Akame Ga Kill - Creeping Shadows - IC

[VanceXentan]

The world was a large place filled with dangers and destruction beyond anyone's imagination. Ancient creatures lurked in the dark shadows of caves and forests and prayed on the weak and helpless citizens of The Empire. The Young Emperor Maxim on his thrones does what he can to elevate the suffering of the people but his efforts are hindered by corrupted officials who either block or even modified the words of the Emperor himself. The Empire itself contending with these beasts has increased the need for an army which have only helped further corrupted and or sociopathic generals who feed on war. Though the Empire had many good men and women in it there is no escaping the fear in the hearts of those who do of those with the need to murder, maim, torture, exploit, and dominate them. The Empire needed a savior...or group of saviors...Night Raid...They seek to help the masses...they seek to kill those in power...overthrow the Empire...install a new order that caters to the people, made for the people, and for the people. And it will be GOVERNED by the people. It's the assassinations that feed their growing rebellion. Many flock to their righteous banner in need and seek their help and call them heroes. The Empire calls them traitors and beasts who would kill any innocent man or woman to fit their own needs. And in reality they are a group of misfits who seek to simply change things. For their own reasons they will cause a revolution they will save the people...and they will be heroes.

But can a government run by the people itself truly thrive? Can Night Raid truly say they are able to change everything and wipe away the hatred?
Salvation...Salvation is what the people need. They don't need a new government they need one that works. One that doesn't thrive on benevolent hog wash and or continue on people who seek to live in their own decadence. Formed twenty some years ago in secret by a group of intellectuals and experienced generals. Their goals are different their end games varied their but one thing was for certain. These men didn't want to kill the Empire...they wanted to reform it with a new hierarchy. Leadership was needed. Solid, unwavering, and temperant leadership devoid of corruption and selfish intentions. These men wanted a home for the citizens. One of these men were one of the most dangerous men in the entire Empire. Xerxes. Xerxes promised his comrades he'd get rid of the belligerents of chaos and pave a way for the others to fix the Empire. Be it with rebels or with the people inside of the government. He formed a group initially consisting of just him. Then came two more people then more and more until it grew into what it is today. The group took the name of their end goal...Salvation...

===

Today is a bright shining day in the middle of the mountains where Salvation calls home. An ancient monastery rebuilt by Xerxes now serves as the home of operations for Salvation as they go about their lives. From all walks of lives and from various groups and organizations comes the members of Salvation. From the Empire to the Rebellion come many different and highly talented people. Some have Imperial Arms some are simply extremely deadly warriors and poets. The Temple itself consists of a large courtyard in front and a meditation garden with a small alter in the back. A three story high tower in the middle and four other smaller one story towers to the left and right corners of the square compound. It has underground highways and prisons made by Xerxes and more than enough room for a small army.
Heavily fortified and protected by heavy iron walls and gates the temple stands as a monument to the willpower of the Salvation group. Xerxes is planning a small time assassination plan on two individuals today but he needs to finalize the information before sending out his men so he has given them free time to spend as they will.

====

In the back towards the meditation garden sits Natsuo Phoenix. He sits underneath a tree his silvery hair blowing in the wind as his emerald eyes gaze through the pages of a book. It is a book about a family who travels all around the world doing all sorts of things and in the current chapter they are going around a fair talking and having an overall amazing time with their friends. Natsuo wished he could have had that life but in the end he knew he never could and probably never would. And that was fine with him. How many people had he killed in his life so far? Tens, hundreds possibly? It didn't matter to him especially he liked a good challenge.
He flipped through the pages gently as he hummed a sweet little tune to himself; a smile graced his lips. He couldn't help but wonder...what were the others up to? There were quite the number of people here but there were others in Salvation...The Lone Spirit, Hardin, Shinto to name a few. They were probably off doing their duties or gathering allies or info. It didn't really matter to Natsuo but still he couldn't help but wonder.

====
Other than Natsuo there were at least two others doing their usual routines. Nako Homura was in front of the pond dancing around practicing her absolutely gorgeous moves by herself. Her pink dressed flowing in the wind as she twirled and spun on her heels and did all various movements each as elaborate as the last. Some were simple but each were practiced and each had their own dedicated part in Nako's movements.
Kotaro meanwhile sat by himself in front of the main gate whiddling away at a wooden box with a knife. He had been making wooden dolls, and other mundane objects in his alone time. He found it boring but it gave him something to do and that was all that mattered to him. Not enjoying the company of others was one thing but he found talking to the crazed people Xerxes and others had recruited to their cause to be even harder to get along with. In a compound full of the crazed he found it more comforting to talk and sit alone by himself just him and his thoughts.

