[attr="class","APP3"]Legends knew not the borders of man, nor had they been sentient to what vehicles allowed them passage to the ears and minds of the unexpecting. With opportunity, they could be seized and woven into a mother's lullaby-- as to warn her darlings of dangers or they could tickle muse and ignite those capering yearns of wanderlust by being propagated, turned further to fable by illustrating beasts that could not live in nature. There was truth in all legends--albeit, what grain or boulder of it which manifested its essence was up for debate-- as one such legend was illustrated by a swathe of land, once isolated and guarded as a feature in far more legendary borders before the neglection of absence set in, the countless fauna and myriad of mammilla that inhabited it no longer under the perverse eye of man as they were allowed freedom and range over their own fates. It was a quality previously known to only the most exalted of beasts that lurked in that deathly domain: The Forest of Death.

Their reality was now challenged as man meddled dangerously once more, a classic cycle of life and death should they continue to share this mortal coil. It seemed that recent politics diluted the consequences of traversing borders as forces far-spread came together in a call of arms. However, it was no without conspiracy which bred in the ranks as those idle and placid moments before the storm provided the appropriate cocktail of circumstances to nurture a breeding ground of misinformation. They were all expected to act as if they were brothers beneath a specific banner, animosities at the blood level and disputes decades in their progress were to be laid to rest as each shinobi was to play avatar for their respective Kage, effectively a shadow of their mighty leaders who were hundreds if not thousands of miles away. Ultimately, men found common ground with wet lips and clouded minds and spook carelessly.

This was not the reality of Seiichi Koji, a venerable goliath with an uncommon statuesque. The ninja was built as if he were a very mountain himself, equipped with shoulders that stretched the base of one and mighty arms that swelled when his stance became taut in battle. With a wanderlust unlike many others and a desire to improve himself further with newfound opportunities, he forewent merriment and fair tidings and explored a realm of nightmares with little more than his gi and the pelt of a great, fallen bear atop a head of disheveled locks. He was unbothered here and little filter existed, much like the home he had been in the woods of his lightning country. With his very own eyes of sea-green he witnessed beasts that belonged in imaginative musings of children than in reality: horrendous serpents of unfathomable lengths and big cats that dwarfed even the burliest of ninken. Tirelessly he fought monsters of legend, turned crueler by their distinct lack of fear to a creature they had never seen before. Seiichi fought them all and, as he still drew breath into his lungs worn-well with exhaustion, had won every time.

The Jounin who kicked, punched and wrestled every threat was unlike many men before him and there were surely to be few like him when his era of activity would come to an end. Each battle reinvigorated him and he grew only stronger, refining his methods as he better bested these massive beasts unseen by more modern men. Eventually he could successfully bowl them over with shattering kicks and punches that forced them into unconsciousness or even wrestle them, as he had the bears in Kumo, into submission. As if a wild monster in these forests, Seiichi had now lived here for the past several days. He noted the pressure of their gazes mounting, the weight of their hunger thickened the air with a wild anticipation as they observed from a distance. It seemed as if they were learning, observing the man who wore a pelt fashioned from them locked against a bear, both in a trembling struggle as they exerted against one another to shake the confidence in their balance. It was difficult to tell who prevailed in this struggle, as both pushed forward with a fury in their legs.

But it seemed as if Seiichi succeeded, hefting air quickly into his lungs as his footing shifted and he twisted violently at the first sign of the bear's faltering balance. Lifting them off the ground he twisted and slammed its burly frame hard onto the earth and used its overwhelming weight against it, birds springing from their homes and perches by the whim of that quaking crash. Seiichi disengaged quickly, hopping back as he braced himself for the next round with the hopes of making it their last. He was none the wiser to the presence of another, his attention rightfully focused at the titanic threat ahead as he roused itself back to its paws, disoriented mildly by the crash.

Then they charged each other once more, both wearing varying wounds wrought from the primal struggle of their quarrel. He moved with unshaken resolved, the nightmares of others no longer threatening as he learned to fight them all.

