband on his arm, but that was it in terms of what he had obtained. He was currently wearing a simply white shirt and black pants set up with boots to facilitate moving through the blood and mud of the trenches. It would be simple to note though that none of the individuals Madrigal himself had touched hadn't blood whatsoever, it would appear for all intents and purposes, as if they had died of natural causes. Shaking his head at her question "No Doton here I'm afraid, we'll have to hold here for a while. We can trade off to rest the other if you want or just do it together but we have no way to know how long we'll have to hold. I suggest trading off the duty, each push we'll swap out. To give the other a few moments to rest." He would suggest, an eyebrow raised in curiosity at her opinion. When the opening had first been made he had positioned himself at it and hadn't had time to reposition when the opening had doubled in size. So he'd needed someone to cover the part of the hole he couldn't. Now that they had the breathing room either of them should be enough to cover the hole for a time.

Compared to herself, Madrigal moved quick as lightning whether it was to jab at someone or to move in. Still they were on the same side, and frankly Inarie appreciated how simple this tide was. They knew exactly who was the enemy, and their goal was clear. Frankly it ultimately was focused in surviving the night, but Inarie knew that there was a squad or two that counted on them to hold the line. Inarie honestly didn't enjoy the thought that they're the main defense for this sector, but she can't really complain against it. From what Inarie had gathered, Kumogakure had gained a lot of momentum, and both Konohagakure and Kirigakure were paying for it. It didn't take a genius to decide that this time the Konoha-Kiri alliance worked in holding off the enemy and not give away ground.

"Inarie Yoru-Kaguya." Inarie noted that Madrigal wore the Kirigakure headband on the arm sleeve, but she found it strange as she never recalled seeing his face around Kirigakure before. Perhaps he was a new addition to the military while Inarie left for a diplomatic mission to maintain their alliance? That was the logical conclusion Inarie could come up with, but frankly she didn't have much time to ponder on it as they fought the wave of shinobi.

Once it was over for the time being, Inarie could take the moment to rest. Her pink rose eyes shifted over to the gesture of an opened canteen from Madrigal, and for a moment Inarie was more surprised that he had offered to begin with. Water and food was vital as it was unfortunately scarce in the trenches. Looting for these two resources from the dead was a bit troublesome that wasn't contaminated with blood, roasted from fire, buried in earth, or flooded with impure water. In short the gesture was pretty rare in these situations, and Inarie accepted the canteen and generously fountained a mouthful before handing it back to Madrigal.

"Thank you." She said as she flexed both of her hands to stretch her muscles. Having to hold her blades for so long made them stiff, and she'd need to make sure that she wasn't too stiff as she'd need to be nimble. Then she reached into her hip pouch to bring out half of a protein bar and began to eat up to a quarter. Madrigal answered her question of not having Doton, and that was a bit unfortunate yet Inarie could work around it. Raiton, which was her specialty, was effective against Doton anyways so in a head to head fight Inarie would almost 100% come out as the winner. Problem was, Inarie realized, Doton could alter the terrain to their liking and give their enemies a disadvantage.

"That sounds like a fine idea. I do wish we could take out that Doton user, but overextending ourselves is practically suicide." She admitted before the platinum haired woman rolled up the rest of her protein bar and stashed it into her hip pouch. Inarie picked up her titanium katana and black bone tanto before she gave each a practice swing. Then she puts the tanto into reverse grip so that the blade would lightly press along her forearm. In the lighting, the tanto almost disappears into the fold of her sleeves.

"Would you mind if I take the first go at this?" If he agrees, Inarie would begin to reach into her hip pouch again to pull out several caltrops. From there she begins to scatter the caltrops in the mouth of the tunnel for a good five meters. Then she takes two of her kunai and attach the rings with steel wire. Effectively Inarie anchored the kunai on both sides of the tunnel's walls in the middle of the caltrops field. Once she was finished, Inarie safely retreated to the friendly side with Madrigal where Inarie would bury the katana into the earth and stash her tanto on the back of her belt.

"Fair warning, it is about to get a bit bright around here." Inarie warned him before she strung together a series of handseals. Inarie proceeded to hold the last handseal as she held the kneaded chakra back.

[Preparing False Darkness]

Madrigal would smile as she introduced herself and then continue with the fighting. He knew of the Kaguya bloodline, from Sero, the man who apparently led the Nightmare Brigade, a 'mercenary' group out of Kirigakure that utilized execution as it's preferred means of dispensing justice. They didn't bother with small fry like pickpockets or other such petty thieves. No, they focused on the inhumane crimes of society, murder, rape, war crimes in every conceivable degree. He had been offered a position amongst them provided he could get the okay from the Mizukage. For now though he had to focus on the trenches, on the fighting, and he moved like a dancer as he spun and twirled, fingers and hands flashing to tap, press, and touch chakra points on the bodies of those who came at him. Death was immediate as all of his strikes hit either the heart, brain or lungs, killing those who came anywhere near him with the exception of the single pink eyed woman who fought alongside him.

