Awakening, a new dawn

There was one room of the hospital in particular that if one where to glance inside it was likely to stand out ever so slightly from the rest.   Aside from being located in the vip section it contained a table full to almost overflowing with get well soon cards and freshly placed flowers that where changed on a daily basis.   It seemed the occupant inside was much loved and much missed.

Everything was quite that day as a young lady just on the verge of adulthood lay deep in slumber upon her bed. The only sound was the steady but regular rhythm of a heart monitor without which one would question the status of the room's occupant of still being among the living.

Her fair skin once one a shade of vibrant white-pink had grown deathly pallor, her breathing so faint as to be barely perceptible. An unaware visitor would likely come in and think they had come across a well preserved corpse rather then a still active patient of the facility.  The doctors assumed that she was afflicted with the plague though the truth was another matter. They could hardly be blamed though when the symptoms where so similar.

It would take a Medical practitioner of extraordinary intelligence to notice the difference.  In the land of lightning those where few in far between.  One Morikawa Mikiri was too busy researching the plague hoping to find a cure to look too deeply into any one patient and the other was the very patient herself.

There had been no change for so long, the patient never getting worse but never getting better that some of the caregivers where starting to privately think maybe it was best to simply take her off life support and let nature take its course rather then letting the poor girl continue to waste away in dormancy.

But it seemed fate or the gods had other plans for her as for the first time in what must have felt like eternity something change.  The rhythm of the heart monitor began to speed up as the girl groaned, her eyes shifting underneath the shut lids as her consciousness began to swim out of the deep dark abyss and back into the light.

Jolting upright her snapped open and she gasped taking in a deep lungfull of air for the first time in ages.  It should have been painful but instead felt refreshing, for someone who had been still for so long she was moving surprisingly well, exhibiting little signs of muscle atrophy. It was almost like she had gone for a simple short nap and not be in a coma for months on end.  

Already color was return to her skin as she blinked and surveyed her surrounding trying to puzzle together what was going on.  The first thing she noticed was a single pink sakura petal clutched in her right hand, a sign that her crush Nozomi had been by to see her at some-point in time.    

“Tis seems I am in the hospital. How did I get here? Did I lose my match?” thought Ryuko to herself out loud her memories of the last few days before she had fallen ill still fuzzy due to having been asleep for so long.

The twins had heard news Ryuko was showing signs of wakening as they rushed to the hospital when they enter her room she was already sitting up as the pair would quickly rush her and glomp her showing a few tears. She had been near death for so long, yet she was alive lord Jashin decided it was not time for her to die yet. They would let go of her and smile, they had to make sure she understood her body would have a lot of muscle atrophy and she would need to take it slow, the twins could help her on regaining her muscle strength through therapy.

"How do you feel Ryuko you were out for a really long time, after your fight you fell into a coma and have been in one ever since it's been over a year now. Do not try to get out of bed quickly we will need to do some muscle exercises with your legs and body in order to make it not atrophied. We are so happy you are back, Shimiko has gone away on some sort of trip but we are sure she will be back soon."

They would if she allowed begin to massage her legs in order to help the flow of oxygen into the muscles, it was clear they knew what they were doing from a medical standpoint. They wanted her to be back up and about and be a treat for Shimiko when she came back to see alive and well.

"You need to take it slowly at first, please understand your body being at rest for so long means it will take a while to readjust to moving around. Do not worry we will help you recover back to your full strength we are much stronger ourselves since you last saw us. We sadly lost the exams a second time, but we had to surrender in the survival part of exam to save Miyu life. We could not let friends or family die for our own personal goals, but we are fine rank means nothing sand doesn't display actual power."

Ryuko had barely woken up as was still in the process of getting her bearings with the door to the room practically burst open with as a set of very familiarly twins arrived on the scene. They where quite the site for sore eyes and Ryuko felt herself tearing up at the edge of hers. It seemed like she had only seen them just yesterday and yet strangely hadn’t seen them for a very long time.