[attr="class","APP3"]Their struggle waged on as they clamped upon the other with a ceaseless duress, one holding the other and vice versa as they shook and fidgeted in this standing dance. Neither caved against the pressure as these venerable forces of natures warred on. Heavily forced and labored breathing had been utilized, their stamina warring through attrition and the burn of overexertion. Monstrous noises were parsed from between the lips of these battling titans as they remained locked upon the other, their growls guttural as they waged against the other with all their might. Then, from his gut, came the mightiest bellow from Seiichi as he dug deep and commanded all of his resolve. It erupted through him, pouring through his tightly gritted teeth until his jaw opened wide and the massive sound carried through. He yelled as if he commanded the Heavens to witness another marvel, whether it be his final night alive. He personified his rage with that mighty bellow, roaring if as he were the King of Beasts himself, reminding those who remained unconvinced of his role among them. A great deal of air had been expended in the process, his muscles to bulge and strain as every vein filled to the brim beneath his flesh as their efforts moved beyond doubling or tripling-- in fact, it was an exponential resolve of power that he tapped into as no fiber of his being was denied role in completing this herculean task.

And it seemed as if he had.

Seiichi bellowed still, as if his life were to end at any moment should he stop, and his feet dug deeply into the ground as the earth seemed to melt beneath those calloused pads. Utilizing his powerful core and strong back he hefted the beast up and over, heaving them briefly in the air before he fell back with a crashing thud that left no bristle, branch or beast unaware of just what occurred. It was a stomach churning collision, the beast themselves to cringe on impact as it stilled briefly in shock with only a groaning squeezing out, easing out slowly as if any expensed effort from here on would break them. Seiichi, too, was at a pained state as a fury coursed through his frame, that muscly bulk of his stressed beyond belief as the little sleep that fueled his actions and the reluctance to quite and catch his breath worked against him. Now, though, he had no choice as he turned over and snakingly stood back to his feet. It felt as if he took only fire for breath, his lungs strained from the massive breaths he took; the chest beneath his gi heaved as it expanded, expelling over and over again until he found one that would fit. His heart beat with the rataplan of an encaged beast, enraged and wanting free of its bars.

Then, with a sound of terror, the bear stumbled to get up and ran without a mention more. It raced off into the distance, its massive frame to move at a considerable speed as it fled the battle with all its original conviction tucked between its legs; in fact, it moved so quickly and with shock it hadn't even noticed the small male with his faux ears, a fine feast had it been any other time. Seiichi stood there, his stance solid as if he prepared for another round despite how his frame ached and cried for relief. His feet, heavily calloused by the sheer fact that he never wore sandals, eased out of his stance as they scrapped along the dirt. A slow and languid breath was taken, one devoid of the duress the others had to suffer through. The battle he had waged against the great bear was over, it seemed, as he was unsure if those sea-green eyes of his would ever see them again.

"Another one got away..."

That great voice of his rumbled, the words were dressed in a rich baritone and performed in that stentorian manner of speech which filled the clearing he had been in, slinking around the bends of the trees and disappearing off into the woods as if there were a challenge in it. He moved that statuesque frame of his forward, unaware of what else had lurked in the woods. It wasn't a direction chosen at random, but more for the fact that the weight of a gaze had not been felt on him from here. Little did he know that, indeed, another presence had existed with a talent in hearing that far exceeded his own-- one could not feel the weight of ears, of course. While his talents were numerous, he was but a normal man in many regards: hearing, sight, and smell were among his mundane talents as no clan or specialized bloodline propagated an advancement of their growth. Beyond the focus he could lend to those senses, there was no way or manner that they would ever evolve to afford him extreme advantage and he understood that. He moved forward, still, the presence of another unbeknownst to him unless something more obvious occurred or he even crashed into them.

The Jounin knew no enemy more foul than himself. Despite the strain felt in his muscles and the ache that plagued him in his core, he carried on as if he sought another beast to wrestle. It was clear that, in the pursuit of strength, there was a ceaseless ambition and a bottomless hunger that carried this goliath of a man forward on a fiery path meant for no man at all.