When it was over, and he passed her his canteen she seemed surprised. While it was true that finding food and water in these trenches was scarce, due to the general lack of luck of scavenging it from the dead. Madrigal had a significant advantage in that his eyes allowed him to scout the bodies for the food and canteens that had not been damaged or contaminated and go right to it. It made things significantly easier and when she returned his canteen with a thank you he would simply nod in response with a small smile before holding out a protein bar. She had pulled one out herself, but he had several on him at that moment alone. He tended to go scavenge when he had time. Those nearby who were keeping up to general harrying of the enemy in the other trench all had full canteens and protein bars of their own, courtesy of the white eyed man's efforts. In exchange, they willingly bought him time to close his eyes for a moment, to rest. A fair trade all things considered.

"My eyes allow me to scout for food and water that isn't contaminated or damaged and scavenge it easily. So please, don't feel the need to conserve for the time being. In regards to that Doton user, it is regrettable, but I doubt we'll be able to dispatch him anytime soon. Not unless he's stupid enough to come down the corridor he made himself. " He would say as he rested his head against the cold stone wall behind him. His platinum haired companion would take a practice swing of each of her blades before shifting a tanto into a reverse grip. At her request he would nod "Far be it from me to deny the lady a request." He would say with a small smirk pulling at his feature as he waved his hand in an 'after you' gesture. To be honest he was exhausted and he leaned his head against the wall again, although he didn't close his eyes. The corridor connecting the trenches was too much of a threat for anyone to doze off during and everyone around him knew it.

Once he agreed to let her take the first dance she began to scatter caltrops and create a steel wire clothesline across the mouth of the entrance. Then she would move back over to him and bury her katana in the earth and stash the tanto at her back before performing hand seals and holding the last one. At her warning he would grin before speaking. "Dazzle em, Sunshine." He'd say referencing the platinum blonde of her hair as he watched.

To be frank what Inarie was setting up would seem to be the standard trap of sorts to slow movement. Under normal circumstances that held truth, but there was a second reason behind it. Raiton could electrify the caltrops, the wire, and the kunai even. Granted it’ll damage the tools a bit, but Inarie kept it as an insurance in case for some reason she missed. Inarie might not be a brilliant strategist, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t use strategy.

Madrigal heeded her words, albeit his joke made the corners of Inarie’s mouth twitch as she refrained from smiling. Inarie was about to end a lot of people’s lives, and while she did not enjoy the task. Inarie couldn’t afford to become too distracted so long as that doton user was out there. In a head to head fight, Inarie was certain that she would win the round, however Inarie understood that so long as there’s earth the doton user is in their natural terrain and can change it to their liking.

Raiton began to spark wildly around Inarie’s body, licking across the surface of her scales as Inarie felt something pull on her body. Like something threatened to split her body apart as Inarie felt her body pulsed with energy that it nearly made herself quiver. The sensation took her by surprise as she held herself together.

What the hell? What was that? Inarie thought to herself, but she didn’t have time to worry about that as the next wave of enemy shinobi came into view from the tunnel. As she opened her mouth, Raiton increased in ferocity as a beam of energy leapt from her mouth that pierced through the majority of the enemy forces. After the raiton dissipated, Inarie had to lean onto her buried katana for support. Frankly remaining shinobi thought this was the prime opportunity to attack her despite the trap she had laid out. Her body increased in temperature as Inarie felt half of her body was being… pulled away? Dissipated? Inarie couldn’t describe it, but it left her feeling weak. Yet at the sight of steel, Inarie’s rose pink eyes snapped to attention and in a flash the Azure Lotus lifted her body before she stomped into the chest of a charging shinobi.

Inarie didn’t notice as she was running on pure instinct at this point as she twirled with a shift of her grip while simultaneously grabbed her tanto. Her reflexes became sharper, her accuracy became more on point, and overall quicker on her feet than before. In a blur of motion, Inarie sliced a man’s throat open with her katana while simultaneously deflected a katana from the second opponent before she quickly buried the tanto deep into the man’s neck. Kiri kunoichi couldn’t shake off the weakening sensation as it really did feel like her body was fighting each other from the inside out. Was she infected with poison? That couldn’t be right as the Kaguya part of her bloodline kept such things at bay. Even so she has never heard of a poison that causes her bloodlines to clash like this.

A battle cry broke the silence as another enemy charged at her with a kama in hand. Inarie pretended like she was going to block the attack, but in the end she leapt back outside of the enemy’s reach before immediately Inarie leapt strongly as she plunged her bloodied tanto into the man’s ribcage and straight into the heart. However Inarie twisted the tanto as the man who was dying cried in agony before she lifted him up from his own feet. Panic was written on his face as Inarie used his own body as a shield from seven kunai that buries into his back.

As Inarie wrenched the tanto free, the once black blade coated in blood sliced on the way out as blood splattered on her left arm. Seven more shinobi were ahead, and for a moment Inarie’s eyes narrowed. There was an anger deep within her, an indescribable rage. A primal rage that threatens to overtake her mind as heat continues to build up within her body. There was a distinct growl emanating from her throat as she bared her teeth. Her teeth became sharper and Inarie’s nails were turning dark. A pair of metallic blue horns was beginning to slither out from each side of her head that was swept back. As Inarie sped towards her opponents that was beginning to show fear a bit too late as Inarie left afterimages in her wake. In a rapid, quick fashion one by one Inarie sliced their necks up to the last one where Inarie instead pierced with her tanto under the man’s chin as it went straight to his brain.