That said something seems slightly off. They looked older then Ryuko remembered them being and hang an air of maturity about them that clashed with her image of them being children. As a seasoned warrior she could tell from the way they where moving they where stronger too, strong enough to potentally give her trouble in a fight if she wasn’t careful.

Part of her almost wondered if someone was playing a trick on her, using a bad transformation technique to try and fool her but the tears on their faces where anything but fake, telling her they had to be the real deal and so she allowed their hug without resistance, hugging them back to try and reassure them.

“Shh, don’t cry. Everything will be fine now.” Ryuko said soothingly as she gently used each of her her hands to stroke the twin’s long hair at the same time. It was touching really how much they cared for her when really all that must have happened was that she’d lost a tournament match which wasn’t really all that big a deal. Or at least that’s what she thought before they hit her with a big bombshell.

She’d been asleep for over a year…. how the heck was that even possible? The tournament had just been a series of exhibition matches. She shouldn’t have suffered any serious damage. That said something about the event bothered her, as if she was forgetting something important or rather refusing to remember in order to avoid psychological damage.

“...I see.” Replied Ryuko after a long moment. “So Shimiko’s out at the moment. What about Natsuru or Nariko?” She asked politely. Surely someone from her squad had to be around to fill her in on everything she had missed while playing the sleeping beauty.

“You failed the exams twice?” She asked surprised. She knew firsthand how Shimiko was both a good mother and a good teacher. It seemed strange that the twins hadn’t aced the test on their first try let alone the second. She almost wanted to ask for the protector to have their head examined but hearing they had failed in order to protect a friend eased her worry.

“Yui, Yua you did well. Protecting your love ones isn’t a failure at all, rather I’d be disappointed in you if you hadn’t.” Ryuko said. It seemed they where on the right track after all and she had little doubt they’d earn their much deserved promotion soon.

“I do have some questions about your exam though. First who’s Miyu?” she asked a feeling just slightly concerned. If this was just a team mate that would be one thing but given the twins history the priestess didn’t want to allow just anyone to get close to them. They’d suffered enough for two life times already and she only wanted to see smiles from them for now on.

“And what’s this about Sand? I though they where disbanded.” She said. If Sunagakure was operational again that was a major change to the political landscape, especially with all the refuguess that Kumogakure had taken in. If they decided to switch sides and return to their home village the damage they would do was incapable.

They were glad she was up and about as she asked about Nariko and Natsuru, sadly the former had abandoned the village and went off with some guy. as Ryuko ran her hand through the pair's hair they could only smile wider. She did not seem to deny them the chance to massage her legs as they began to do work to help her muscles gain strength, she had a lot of questions so they would do their best to answer her.

"Natsuru chose to abandon the village to run off with some guy, so we no longer think about her, Nariko is working hard as the kage but we feel like she has had a lot of stress especially after there was a near civil war with the Jashin church. We are not happy with the church myself and plan to do something about it, id rather not tell you what we plan to do as you would likely not approve."

They would begin to push hard into her legs as they were working the muscles and making sure they would not get knotted up when she began to try to walk around. The sound of hearing the failed twice made the pair's eyes glow red for a short time before it would fade, they would not lose control even if it made them mad thinking about it.

"Yeah we failed sadly as for who is Miyu she is family, Shimiko brought her over to Kumo from Kiri after we introduced them to Jashin. She is a very nice girl and kind to most everyone and a cannibal like ourselves. I am sure you knew about our cannibalistic ways but yes she isn't a bad girl at all."

When they looked confused about sand they realized they had a slip of word, it was true Suna was back as a nation and well they could make sand themselves. Yui would lift her hand as sand would begin to form and spin in her hand, she also could manipulate the sand.

"That was a word slip Ryuko, but yes the land of Suna is back, they appear to be full of strong people and information coming back is they are not someone you want to mess with. We are also the one tail host now, surprisingly we get along really well with him, we feel its because we understand the way he thinks."

They would motion for Ryuko to roll onto her side as they began to work on her hip, they had to make sure to make her joints flexible this part would be a bit painful as they would begin to work and eventually pop her hip releasing the large amount of stress that had built up.