His existence was a dual one: a curse as much as it was a blessing, for even in the wake of his strength it teetered on comfort and isolation.

[attr="class","APP3"]

"Hmmm. . .?"

Rumbled the giant, the expression to roll in his massive chest like the roar of thunder in the distance as it tossed and turned in a gloomy cloud. The rampaging bear, running clear from his direction in fear of the apex predator that had dominated it twice over, revealed more to Seiichi that he had expected. Specifically, the location of something that now hid in the shrubbery that had been observing him. There had been a distinctly unique color that stained the palette of this gloomy den, far from sharing anything kin in tone with the browns, grays and greens which colored the woods extensively; in his time here he had not even seen flora, even the poisonous sort, that dressed so brightly in this den of death.

". . ."

His approach continued, undeterred by what possible threat lived in the shrubbery just above the forest floor, littered with the dearth and decay of countless decades: the canopies of the forest were on constant refresh and resupplied with new green for each season to come. Seiichi moved forth with his natural bravado, each step a to sap the distance from between him and the Usagi which hid. At that moment, when the rampaging bear revealed their location in its barreling of fear, the Kumo Jounin recognized where they initially hid as a stringy bean of an individual hid themselves fruitlessly from his view. No other sound or noise exhumed from the shinobi, save the miasma of death that aura of his could produce. It was a curse as it was a blessing and it was made no better by the accessory that donned his crown, the pelt of a slain skin with its skinned paws limp over his shoulders. To the most fearful, if not paranoid, it could have been anyone's skin. If that observing figure, the petite one with the colors that so plainly stood out in this gloomy underworld, hung around any longer they'd soon fine Seiichi before them, gazing down with a deathly stare that spoke a volume in its silence: it was the prelude of death that they expressed.

Then he stood there.

His disposition was frightful, fearsome and ever aromatic with the foul stench of death--even the lifeless eyes on his pelt seemed to harbor some malicious glow as they caught a ray of light that broke through the canopy--and it made any thought of leaving this situation live fizz out from existence. He drew a breath, slowly, as he soon was a meter from him him unless the Usagi moved and from their idleness in a fear. His chest swelled with air, expanding as trunk-like arms shifted to fold beneath it as to support their muscular weight. "You've nothing to fear, girl, there are no beasts here." It was out of accident, of course, that he misgendered the male rabbit. He knew no better, unfortunately, as there was little about the small Usagi that could convince the man otherwise, given his colorful and well-fitted robe and the faux rabbit ears worn proudly on their head.

"You need to move on -- we need to move on. This is no place for a small girl to be lost in." He insisted with that deep voice, that stentorian boom struggled to be contained despite how he tried, genuinely holding back his quaking voice for the sake of his ears. He was ignorant to their shinobi status, but not out even ill-harbored intent. He knew nothing of this stranger. "The sun will set on us soon. Give it anymore time and you'll only be able to follow the shine of their eyes." Seiichi, that titanic man who had yet to squash Hikari, mentioned. It, too, turned out that he had yet to recognize they were blind; alas, it seemed he only excelled in physical strength as he lacked unforgivably in manners.

@hikari

[attr="class","APP3"]To call the small man before him eccentric may have mischaracterized him. He was of a dainty breed and an insignificant build and, if those details weren't suggestive enough, of small and dainty hands that were nearly overwhelmed by the fanciful threads worn on his frame, of clothing he'd only seen women of affluence wear before. He gave a sniff -- then another. Was that... Lavender? What they they been doing here, this small one that called themselves 'rabbit'. Seiichi looked to the pink-haired individual, the ears of a rabbit to sprout from their rosy set of locks as they remained erect and alert to their surroundings, most likely leaning an advantage of awareness to the small rabbit who stood so oddly in the forest. What had brought them here, what desires drove them so deep into this den of death with a disregard to the danger they could undoubtedly face?