It was in that moment that the world began to turn upside down as Inarie wrenched her tanto free only to stagger onto a wall of earth. The wave was very much dead as the trail of bodies was proof enough. Frankly it didn’t last long at all, but to Inarie that skirmish might have been the worst one she’s had. Inarie’s mind began to buzz as all sound was being drowned and the world was starting to grow dark. She couldn’t even muster a thought in her head, and for comfort Inarie didn’t realize she had dropped her katana to place her less bloodied hand against her right side of her forehead. Yet the buzzing wouldn’t stop as heat continued to be a problem for her. Frankly she was abnormally warm and Inarie couldn’t find an explanation as to why that was the case.

Madrigal watched as Inarie’s chakra rose to a startling degree, and his byakugan eyes would see, something, he didn’t know what he was looking at as Inarie fought, but it almost looked like her chakra and body were fighting against her for some reason. She leaned against her katana and as the other shinobi in the wave charged her he about stood and ran to her before she pulled herself together forcefully and began to fight again. He watched as her form became even more graceful as a necessity of battle and survival. Watched her move about with her blades like a dancer. As she moved she simultaneous blocked a katana strike from one enemy and buried her tanto in the man he had tried to kill her as she slit the throat of another with her own katana.

One man with a hand scythe let out a loud battlecry as he charged at her and she feinted a block before simply disengaging and getting out of the man’s reach before jumping forward strongly and thrusting her tanto into his heart and twisted. Then she lifted him up bodily as a human shield for multiple kunai. She tore her tanto free as she turned toward the seven other men and Madrigal watched in fascination as her body temperature rose. His Byakugan gave him thermal vision too and he watched as she became brighter and brighter. He watched her transformation before moving and noted the increase in speed and ferocity as she attacked the last men. When it was over she would wrench her tanto free only to fall against the wall, her breathing heavy. She dropped her katana and her hand cradled the side of her forehead.

His eyes picked up the next wave coming, and she simply was not ready. He stood, and moved, pulling out a canteen and a few more protein bars before coming close to her. He placed a hand on her shoulder to get her attention as he spoke. “Inarie, fall back, I’ll take this. Get some food and water in you and rest.” He would say, passing her the canteen and bars before stooping to pick up her katana and pressing the handle into her hands as well. It would be awkward carry but at this point he didn’t care. She needed to get to as much relative safety as she could and once she had it, unless she couldn’t take it in which case he would hold it carefully before helping her to the wall once more, letting her learn on him if necessary he would turn back toward the opening. His suit was bloody now due to the blood that had covered her during the fight but that didn’t matter anymore. Ensuring his comrade was safe was the important thing. “Eat, drink, and figure out what going on. You’re burning up like a furnace.” He said quietly as he walked back toward the opening and stood within it as the next wave came.

As he said before, now that was positioned in the exact middle, he was capable of holding the entire opening, and he proved it as he moved with a casual grace and efficiency that caused many to blink in surprise. As the first target came at him a swift palm strike to the chest ruptured his heart and sent his corpse sliding into their side of the trench with what was left of the man’s momentum. As he struck as he casually reached a hand around and removed his canteen and pouch. It held kunai, shuriken, and his MRE’s. Before tossing them casually and carefully next to his companion resting against the wall. This was how he usually obtained them if he was being honest. With careful speed and quick hands as he fought. After all what better way to get your hands on an uncontaminated canteen and ration meal than to get it before the corpse falls into the blood and mud with it’s own body weight? Once he was done with this he would divy out the rations and canteens to those nearby in the trench. For now though, he still had work to do.

The next target would swing a katana at him, and he would casually dodge the blade before tapping two points in the arm that held the blade and she would drop it suddenly, much to her horror. Then Madrigal would slam a palm into her stomach before using One Body Blow to fling her back into the next man. As he did he again took her equipment pouch and canteen, tossing each back to his now growing pile with the exception of kunai with a prewrapped explosive tag on it which he threw at the man she had impacted. As before the explosion was a kill shot for both individuals even if the knife hadn’t been a lethal throw. The next one to come would find his hammer dodged. The heavy weighted end slamming into the rock wall and Madrigal’s hand would lash out for the man’s head. His strike would send a spike of chakra into his skull and the man would die instantly, before he fell Madrigal would again take his canteen and MRE’s.

This continued for a time, the corridor was only big enough for a couple to come to him at once and he could handle any two men and women one might want to name in these conditions. His pile of rations and water canteens continued to grow, and he made sure not to hit Inarie with any of his throws. Eventually his Byakugan would pick up the fact that no more came into the corridor. Had he finished this then? His eyes would pick up the Doton user forming seals and instinctively he would spin. His protective dome of chakra would come up against him as the corridor around him tried to smash into him with force earth shattering force. His rotation held though and when the man’s chakra in the technique ran dry he reopened the corridor as Madrigal stopped spinning. He breathed with a slight heaviness due to that, his chakra reserves weren’t quite that impressive and he used a good chunk of them on that rotation. He silently fell back into his gentle fist stance as he stepped out of the corridor and into their own trench, still guarding the opening, but not within the corridor itself. “How are you doing?” He would ask without turning his head to her.