The hits starting coming and they didn’t stop coming as Ryuko reeling from one startling revelation to the next. It was so quick that even with her formidable intellegence she was having trouble even processing everything she was hearing. The neurons in her mind were working overtime just to cope with the flood of information she was receiving.

“Say tis not so…. Has Nat-chan truly left us?” pleaded Ryuko not wanting to believe the news. The Thundercats where the best team she could possible ever imagine. The idea of not begin able to work with both of her sisters again on the same squad ever again felt like an alien concept.

The priestess felt a surge of guilt on hearing how stressed Nariko was. She was supposed to be the Raikage’s attendant for Hakkin’s sake, and yet here she’d been leaving her lady to do all the heavy lifting by herself for over the last year.

At hearing the words Civil war and Jashin however Ryuko’s eyes flashed with indignation and she nearly bolted out of the bed on the spot, restraining herself only because she knew she needed proper context first before choosing a course of action. Acting rashly here could reflect poorly upon her position as a vestal.

“Please tell me more about this near civil war.” Ryuko asked settling back into a seating position and allowing the twins to message her legs though she was doubtful she needed it since she was moving suprisingly well for someone who had been asleep for so long.

The reason she had been able to restrain herself was a simple one. Open conflict between that particular church and the state made little sense. The Worship of Janshin had been legalized for years now and they no longer faced prosecution. What possible reason would they have for causing trouble now?

“You might be surprised what I would approve in this case. The Church of Hakkin and The Church of Janshin have something of an understanding with each other. If they broke that agreement their will be hell to pay.” said Ryuko her voice full of steel. The Janshinest where lucky she hadn’t been awake when they had been running roughshod over the city damaging property. If she had been the streets would have been running over red with their blood.

Ryuko almost felt like face-palming upon hearing that Shimiko had brought home yet another stray. With three children under her belt already it would be very difficult for the single mother to find a good husband for herself. Still the idea that she had another neice to spoil was an appealing one, or at least it had been until the topic of cannibalism came up. Another surprise since she’d had no idea the twins had dined on their fellow human beings before.

“By Hakkin’s breath what has the church of Janshin been teaching you? ” Ryuko cried out in alarm. With Shimiko as their guardian they should have been more then well enough off to put food on their table and not have to resort to such terrible measures.

This time she didn’t hesitate to get up. She had to find and collect Miyu at once and preform a purification ritual on her and the twins to remove the bad karma they had acclimated for committing such a sin. Dealing with the rival of Suna could wait for another day, first she had to protect the children in her family. Before she could take a single step however the Twins’s last confession was enough that to force her back onto her seat in shock.

“Das’t” She swore. How had this been allowed to happen. Who had gone and made the twins a Jinchuuriki? Ryuko had sought to become one so that she would have the power to stand up against Shiori but that was with the full understanding of the consequences preforming such an act would entail.

Pushing that power onto the shoulders of two innocent (well mostly anyway aside from the influence of that vile church) kids was unconscionably. How had things gone so wrong for this to happen? What on earth had happened to Akame that the bijuu had to be transferred from her? The questions seemed endless. Whatever the answer more then anything Ryuko regretted her powerlessness to stop such an act from occurrence in the first place.

“Any other bombshells you want to hit me with?” asked Ryuko wearily. After that last one she almost didn’t think it was possible for her to be surprised anymore but right about now she could use some good news for a change.

She seemed shocked but yes Nats had left them, ran off with some man and had hurt Shimiko deep down. When Ryuko had fallen into a coma this devastated her and she had dived deep into the Jashin church, even the twins noticed Shimiko had become less stable and a lot more willing to take violent actions than before. As for the civil war this was difficult they were not here for it but it appeared Nariko arrested Mora for some reason and it involved someone named Kotoshura Yui.

"Yes Nats left us as for the civil war... well Nariko arrested Mora for some reason it happened when I was at the exams, I guess she demanded to see some girl named Kotoshura Yui. We do not know much about her but we hear she's very powerful and not someone you want to mess with."

