HIghrising

Swordlike, the sun cut the canopy.

Irui crouched in the dense undergrowth, feeling the environment scurry and slither about him. Carefully, he moved forward, his dark cloak concealing his movements as he slipped, snake-like through the water choked greenery. There! Through the vines, he caught the glimpse of white stone, and rooftops and streets.

Perfect.

A crossed seal materialized a shadow doppelganger into the clearing, who immediately raised his hands, and lowered his hood. "People of the Land of Sky," He began, and opened his left hand, revealing a gleaming scroll. "I have come bearing gifts, and offerings of a partnership from my Lord Okane, and his Heavenly Emporium!"

One by one, pairs of eyes settled on the newcomer. Hidden in the undergrowth, he could sense numerous chakra signatures flickering to life across the hidden village. Still, Irui gave his clone assurance. Their intent was equally peaceful, if anything, they were curious. My, my, he thought, Zephyr's diplomacy was truly worthy of commendation.

The Shadow Doppelganger's eyes twitched to movement in the distance-- catching the glimmer of an arrow tip  shimmering from a tree top. Here and there he found more of them, cautious long-range fighters had taken their positions, training them upon the Shadow Clone. Irui felt the clone's form tense, watching its surroundings carefully. Slowly, it slowered its hands, and held out the golden scroll from the Stag Emporium.

The air shimmered ahead of him, between the arches of the entrance; corkscrewing itself into a twister that coalesced into young, dark haired man. He wore dark green robes, and held a mask with large, yellow and red eyes at his hip. He smiled faintly and stepped forward.

"What theatrics...." He said, "Zephyr said you would be arriving soon, Mamoru of the Heavenly Emporium-- Had he not been so polite, we would have had him shot on sight." The man continued, stepping strangely down the pathway, following a trail of roots. "Hidden Villages have approached us before with meager offerings, yet this Heavenly Emporium seeks to enrich us through resources and technology"

He came to stand upon a mossy stone, perfectly balanced.

"So I asked myself, what does this Lord Okane have to gain from this? Life is a delicate balance of give and take. What does Okane wish to take from us?" He questioned. "Lumber? Rare animals? Our botanical knowledge? Many have come seeking the powders we've developed."

"No--" Irui interjected, "None of that. Lord Okane is interested in something far more valuable, and envisions a partnership for the future. Legend has it the aptly named, Soragakure achieved something all other nations have pined for, and only scarcely replicated with Jutsu. You've hidden yourself well in the lowlands, far better than the Hidden Grass and Hidden Leaf ever could, to conceal your knowledge of flight--"

A single chakra thread spirited the golden scroll through the air, landing it delicately at the man's feet.

"--Take a look there." Irui ventured. "Lord Okane is willing to provide the contents of that scroll, to your village-- in addition to technology, resources, even personnel. He is a generous man--"

The bowman waved his hand, manipulating the air to carry it into his palm. "And I am a cautious man. We've chosen to live here to protect our technology," He returned, and examined the item, palming it in his hand, testing its weight. Satisfied, he unraveled the scroll, and scanned its contents. "However, these terms...." The bowman's dark brown eyes flicked to his visitor. "These terms are good, almost too good."

"You are afraid of your technology, because you lack the resources and infrastructure to safeguard it. You have chosen a life of stealth, hiding here on the equator, far from the other villages. You've never had the ability to... forgive me.... spread your wings. No other Hidden Village has offered you support. Other villages would rather grind you into the dust."

Irui tilted his head, letting the words gather weight.

"If you don't believe me, see what the other nations will offer you; it will be short and only end in war. We, the Heavenly Emporium, are a neutral party to the hidden villages. We do not seek war, or conquest, only to push society away from the violence."  

The bowman's eyes flicked quickly across the scroll's writings. HIs adams apple bobbed.

"All... All of this?" He repeated.

"All of it." Irui returned, "All of it."

[Soragakure purchased.]

Rakuen's eyes beamed, his lips quivered.

This was too much.

HIs hands shook, and fingers curled to claws, threatening to tear and crumple the document. His own heart raced like a rabbit, his lungs caught and choked in their own excitement. Carefully, he raised his thumb over an ornate signing space. With just a press of his fingerprint, the world was at their fingertips. The bowman's voice caught in his throat, and he swallowed the lump growing there. Snapped from his fever dream he turned and twisted about, looking bewildered to the villagers that looked on.

Their people had grown to be one with the landscape, learning to live lightly off the dense tropical forests and mangroves of the Land of Sky. Their ancestors saw how the birds of the equatorial tropics skipped and bobbed like the wind over the sea, and through the trees. Birdsong, color, and feather was ingrained in their culture.

HIs sharp green eyes knew every tree and stone. He could identify every herb and insect, and with his bow and mastery of the Wind element, he was fierce . Yet his eyes and strength could not protect them forever. They'd known hardship, intense starvation, outbreaks of malaria and fever. The residue of the war had come floating across their seas too. Shoals of dead fish, carcasses of strange mechanical monsters, even the air stank of artificial chakra.

Rakuen's gaze settled on the old, weathered shrine glinting from from atop distant rocks.

This Lord Okane.... His thoughts swam as he glanced back to the scroll. Our elders wanted to hide, to wait out the rainy season. This man, if this is true....

The rains had come, bolstered by unseasonably hot weather. The Elders blamed the warring Great Nations, and their reckless Ninjutsu. They couldn't have been more right. When the rains arrived, they brought mosquito's bloated with infection. Floods fouled their cropland, stagnant water gave rise to thick orange carpets of brood.

Death arrived in the guise of biting needle-mouths.  

Rakuen closed his eyes, shutting out the world. All it had taken, was one foul monsoon and the Village Hidden in The Sky was no more; reduced to something less than a village.

I don't want to see that again, ever again. The sight of the children, with their whole bodies bristling in mosquitos, the wounds on their flesh. So much fire, we burned so many people...

He pressed his thumb to the scroll.

A tingling vibration scurried across his thumbpad as the sealing magic mimicked his fingerprint, brushing lightly into the unseen grooves and canyons. He peeled open his eyes to watch as the scroll dissected itself, casting off a part of fabric, and reshaped itself into a neat parcel, embossed with a seal for the Stag Emporium.

I never want to smell the--

Something acrid, yet sickeningly sweet, ghost-like in its faintness pricked Rakuen's nose. A seabreeze carried it gently across the clearing, and the bowman's eyes followed the wind, to the  dark robes of Lord Okane's agent. There was a raven in their midst; a mottled black-cloaked thing of a human. Its own charcoal eyes met his.

"Rakuen," His sandpaper voice came, "You will never know famine and pestilence again, you have my word and Lord Okane's promise. He wishes to pull the world from this chaos. Zephyr informed me there was something you wanted to show  us, if you agreed to our terms. Lord Okane would like your help in restoring the Village Hidden in the Sky. You have protected your people, now it is your time to lead them into the new age."

Irui, the Raven, held a leaf between his fingers, and as if to accentuate his point, let it fly on the wind.

"Under Lord Okane, your Village will fly again."

(scene change?)
[exit]