Her head kept feeling like a buzz as Inarie's mind was being scrambled. Inarie didn't even notice that Madrigal had approached her until she felt his touch. Her hands were covered in blood that wasn't her own as Inarie kept a grip onto her tanto. Frankly she instinctively knew what was wrong as Inarie could feel her blood boiling. The transformation from her horns, nails and her scales subsided to normal. Well, her version of normal was having the same patches of metallic blue scales.

Inarie didn't really have the energy to resist as Madrigal almost carried her to safety. When the Hyuuga placed her katana into her hands. Inarie's grip on the hilt tightened as she seemed to have blacked out. In reality, she was beginning to experience a secondary vision. Only this time Inarie didn't feel like she was drowning in a bottomless sea.

---

Inarie opened her eyes to find herself not in the trenches, but instead some unknown location that was both dark and grey. Like a moon was casting it's light around her for a good ten meters, yet the rest of it was a dark void. At the same time, there were loud rushing sounds of water all around her. Just outside from what she could see in this mysterious light. Inarie stood up to her feet even as she felt disoriented. Like she was trying to stand on a boat that's being knocked back and forth by the raging sea.

"Where… am I?" Inarie thought to herself, yet the words strangely echoed around her. Of course there wasn't an answer as she honestly didn't expect it to be heard. Instead a line of the silver light spread out from the circle and revealed a path. A path where the walls were towering walls of rushing water that traveled what Inarie could assume to be the sky, but Inarie couldn't even see the end of the Wall's height.

Inarie found herself without a weapon or armor, just her dirty long sleeve shirt and her black pants as it was part of her uniform. It was a problem for Inarie since usually Inarie could grab hold of a weapon for both safety and comfort. Yet it would seem like this time Inarie couldn't find such comfort. After Inarie looked around, the path in front of her was the only path. Inarie gave in and began to walk down the path. Only to find that the path continued in twists and bends that nearly made the motions less problematic.

Eventually, one of the bends ended in a large, circular platform that the flooring was made out of rainbow glass. There was a lot of blue, black, and white that did not make sense to Inarie. Over the edge was not water, but a bottomless chasm that's swallowed up by the darkness. Inarie was at the end of this path and she was no closer to the truth than when she started.

"Welcome to the hand Fate has dealt." A voice, strangely familiar and yet odd to hear that came from Inarie's left flank. The voice caused the Kaguya hybrid to turn, and what she found was both surprising and eerie at the same time. What Inarie saw was none other than herself garbed in a white kimono and her platinum hair elaborately pulled into a ponytail with multiple braids. This one held herself with pride and elegance like she was royalty or at least was more upfront about it than Inarie was.

"Who are you?" The Inarie(?) smiled as she had both of her hands folded into the long sleeves of her kimono.

"Well I am you obviously." Yet Inarie shook her head in dismissal, and one thing Inarie noticed was that the copy actually didn't have scales. Meanwhile Inarie had her metallic blue scales on her face, hands, shoulder, legs, and even her feet. She guessed that was one way to tell the difference between the two.

"No, I did not conjure up a clone, and I would've remembered if I did. So I'll ask again. Who are you?" The royal-apparent lady lowered her hands to her side. It was like everything was perfect about this version of Inarie. Her hair looked silky smooth, her skin was perfectly smooth with hidden muscles, and even her posture spoke everything like she held the highest authority over everyone.

"I do not lie, and I'm no clone of yours. I am a part of you, and it is because of me that your body is still in one piece." At the mention of Inarie's body, Inarie subconsciously reached up to touch the center of her torso. That was the originating point that inflicted her so much pain.

"Why is my body reacting so… violently? I've never experienced this sensation before." The other Inarie maintained her smile, but there was a slight sorrow that spoke through her blue eyes. That made Inarie question since when did Inarie have blue eyes? Really, the only thing Inarie could think of was this was the version of Inarie if she was just a Kaguya. Meanwhile Inarie was beautiful still, but she definitely looked like she just came out of a downpour with her soaked hair that cascaded along her back and her shirt clung to her body.

"It's the Curse of the Dragons my dear. You've been fortunate enough to not experience the Curse as much as the other children had. Most children are so weak and feeble that they cannot leave their bed." The Curse, and the pain children of Yoru went through, it was something Inarie read about. Inarie had never experienced it before until most recently, and frankly that pain was what all Yoru felt throughout their childhood then Inarie felt more sympathic towards them than before.

"The Curse… truth be told, I thought that I was an exempt from it."

"I'm afraid not. You've always had the Curse, but it's thanks in large part to your other bloodline that you were able to withstand the Curse for so long." Inarie frowned as she followed along of what was being said. The Curse was held back for so long, yet why was it occurring now of all times.

"Then why is the Curse so strong now all of the sudden?" The smile on the other Inarie's face turned flat, as if she was reluctant to answer that question.

"To put it simply, the Curse almost killed you, and if it wasn't for your training in the bloodlines it would've succeeded." The thought of her dying to some curse of old was preposterous and frankly a horrible way to go. Then again, Yoru are known to die at a young age as the curse reduces their lifespan dramatically. Under normal circumstances, the same Curse would've killed her.