She mentioned some agreement but the twins were not in the political side of the church, they had no idea what she was talking about. However, the twins certainly agreed the Jashin church had overstepped their boundaries and they had a plan to take care of this. She suddenly leaped up when the twins mentioned being cannibals, it was clear she was disturbed before she would sit back down, she also clearly was shocked they were a tailed beast now. A lot of things had happened for sure and she had a lot to catch up on.

"No, we have no other bombshells we think you have heard enough for the day we don't want to put you back into a coma from stress. We understand you may hate some things we have told you but rest assured we went with these choices ourselves to protect our family we had to become stronger."

So it was true then, Natsuru had left them. Ryuko hadn’t wanted to believe it but even she had no choice but to accept the truth after hearing it twice. But at least she supposed that her sister was happy in her own way. If it wasn’t so bittersweet it would have been funny, since the priestess had though out of the three of them she herself would have been the most likely to run off with a lover. The thought of abandoning her responsibility to chase after Nozomi had cross her mind more then once or twice over the last few years.

“Just to be clear, when you say she ran off you don’t mean she went missing correct?” she asked already half expecting she knew the answer. The very idea that Nat-chan could be listed in the village’s bingo book was enough to send shivers down her spine and couldn’t possibly be true. “Did she at least leave a letter for me, or a forwarding address of some kind?” Ryuko said following up with more questions.

It would be rude of her not to inform one of her closest friends that she was hale an healthy again as well to express her condolences for that friend’s new found happiness. Who knew maybe after being asleep for so long she could be an honorary aunt for yet another bundle of joy.

“Kotoshura Yui I seem to recall hearing that name somewhere.” muttered Ryuko. Parts of her memory were still fuzzy from her slumber but even so hadn’t that been of on the chunnin exam participants. What on earth would Lady Superior of the Orthodox Church of Jashin want from her?

“I suppose tis would be best if I asked Nariko for details. If anyone has the full picture about this civil war tis be her. Would you know where I could happen to find her” asked Ryuko. There was a large probability that Nariko was simply at the Raikage’s office but it never hurt to confirm that first before running of, if for no other reason to avoid wasting time.

After hearing that the twins had chosen to receive the bijuu on their own Ryuko letting out a long sigh then reached up a hand to brush the steak of blue hair to the side before gracing the twins with a warm smile.

“I want to be absolutely clear with you on this. Tis few other people in the world I would trust to play host to power, I just wish such things weren’t necessary. That ideally such sweet children such as yourself would not need to experience the horrors of the battlefield.” said the priestess feeling weary that the world could be such a cruel and careless place.

“Yua, Yui have you ever considered leaving the church?” she asked delicately breaching what might be the most difficult discussion of the day so far. As far as she understood it the core of Jashinism was about learning to live life without fearing pain,but rather to understand and accept it. Normally she would have kept her mouth shut preferring to respect another religion but if they where teaching stuff like cannibalism they where clearly acting as a bad influence.

The twins were unsure how to answer that as they shrugged their shoulders, all the knew was Shimiko was deeply saddened her friend abandoned her for some guy. as for a letter they had no clue really they just knew they helped cheer up Shimiko and did not want to make her suffer by digging too deeply.

"We... did not dig too much about her... Shimiko was in so much pain we couldn't bring ourselves to cause her more suffering."

When she asked about Nariko they knew where she was at the moment she was in Kiri for the exams, so she would not be able to be reached at the moment. The current acting kage was Shimiko until Nariko got back, and that was not likely for a good while.

"Nariko is in Kiri waiting for the exams to finish to bring home the genin still there, she a very busy person."

She responded to them saying they took the tailed beast willing and began to explain what a burden it was. She was deeply wrong though calling the twins innocent they had been killing since around seven years od. Nothing about them was innocent they had lost their childhood innocence long ago, it's sad that Ryuko did not fully understand the twins yet. As they were about to answer her she asked a question that actually made anger show on their face. The kind demeanor they had was all but gone, this question clearly infuriated them.