He spoke in verse, it seemed, recanting words not known to his ears. Despite the Bear's own ignorance on the matter, they were no less true to the rabbit and Seiichi knew better than to dissect these things, to propose challenge to one's thoughts or beliefs when unwarranted. They were spoken in and soft and gentle tone, a manner much unlike the energy that had existed in this forest: His was a knife, now, that cut through the tension and were perhaps the way this rabbit dealt with these moments of unyielding suspense, of stress propagated by the deathly auras emanated by creatures most deathly, foul and overgrown. They had been kings along the forest's floors and its treetops, having once ran rampant with no force powerful enough to bring them to yield, to stop or stifle them. They waged war among one another, collected in their packs, and often assaulted strangers or new comers to their lands.

-- Until Seiichi had shown up.

As Hikari stepped forth, a gentle step no different than the nature of their appearance, that sensitive nose would be greeted by a masculine musk befitting of the detail those curious ears decipher off of his beating, thrumming heart. By all speculations he was large -- no, larger than life. He towered over the young man, a single tree-trunk like leg was undoubtedly larger than he had been. It was no wonder that these monsters and beasts struggled so against him as, in any lifetime before this one, they were never pitted against a man so capable, so dangerous and unrelenting on what he took as the building blocks of his own power. If there was anything that Hikari would perhaps come to learn, in his time amongst this man, was an unyielding drive that often possessed the knack of putting him in predicaments not often considered by man.

"You are safe,"

It was then that a hand of his extended. It was an ugly hand, misshapen as a consequence of his desires. It was large and calloused unlike any the young rabbit would have witnessed before, the finer details of countless scars were evident on them as, through his own volition, they had been broken countless times before by as a product of specialized conditioning. Punching hot coals, rocks, trees and sand bags cursed him with paws that would never fit a set of gloves again, but were instead now capable of punching through countless types of material. He turned it over, that calloused and ruined paw of his, and held it out for the rabbit to take. "So long as me move together, small rabbit, no beast nor shade of death will prey on your flesh." Seiichi's was an earnest attempt of fanciful language, despite never using it. Perhaps, in his willingness to help, he mirrored that manner of speech to lend comfort to the rhyming Usagi besides him, the small rabbit lost in the heart of a deathly den.

Had it been taken, it would feel rough. To the more delicate, it was assault to the senses that such a tool was meant to be wielded by a person. They had been weapons responsible for countless degrees of destruction, even death as suggested by evidence along the unseen portions of the forest. If the rabbit neglected the gesture, as they were within the right to, Seiichi moved to withdraw his hand and bade them over in his direction as he soon began to mobilize outward.

"You mistake me," returned that stentorian voice. It was large, loud and powerful as it rumbled with its low tones and reverberated within the hollowed woods, the pair spared the threat of beasts as they scattered in the wake of Seiichi's advancing presence. "I am a man. I do not tell these beasts how to react or how to respond. I do not control their base instincts," he elaborated further as he led them through the darkening wood, the slivers of light that once lit the path were diminishing; instead, in their stead, came the twinkle of eerie eyes in the darkness, all a palatable distance from the two. "Not all in here fear me."

"Not you.'

The Bear of Kumo clarified on their walk, a truth that he recognized immediately. Despite his mundane senses, his ears were not death to the hesitation in the boy's voice or the feigned smile upon their face when they action had been attempted, but Hikari confirmed his bravery for moving besides the bear.

"Tell me, Rabbit, what is it that brought you to venture deep in the heart of this den? What is it in your convictions that overshadow the bravery of even the strongest men?"

@hikari

[attr="class","APP3"]The venerable giant that was Seiichi Koji, a mortal man that stood taller still than seven feet, found himself on the back step of the small Usagi as they took the lead with a jovial bounce and a pounding to their heart that even his own mundane and unspecialized ears could make sense of. He had hardly known a more petite male, their frame nothing more than a small wire in oversized clothing that, as ornate as it seemed, consumed him despite how tightly woven the sash around his waist was. Alas, the giant found that harbored favored for the pink-haired bunny, for how dauntless they seemed in the face of impending doom that taunted them with no guarantee of safety or return. They had yet to face the worst, they had yet to encroach upon the trials of the night as She soon would begin her hunger games on those unfortunate to be caught flat-footed in Her domain. Still, despite the waning light that soon no longer bled through the canopies above them, despite how filtered it already was, the small bunny moved effortlessly through the darkness as if he could see beyond the branches and the glowing glints of feral eyes.