"The cost of your survival however, inflicted a heavy burden on your bloodlines. Meaning you'd have to retrain yourself."

"How do I remove this Curse? How do I prevent it from happening again?" Inarie asked the question as she wasn't just asking how to tolerate it, but to overcome the Curse. Again she smiled flatly before tapping her foot on the glass.

"Well that part is easy to tell you. Find and claim your right as an Ancestor Dragon." That answer actually made Inarie scoff. Not because of how simple of an answer it was, but because finding an Ancestor Dragon has the goal of many Yoru and very few have actually seen one. At least, none have lived long enough to tell about it or had sworn loyalty to never reveal their Ancestor's location.

"And how do I claim an Ancestor Dragon?" Again the woman tapped her foot on the glass panel and sparks of Raiton came to life along the platform.

"By challenging to a fight to the death, and consume their heart. Do so, and you'll gain the right to be an Ancestor Dragon." Truthfully that sounded barbaric, and frankly if it was that simple then any Yoru could do so. However given how most Yoru don't live long and they rarely record their history. It's more likely because the Yoru doesn't know about that information. Guarded by the Ancestor Dragons themselves to prevent any of the other Yoru from finding out and thus removing the challenge to their authority.

His question would go unanswered and with his byakugan he would see that she was effectively passed out. That wasn't a particularly good sign and it meant that he had to ensure no one got through the opening and potentially to the passed out woman sitting against the trench wall. He sighed audibly before digging his stance in, shifting his footing slightly and waiting. They would come, to assume otherwise would be a mistake. It would simply be a matter of them reorganizing. Then they would be sending more enemies down the corridor in order to kill them. Madrigal stood, waiting. Shortly he would see them begin to move down the corridor, carefully, and in groups. The Hyuga's teeth appeared in a grimace as he saw them begin to try to act smart and unfortunately it would in fact make things a bit more difficult for him. He was fast, but enough people together could cause problems for him, and with Inarie so close he couldn't utilize Rotation without being in corridors and that Earth user had already proven that to be a poor decision.

The walls of the corridor were still coated in a sticky, red, mass of the crushed and mangled bodies that single Earth element user had crushed. They were dead before the technique had been used, but to treat ones own fallen with such disrespect was disgusting in Madrigal's eyes. Still the enemy came down the trench and as they did he saw something else on the opposing sides trench that caused his eyes to widen. Some of them were burrowing under the ground and based on their initial direction they were coming to ambush him and Inarie directly. Madrigal grit his teeth before stepping back to be right in front of Inarie. He'd have to watch all direction but up it would seem. Of course, just as he had the thought he reached up and plucked a kunai transporting an explosive tag out of the air and threw it down the corridor. Or maybe he would have to watch for attacks from above too.

This was not turning out to be a fun day thus far and to top it all off he still had no idea what was wrong with Inarie. As the first of the enemy shinobi arrived at the opening of the trench he would move, striking out hard and fast. The palm strike to the chest of the man killed him immediately and the force of the chakra within the blow would blast him back with vicious force. As soon as that occurred he reached up and caught another explosive propelling kunai and cut the throat of the next man out of the trench before throwing ten meters down his own trench as the first of the tunnellers arrived. As the hole opened the kunai struck true and a muffled scream could be heard before the kunai exploded and killed those within. As as the kunai had left his hands he turned aside a kunai thrust of another by pushing the wrist holding it aside, causing the man wielding it to go wide and be vulnerable to secondary strikes that ended his life.

The next ground hole opened near Inarie and a woman popped out, knife in hand and Madrigal moved like a viper, his finger brushed the enemy woman's head and she was dead before she realized what had happened. She hung, limply from the hole not a foot from his still unconscious companion. A darting hand up would catch another kunai with a tag and he would fling it down the corridor now to buy some time. The blade would travel down the path way a ways before the detonation went off. Multiple enemies were killed then and as the blade flew he continued his acts of aggressive defense against those who were closer. He didn't have time to rid these of their canteens and MRE's, he wasn't a god, but he was at least keeping up with the horde of enemies thus far. Another hole opened next to Inarie, this one from above. They were trying to overwhelm him by giving him multiple things to think about but a tightly controlled Vacuum Palm took the individual who came from the hole in the face and they were violently flung back into the hole. A check with his Byakugan would show a still heart, which was good.

The press of bodies was becoming too severe for him and so he blasted them away with a quick Vacuum Palm before falling into a stance. Taking a deep breath he began to move and as he did he struck out, enemies that came near would find themselves getting struck by one or two palm of his Gentle Fist Technique, 64-Palms. He moved around as he struck, shifting his weight and balance to strike targets as they came into range. At the end of the technique twelve additional bodies surrounded him and he backed up to Inarie, chest heaving as he felt his fatigue begin to catch up to him. He couldn't deal with this much longer.

The information was a lot for Inarie to process, but she understood what Inarie had to do in order to get rid of this Curse. However a more immediate concern surfaced through the buzzing that continuously to muddle her thoughts.

"Wait… Madrigal, he's still out there. How do I get back out there?" Inarie asked her other self. Inarie raised her hand to place it on the side of her head. Almost as if it was to support her head, but it actually didn't help the swaying motions.