 

[Trombone Geek]

Kinzey dropped down in front of Kotaro suddenly, waving. "What's with you? You never talk to anyone." Not even waiting for an answer, she immediately moved on to her next question. She picked up one of the wooden dolls. "Woah. So many of 'em. Got some weird obsession?" she teased, though she set the doll down carefully. "It's a really nice day, and you're just sitting there. Don't you want to do anything? OH! We could race or something!" She laughed at this. "But I'd win, we both know that. Hmm.. How about we go somewhere? You really need to get out more often. I don't even know you that well and I can tell that. I think." She grabbed his arm, attempting to drag him onto his feet. "C'mon! You can't stay boring forever!"

 

[VanceXentan]

"You know kid you talk way too much for a trained murderer what the hell are you so hyper for?" Kotaro said simply as he looked up at Kinzey his dark brown eyes glowering at her with annoyance. She seemed to mix up 'being boring and not talking' for 'enjoying peace and quiet and not bothering everyone'. The man brushed some of the dust from his coat as he looked over his current creation. "As for why I make these it's a hobby. But it's a constructive hobby. It allows you to hone your mind, senses, and concentration. Important for a marksman like myself. There's a reason why I'm called Quickshot and it's not a sex pun. Cutting wooden dolls like these makes you think over ever cut, every edge, and makes you in-vision what things will look like in the future. Not that you particularly understand any of that. I personally want to make sure I don't make some half ass piece of garbage as it reflects back on me as it's creator. If the creator doesn't put his soul into his craft what sets him apart from a novice or a factory worker? Nothing. I am an individual not a number." Kotaro half explained and mocked Kinzey as he adjusted the cloth that covered his mouth and neck. In most circles people would consider him the picture of a common mercenary or bandit. The rough brown jacket, the knife in his hand and another hocked on his belt, the brown hat the covered the top of his head, and the rather unremarkable brown boots and dirty pants. However when the girl hurriedly grabbed his arm and started tugging at him to get moving he quickly sheathed the knife in his belt and groaned. "Fine kid lead the way I'll humor you. Though I'd think Natsuo would be a better companion for you." Kotaro muttered in resignation not feeling like fighting with the younger and more energetic young lady.

 

[Cats]

Mochni stood in front of a river that was near by his home base. The young boy stared at the river, with his imperial at his side, looking at all fish that where passing by. He then ready his bow, to shot one of the fish. Mochni was a great cook, so he was in charge of catching the food, and cooking it. Mochni pulled back the string on his bow, and started to count. 1..2..3..4..5 As the boy counted up, an arrow started to form. Once he counted to five, the arrow was fully formed, and ready to shoot. Mochni picked out the fish he wanted to shot, and shot the sucker. The bow went through the fish as if it was butter. The fish floated up to the surface, and laid dead. Mochni then went to dead fish, and picked it up. Once he picked it up, he walked out of the river and threw the fish in the bag. Mochni continued to do this until the bag was full. Once he was done, Mochni gathered all of his things and walked backed to HQ. It didn't take long for Mochni to walk back to the base. Once inside, Monchni headed to the kitchen, and stashed the fish for later. After the fish we're put up, Mochni looked outside and saw that Kinzey and Kotaro where talking outside. Mochni deiced to go see what they were talking about. When Mochni walked out the door, he saw that the two were walking away. Wait up guys! Mochni shouted as he chased after the two. Once Mochni caught up, he took a deep breath. Where are you guys going, and mind if I tag along? He said exhaustively.

 

[Trombone Geek]

Kinzey grinned at Kotaro in a triumphant manner, pausing when Monchni called out to them. She turned to face the cook with her usual hyperness. "I'm dragging Kotaro out to this awesome cave I found. There's a wall with all sorts of runes on it!" She continued on in order to answer Monchni's question, "And of course! Maybe you'll make more sense of the words than I can." Finished speaking for a moment, she turned around once more and headed in the direction of the cave she had described. Unfortunately, the silence didn't last long, soon broken by Kinzey's exitable and surprisingly accurate observations of the land and life around their home, and theories about the runes in the cave they were heading to, and gossip she had heard in the market when she had last gone.

 

[VanceXentan]

"You understand that we're going to miss the Boss calling us if we stay too long right? As for the runes I can't imagine them being all too important. If there was a cave that held such things then Xerxes would have probably done something about it by now. So let's just hurry up and get too this cave Kinzey I'd prefer to go back to my wood carving." Kotaro said bluntly not all too pleased about the problem child and the wild boy dragging him off to some dank cave away from the comfortable living area that was Salvation's Sanctuary. "Come on kid don't slow us down if you don't keep up Kinzey will just get more hyper." grumbled the grizzled veteran as he moved along with long strides.