Little did Seiichi Koji know... Hikari could not see at all! Not in the same sense as he, however.

"Does the Usagi go by another name?" The Bear of Kumo asked along their walk in the darkness, the heart tone audible to the rare ears of the Usagi was a placid and gentle beat, the heavy 'thrum' of his grizzly heart enough to sanction its own lullaby. It showed no fear, it reflected no concern, but only encompassed the trust in his own ability and as well as in the navigation Hikari had performed thus far. His breathing matched in tone as well, breath drawn slowly until his massive chest swelled beneath the tattered gi he'd worn and then to deflate in a similar manner. There was no doubting that this would go unnoticed to the less informed, however, in the presence of the gifted bunny there was no hiding even the finest of details. It appeared that, as they continued to traverse this stretch of forest in darkness, he had not yet finished training. It wasn't uncommon for martial artists to practice breathing techniques for their mastery, surprisingly, was the basis of internal martial arts, known as neigong that would support external arts referred to as qigong. It was all a process and Hikari had become apart of it, leading him masterfully through the dark.

IF Seiichi was handed the book, he would take it, otherwise he made no effort to reach for it. Besides, it had become too dark to read and his eyes seldom passed over things in interest that weren't manuals of combat. "It is all the Usagi that write and tell stories? Did your grandma risk being devoured for her own?" He asked to continue the conversation as, with anything, a distraction from their current reality could never hurt. Nevertheless, Seiichi remained alert and attentive. He listened to the scope that his untalented ears allowed him and he viewed his surroundings to the best of his abilities, though their scope of effectiveness was truly nullified in the dark. Being none-the-wiser to the illusion that his faux-ears possessed, the Bear was truly convinced that they were natural and as sensitive to sound as any natural set of ears belonging to a fidgety bunny, prepared to leap and dodge danger should the moment reveal itself; oddly, he couldn't help but wonder how they managed to penetrate so deeply into the woods with nary a scratch or a dent on them. Could it have been, because of those gifted ears, that Hikari sense the loom of danger before it could him, avoiding it wholly before being consumed by death's dance?

It was then that Seiichi paused, that bulk that followed closely behind the bouncing puff that was a faux-bunny tail to abruptly seize their steps. Trunk-like arms folded over a dense and powerful chest, cut deeper with muscle than scar. His right arm, resting over his left arm, had lifted to allow a scratch at his beard. He pondered something now, so intensely that it rendered him incapable of moving forward. "I... am a man more born to the woods than a home," he had begun, a sudden recant of his history. "With no mother and a lackluster father, it was beasts that taught me to fight beasts. From men, I learned to fight men." That much seemed true, seeing how, as he wrestled with the bear, they both had grappled each other as a ursine would another until he'd gotten the upper hand with the leverage of his long, trunk-like legs and was able to deliver a finished move. He would step forward, overtaking the bunny if he didn't pick up in pace. "If it were not for the crisis at the border, I wouldn't find myself here..." He'd admit, not yet finished with his delivery. "In the wild I find myself more at home, but She rejects me. She sends to me her agents, each fiercer than the the last with its crushing coils or rendering claws in hopes to assure my demise... but I beat them back." His explanation was vague, but it seemed he referred to something grander when the uttered 'She' slipped between his lips-- a deity or a god of some sort?

"To what extent will you go for the things you love, little Usagi?" Perhaps it was a rhetorical question-- He had already proved it, hadn't he? Without fear, Hikari had traversed the Forest of Death. It was a domain that even specialized and seasoned combatants knew to avoid. "I hope there is a story for you to find in my words and my questions. You deserve as much."

Snap...!

Something lingered in the distance. Had they been followed? Was this a new threat?

@hikari