"And what would you do if you wake up right now?" The Kaguya Inarie questioned even though she knew what the answer would be. Yoru Inarie frowned at the question, for her thoughts might be muddled but Inarie wasn't going to abandon her comrades.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm going to survive. We are going to survive. I don't know how much strength I have left, but I'll use everything to get my people and myself out to live another day. We have a war going on, and I can't afford to sit down Curse or not." Kaguya Inarie grinned with expectations, and approached uncomfortably close to Yoru Inarie.

"Then go you shall. The Curse hasn't taken a complete hold of you yet, and you have enough of your blood to make use of it one more time. Make it count, Ryu." With that being said, Kaguya Inarie swiftly placed both hands like she was about to cup Yoru Inarie's face before everything suddenly went black.

---

Inarie suddenly woke with a start as she took a sharp breath. Her eyes wide and wild as Inarie scanned her immediate area only to find disturbed earth, bodies, and a lone Madrigal exhausted that stood over the corpses. Inarie winced as she dropped her tanto and using the wall as a brace to stand up on her feet. She took a couple of deep breaths as her mind processed what just happened.

"My apologies for the inconveniences. That's never happened before." She apologized to Madrigal directly as she could only imagine the burden that had placed on him. Frankly she's impressed that he managed to go through with all of that virtually unscathed, but Madrigal clearly looks expended from it as the result. She'd wager that Madrigal wouldn't have that much energy to continue fighting. Inarie took another deep breath as she sheathed her katana into her scabbard. The wise course of action would be to retreat, but there was one problem. That troublesome Doton user was still out there playing it safe. With swift work of her hands, Inarie takes off her belt, vest, and mail shirt before handing them over nearly to Madrigal.

"Do me a favor, hold these for me. I'll go after their Doton specialist and buy you some time to retreat. There's some ration pills in my pouch if you need it." If he accepts, Inarie would take a couple of steps away from Madrigal before Raiton sparks wildly along her body. Sprouting from her left shoulder, a black spike rips through her shirt. As Inarie reached up to grasp the handle, sparks of Raiton intensified around the spike.

"This might be the last time I ever get to use my abilities to the fullest, but if that's the price to keep our allies and yourself alive then I'll gladly pay it." Inarie spoke with a hint to Madrigal of what was going on. Summoning the dragon's power within her body, Inarie pulled out a large sword that originally was dark as the night with metallic blue lighting along the edges. However with a chirping of a thousand birds her magnificent sword becomes cloaked with condensed Raiton along the large blade. By that point there was another wave of enemy shinobi that had rallied to try to breakthrough once and for all.

Inarie's rose pink eyes shifted over to incoming mass, and while her body might be threatening to tear itself apart. Her eyes burned with a will of fire as her determination shown bright within her. Inarie's other hand grasped the bottom half of the handle and multiple thin lines of pale blue light crawled up along her hands and forearm. Most of the back of her shirt had been sliced through, leaving only her left shoulder sleeve that held it up as part of her cleavage showed. Yet Inarie didn't show signs of embarrassment. Just the determination to fight and protect.

Inarie began to walk towards the incoming wave with her large sword trailing behind her. As three men performed wind Jutsu to release blades of wind at Inarie's direction. Inarie simply jumped forward, high above the blades with a flip. One unfortunate sod attempted to clash with a Fuuton coated katana, but when Inarie brought down her greatsword. A thunderous crack erupted upon contact of the katana as Inarie's heavy blade easily cleaved through and proceeded to split the man in half. The very earth trembled upon the destructive force behind the sword and the surrounding men flinched from the loud noise. Inarie followed up with a diagonal slice to sever the second man from the waist up. With a pivot and shift of her handle. Inarie swiftly turned to face the third with her Raiton coated blade pointed straight at his chest. She quickly lunged forward and though he tried to move away Inarie happened to be faster as the large blade pierced through his chest cavity. Spine, ribs, lung, and the Raiton burned the man's neural system.

With a lift of her sword, Inarie lifted the man off his feet before slinging the corpse at the next squad as each contact of the sword made an ear-splitting crack of thunder. They were smart enough to dodge the corpse, but Inarie seemingly vanished only to reappear in front of them. With a wide sweep, Inarie sliced through three more men as blood splattered everywhere. The earth began to tremble once more as a giant wall of stone erupted in front of Inarie. As if that was enough to stop her, but Inarie proved them wrong as Raiton sparked wildly around her body once more. When she opened her mouth, a beam of Raiton flew to strike against the wall and just like that the wall crumbled.

Inarie continued to move with speed and reflexes like a graceful tiger of sorts. She continued to press onward and sliced through any who resisted Inarie's assault. An aura of Raiton cloaked her body that stunned nearby shinobi temporarily. But the time was enough for Inarie to end them. Eventually she came upon a man with cannonball sized biceps garbed in Kumogakure garments. Squared jaw and bronze skin as it were. He spat out a volley of large boulders at Inarie. She was quick to dodge most of the boulders, but with a swipe of her Dragon's Blade Inarie shattered two of the boulders in order to protect herself. The large man had burrowed into the earth, and as a pair of strong hands burst through. Inarie felt the tremors before the hands emerged, and with a jump Inarie grounded her large blade into the earth beneath her. Balancing herself with only her palm on the bottom of the handle as the blade made another thunderous sound that echoed throughout the battlefield once more. The hands jerked a bit, but otherwise they had grown stiff. Just for safe measures, Inarie flipped her body to land on the ground and as she does so Inarie plunged the sword deep into the earth. Down to the hilt as a matter of fact.