====

Natsuo closed his book and breathed out deeply as he looked towards the sky and got up. He yawned and cracked his neck before noticing Nako was standing in front of him. "Hey sweety how are you doing this morning?" Nako asked as Natsuo smiled up at her and she offered her hand to him but he shook his head and got up himself. "How am I feeling? I'd say about the same as usual Nako thanks for asking." Natsuo said as he looked around the courtyard; at the trees that stood tall around him and he sighed. "I'm not a big fan of there not being as many people as there could be here. But more than us and we'd be suspect to something. We're already going off the alias as a religious organization whenever a group passes by but I'm not sure how long we can keep this disguise up." Natsuo said as started to walk with Nako towards the tower. "You worry too much Natsuo. I'm glad you're careful but we can hold our own against anyone. Xerxes alone could probably handle Esdeath and her entire brigade by himself if he had too." Nako said as Natsuo raised an eye brow at the red haired woman. She chuckled at it and Natsuo groaned. "The Boss is a great guy and all but is he really as strong as you say? Esdeath ain't some low level weakling. I've heard the stories." Natsuo said remembering his brother's recounting of Esdeath's brutal execution of an entire tribe of people. It was not a memory he cherished. "You underestimate him just as much as I'm probably underestimating Major General Kyle's real power. But I've seen him fight once and it was one of the most one sided battles I'd ever seen. So just don't worry about it my little man. You can rest easy and keep doing your job knowing nothing will ever be able to stop our goals."

 

[Trombone Geek]

((Vance, I thought Esdeath and all canon characters didn't exist. o-o) Kinzey grinned at Kotaro's complaints. "There's this weird hum coming from some of thr runes. You'll know what I mean when we get there. Which is right now." She pointed to an old arched entrance to a tunnel that dipped sharply and headed underground. "I can use my Arms to feel how the wind travels so we can get through. I forgot to bring a torch. Oh well!" Cheerily, the hyper assassin led the way into the tunnel. Right upon crossing the threshold of the tunnel, one could feel the hum Kinzey had described force its way into their mind, unless they were just completely oblivious to their surroundings. Kinzey began to ramble, stating that the echoes of her voice, she had remembered, made it easier to navigate. Kinzey's eysz glowed yellow from the self-inflicted version of the girl's Imperial Arms, allowing the others to see slightly. Kinzey went into incredible detail of what she felt after temporarily giving up her sight, her senses much stronger now. She described the smallest temperature changes that her companions couldn't feel, the far off rushing of water they couldn't hear, the strange "taste" of the air in a cave, and the certain smell that "dead rock"--Kinzey explained how the oils on human hands "killed" rock by destroying the minerals on it, resulting in a grey color, and warned her friends not to touch the rock unless their lives depended on it--would give off compared to the rest.
The tunnel widened suddenly into a huge cavern, obviously the ruins of some ancient culture. Sunlight streamed in from holes in the cavern's roof, allowing Kinzey to deactivate her Imperial Arms. "The humming is strongest when you touch the wall," the assassin stated, motioning to the huge runed wall that curved its way smoothly across what seemed to be the far end of the cavern, seemingly untouched by time, markings as clear as the day they were made. Judging by the thin door splitting up the middle lower half of the ginormous wall, there was more to be found. Unfortunately, the door was locked, and required a special artifact to unlock it, judging by the three small holes located in a circular protrusion to be found in the center of the door. This meant the lock couldn't be picked, and that unless they found the artifact, they would never know what lay behind the door.
"The humming actually comes from behinx the door, I have come to believe. I'm hoping it may be another Imperial Arms to add to our collection, but we'll see."

 

[VanceXentan]

"I'll take your word on that." grumbled Kotaro as he listened to the young woman's strange obsession with rocks and how humans touching them 'killed' them or some nonsense. It was all nonsense to him. Rocks were rocks. They didn't breath, they didn't eat, and they just stayed where they were unless something moved them. Whatever Kinzey was trying to impress on him it failed. Though if he had to give him a compliment he at least was impressed that she could handle her imperial arms well enough. Personally he found the items to be tasteless pieces of garbage built by a man desperately clinging to power. They empowered the user to do great things but without them how strong were the actual users? "Another Imperial Arms? Bah I think this here is some sort of vault or prison. My first guess is that this place was made to contain some sort of danger beast. It's using it's powers to call out to try and get someone to open the door so it can get out. Why would the Emperor make such a place out in the middle of nowhere to store an imperial arms? Secondly this was probably a place where the monks came and went. It's near the monastery we call home now. Really now Kinzey is your mind so one sided you can't think of other possibilities other than magic? Regardless I will throw away my own arguments and say it's possible there is a Imperial Arms in there. What's the point? Who would get it? Natsuo or Nako? Natsuo loves his sword and Nako, while a possible candidate, doesn't especially like the concept of wielding such overwhelming power that comes from Imperial Arms. She prefers simplicity of normal weapons and finds beauty in it." Kotaro muttered as he walked around the cavern and scanned the walls looking for any sign of anything that may or may not explain what was in there in reality.