"Why the hell would we ever want to leave the church, DO YOU KNOW we would be DEAD if it wasn't for Shimiko and the church saving us. If not dead a worse fate, we would be fuckholes for scumbags buying us for our bodies until we were so broken we died. IS THAT THE FATE you think we should have had... without the church... we would have given up on life it was our only light in the darkness. No, we never thought about leaving."

Ryuko simply nodded as the twins told her about how they’d avoiding digging into the issue much to avoid making the wounds Shimiko was suffering from Natsuru leaving any worse.   She’d half expected as much, they where rather well intentioned at least for the most part but they weren’t well equipped to handle that kind of investigation delicately so it was the smart play to make.   The priestess supposed if she wanted to find out more she was going to have to do some research of her own.

She’d also asked about Nariko to confirm what she’d already been suspecting. There was no way Ryuko would have guessed the Raikage was in all the way in the land of waves but it wasn’t hard for her to assume that something was keeping her tied up since otherwise she would have made an appearance shortly after Ryuko’s awakening come hell or high water.

That said if Nariko was out of town the most likely person to be put in charge in her absence was one of her students.  Another easy deduction, Natsuru was gone and Ryuko was in a coma which left Shimiko by default.  But if Shimiko was out at the moment who was the next in the chain of command?  That tough made Ryuko recall the names of some Jounin she knew like Mori and Lei but while she could see the former pulling it off the later was way too much of a space case to be given so much responsibility.  

She could tell at least a little about what the twins where thinking by watching their eyes closely as she talked to them.  If they where just a pair of strangers it would take her longer to work them out but they where someone she knew which gave her a solid bases to start with even if they had changed somewhat over the years the priestess had been asleep.

They seemed almost doleful that Ryuko though of them as innocent but what they didn’t know was that to the priestess such concepts where relative. The fact that the twins had experienced so much of the worlds evil’s first hand and still processed enough of a heart to worry about others was enough in her book to prove at least some innocence remained no matter what they might claim otherwise.

The twins grew angry at Ryuko’s inquiry as she fully knew they would. Frankly it would have been strange for them not to exhibit at least some from of aggravation after being asked such a loaded question.  In response she simply gave them a gentle smile.

“Of course I knew. The fact that you were not found sooner, the fact we weren’t unable to prevent those atrocities from happening to you in the first place is one of my biggest regrets.  My work to insure that sort of thing never happens again in the land of lightning or any other land for that matter is the only thing that keeps me going on days when the loneliness at being unable to be with the one I love feels like tis crushing my very soul.”  admitted Ryuko without a hint of any lies or deception in her words.

“I failed you that day and by the grace of the gods I shall not fail you again” said the priestess her voice now full of conviction.  Normally she would not ask something so difficult of them but today she must because to do otherwise would mean she had indeed failed them by not protecting them from a cult’s vile influence.

“Yui, Yua when you where saved that day tis was not by the church but by Shimiko’s hands and that’s an important distinction because she was acting as an individual.  One person does not compose an entire religion, one person is not a monolith.  Do you understand what I’m saying?” she asked hoping they where following her along so far.

“Just because Shimiko is a good person does not necessarily mean the rest of the church is.   The fact they where willing to start a civil war despite being allowed to worship openly while other countries shunned them is testament enough is something is not right with them.  You yourself know this because you admitted to me just a few minutes ago that you wanted to do something about tis, something extreme enough you thought that I might not approve.”   Ryuko said using the twins own words to drive home her point.

It seemed clear enough that the foundation for the church of Jashin had grown rotten with corruption and greed.  They had gotten a taste of power and legitimacy and craved more to the point where they had demanded to be acknowledged.  She could see it in her minds eye even now them demanding the people convert or die.  From the sounds of it things had been settled for now before erupting into full blown conflict but she very much doubted that no lives had been lost.  What was worse despite putting a lid on it the kettle was still boiling and could erupt again any moment.