Afterwards Inarie pulled her Dragon's Blade out as she was really starting to feel the fatigue in her body. The Raiton that had coated her blade soon dissipated as the last of her draconic strength faded away. Now her great sword was only that. Even so, Inarie would begin to retreat over to Madrigal and the rest of the group. Blood and gore decorated her hands, arms, shirt, pants, and even small amount of blood had splattered on her face. Glancing down at herself, Inarie made a comment.

"This is going to take forever to wash out…"

Madrigal would see her eyes open when Inarie regained consciousness and as she looked around wildly, taking in her surroundings he would continue to stand guard over her. She dropped her tanto and used the wall to brace herself as she got up. A couple of deep breathes later and she was speaking. He listened before responding. “It’s fine, more importantly, are you alright?” He would ask, not turning toward her, he was technically making eye contact with her but she couldn’t know it. He watched her take a deep breath before she swiftly removed her vest, mail, and belt before handing them to him. This would reveal some of her cleavage as only the left strap of her shirt had survived and that certainly caused something to show. Considering he had turned around to take the items his mild blush would be quite obvious.

Now however was not the time to comment on her attire, or the fact that she was extremely attractive. All that mattered now was the two of them getting out of here. As she spoke, talking of this potentially being the last time she might be able to utilize her capabilities to the fullest, but that it was a price gladly worth paying to get their comrades, and him, out of there. His blush deepened, she hadn’t meant anything by it, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want her to. Then she reached up and pulled an enormous sword from her body that black and metallic blue with raiton chakra radiating off the blade. At that point, another wave of enemies came. She grasped the hilt of her great blade and walked forward, thin lines of blue appearing upon her form as she strode forward, and proceeded to slaughter them all.

The first squad died with a quick series of slashes with her raiton coated blade, one trying to match it with a wind blade. It failed to matter in the end, and three were killed and she flung the corpse of the last one at the next group. She moved toward the next group and with a single great cleave killed three of them immediately. A beam of raiton energy from her throat obliterated a hastily formed rock wall before she continued on. Moving with the grace and precision of a dancer. He could see her quite clearly from where he was normally but with his byakugan he had a more unobstructed view. He watched as she killed any in her path, and while he himself was probably more graceful and faster when he moved. There was something a bit more intoxicating it about seeing it from the form of a woman.

He watched, entranced as she moved and eventually she would begin returning back to them. She had mowed her way through the enemy forces and opened them up the capability of their withdrawal from this part of the Trenches. At that moment, as she walked, a flare went up that signaled their own retreat, he grimaced, all this fighting, and for nothing? They had lost? He sighed deeply. When Inarie reached them he took in her blood covered form, cleavage still showing and felt another tinge of red hit his cheeks. He felt her equipment back to her, the few others that remained around them were already withdrawing but he had caught his breath enough to function. When she spoke, her comment about all that blood taking forever to wash out he would laugh. “Get dressed, I’ll watch your back, and here..to keep you from chafing due to your armor..” He would say, his eyes scanning for enemies as he unbuttoned his dress shirt and offered it to her. He still had the black undershirt and the black suit shirt would do to keep her armor from chafing her skin.  Most wouldn’t attack a retreating enemy, but some might. He would wait until she had redressed before speaking. “We need to get going.” He would say before picking up some ration bars and canteens from the pile he had gathered during his rotation at the opening and handing her a few of them.

Provided they were moving at the point, Madrigal would keep his eyes active and search for threats, while keeping his speed down to ensure she wasn’t overly taxed. It would also allow him to speak to her as they moved. There were some things he wanted to ask her. “What did you mean when you said that might be the last time you ever get to use your bloodline?” He would ask, his tone curious, but a tone of concern was in it. If her bloodline caused poor health and that episode back there had been progression of it then he wouldn’t know if he could, or if he could how, he would be able to help.

Upon coming back to Madrigal and the rest of their crew. There was a flare that skyrocketed above all of their heads. With a muffled low bang, the red light slowly cascaded. Both Inarie and Madrigal knew exactly what that meant. The signal that Konoha-Kiri alliance had lost the fight, and ultimately they were forced to retreat. Granted after what Inarie had experienced with her own body, the Azure Lotus didn't wish to push her luck too far than she already has. Even so, it felt like all of their efforts were for nothing, and here Inarie was thinking they at least held their line of defense. Only to learn that despite her efforts, it simply wasn't enough. That was a bit disheartening to say the least.

There was a look of disappointment and frustration on her expression. However she knew there was nothing she could do about it. Not in her current state at any rate. Madrigal offered her the armor back, and with a flip of the large sword like it was a knife Inarie grounded the blade into the earth before accepting the armor back. It wasn't until Madrigal offered her the shirt from his own body that Inarie realized that he was blushing. Frankly there were a couple of the other men who looked the other way as well. Inarie glanced down at herself to see that there was hardly anything covering the right side of her chest. The main problem when Inarie made her Dragon's Blade was that it tore through her shirt and chest armor. If given the option, Inarie would rather have her shirt torn than her armor being damaged.

"Thank you." Inarie showed her gratitude with a smile before she accepted the shirt and armor. As Inarie puts on the shirt and then her pieces of armor. Madrigal asked the million ryo question that Inarie had asked herself. She tried to form the best answer in her head which made her look to be hesitant to answer. Inarie began putting on her belt before she eventually just answered to the best of her abilities.

"I have two bloodlines running through my body. There's the Kaguya bloodline, and then there's the Yoru bloodline. The Yoru have this Curse of sorts that shortens their lifespan in return for power equivalent to dragons. Well, apparently I've been lucky throughout my life to avoid the Curse's dire effects since most Yoru would die around my age. To put it simply, that same Curse just tried to kill me, and if it wasn't for my Kaguya bloodline to keep my body together then it would've succeeded." Inarie ended her speech midway as she clipped the buckle on her belt that fastens around her waist. Her armor clinks from the movement as Inarie looked up at Madrigal. Not really knowing how to justify that she's okay, but they both probably knew that wasn't true.

"Because of my survival of the Curse, the power I once held from the dragons have locked itself from me, and consequently I can't use my Shikotsumyaku as well as I used." To demonstrate this, Inarie opens her free hand as a bone caltrop protrudes from her hand, but it seems to be stuck until Inarie plucked it from her hand. The wound that would have normally opened up swiftly closed as it had been opened. The caltrop was dark as the night with some blue coloration around the edges.

"But not to worry. I'm fine for now. It is a shame though, because the last of my dragon's power was spent making this big guy here." Inarie tapped the flat of her large blade with her finger. It was still hard and razor sharp. However she can't focus the same intense energy of Raiton into the blade anymore like she did before.

He would return the smile fully, a small shrug and a mildly sheepish edge to the smile the only indication that he was a tad nervous. "No problem." He would say as he watched her back. As she was dressing he would ask his question and she would answer. He would listen intently to the answer, trying to understand everything. Two bloodlines? Kaguya and Yoru? A Curse? That didn't sound particularly good, or healthy. As she finished dressing, clipping the belt on he would turn back toward her, having turned away to give her some semblance of privacy. His eyes would meet hers as he thought. When she spoke of the consequences of this 'curse' trying to kill her and her surviving due to her other bloodline he would tilt his head to the side a bit, his eyes considering. As she demonstrated the bloodline she no longer had as much of an affinity for. She would have to pull the caltrop she created out with her other hand. He wasn't sure if that was proof of lacking ability in the bloodline or not.

Given that he had only seen her pull entire swords from her body and she had pulled those out too with her free hand. However if she was demonstrating it when it was supposedly weaker than he supposed it would have to be taken as proof. He would nod his head in understanding as she spoke, saying she was fine for now. Commenting that she had used the last of her real capability making the sword she had used to slaughter all of this shinobi on the other side at the last. Wordlessly, he would climb to the top of the trench, before turning and reaching a hand down to help her up. It was only polite after all. "I'll take it as a blessing then that your Kaguya bloodline saved you at all. It means we can see about finding a way to end this 'curse'." He would say, without any hesitation volunteering himself to help her. They were comrades, that was what one did for comrades right? Besides, he liked her, and didn't want her to die because of an accident at birth that she couldn't have had any control over. "Let's get out of here yeah? I'll help you with this however I can, just ask Inarie, and I'll come." He would say simply before jerking his head toward their line of retreat.

Should she agree he would walk and talk, although what he talked about wasn't particularly specific. It would simply be in an attempt to keep her from thinking about the whole thing. He would ask her favorite foods, tell her his in return, fresh sushi, delicious, and in general just make idle conversation with her if she allowed. He wasn't usually so chatty, but for some reason he felt the need to try to keep her mind off of things. All in all the day was lost, and the battle in the trenches had gone disastrously for the Alliance, but they were at least alive and she had survived her ordeal with her bloodlines. It was a depressing day overall but they could work through that and as he said before. All she had to do was ask for his help and she would get it, no questions asked.

Exit

Madrigal was patient if anything else as she explained to the best of her ability as to what happened. In the end, he was in an agreement that the Curse has got to go. Frankly Inarie believes that she knows a way, and that was to defeat the dragon that gave her curse to begin with. Tyrsas, the Tyrant of the Skies, or rather he was until C put him in his place. Whether the dragon is her ancestor or not, Tyrsas has been sending Loyalists after Loyalists in attempts to assassinate her. Each one became bolder than the last. It forced Inarie to relocate to Konoha for a while, and that seemed to have thrown them off her trail. Now was definitely the time to take her fight to them for a change.

Her mind was pulled from the grim and dark thoughts as she knew at least two Loyalists were captured. She planned on torturing them extensively until they talked. Madrigal started to ask the little things such as what she liked for food and what her favorite color was. Inarie answered as she walked with him to be away from the Trenches. It certainly took her mind off the dark thoughts so to speak, but she already knew what she must do and attack the heart of her dragon problem.

[exit]