For the last few minutes part of Ryuko had been wondering why out of all the times Hakkin could chose to wake her up, he had picked now and finally she had an answer which was clear as day.  She had been called upon to preform an inquisition.  To see that those responsible where brought to justice for their crimes.

“I know I said before that one person does not make a religion but I want you to consider that one does not need an organizational or even a physical location to pray. To follow a religion all one needs is simply believe it’s teaching in their hearts.” continued Ryuko saying in her own way that just because she was asking them to leave the church didn’t mean she was asking them to abandon their god entirely.  

“I will not tell you who to worship. Unlike the Lady Superior I believe people should have the freedom to chose their own god.  But I will say that regardless of your decision to remain with the Orthodox Church of Jashin or not, they must reform if they wish to remain in this country.  The Church of Hakkin will NOT tolerate continued extremism from them.”  she declared boldly.

The twins would begin to hear her preach about how she knew what they had been through and that she had failed to save them. The anger welled up inside of them again as she continued to say she failed, she had failed. The entire village had failed them but no Ryuko would not have saved them, their stepfather was a political figure untouchable by shinobi. She didn't understand this situation only doing things off the books could work, no way a shinobi could have touched their father through legal channels.

"YOU ARE SORRY YOU DID NOT SAVE US... You... you lie you couldn't have done ANYTHING to save us...Our stepfather was a high ranking political figure, your shinobi laws would not apply to him. No, he was untouchable by legal means so Shimiko offered us our only relief we brutally killed that man SKINNED HIM ALIVE... yeah we killed him he deserved every bit of that death... we are not good and innocent people."

They listened to her begin to talk about how the church was not Shimiko and they clearly already knew this but they were mad as their nails began to dig into the hands. Small drops of blood began to drop to the floor with them looking up toward Ryuko and having their eyes glowing red.

"We know the church needs to change and we will force this change, we will not stop killing people, however. We will kill those that truly deserve to die those on death row in Kumo or those that are sex trafficking and selling humans or human body parts to others. We WILL not tolerate this trade-in Kumo and we will be the judge, jury, and executioner."

They continued to listen as she once again said they must change or she was going to do something about it. This the twins agreed with and they would invoke the change, if they killed off the church leadership Shimiko would never strike them down, no she would be mad but they would place her as the leader. This is what needed to happen to enforce change, the twins tried time and time again to convince the elders but they refused to change ways and even started a revolt. They had to teach them a lesson and change everything.

"We plan to poison and kill the entire church leadership, they deeply trust us and consider us valuable so if we asked for a feast they would give it. We will help prepare the food and will put poison in all the food, of course for us it won't cause any damage our bloodline will destroy the poison and we will not fall ill at all. They, however, will die and Shimiko will be placed as the head of the church where she belongs, I am tired of talking to the elders they are senile and refuse to listen to reason."

They would calm down as their eyes would go back to normal and they would open their hands as their wounds began to heal. They were ready to change the church one way or another they would either all die and Shimiko would be placed in charge or if this failed they would destroy the entire religion, Ryuko was right they needed no building to have a belief in a God that likely hated the current pathetic church.

Ryuko shook her head no.  She had to admit It stung a bit to be accused of lying, especially when she’d never given the twins anything but the unvarnished truth.  In fact she’d gone out of her way to include them as a party to a fairly serious discussion just before fainting, not that she remembered that fact at the moment.

“Couldn’t I have though?” asked Ryuko about the idea that twins seemed to have she couldn’t have been able to help them. “To you I’m nothing more then Ryuko and I’m forever grateful that you treat me that way.” she said.  Being treated as nothing more then a big sister instead of someone special was a refreshing change of pace for her, a chance to let down her hair and be a normal person for once, at least for a short while.

“But you seem to be forgetting that I am more then some mere run of the mill shinobi.  I am Ryuko Shizu Von Roze, a member of the aristocracy and a fairly high ranking one at that even before taking my position as a member of the church of Hakkin into account.”  she explained. As one of the three vestal she wielded an incredible amount of influence over the country and was not shy about using it to serve the greater good.

If it came down it it even the Daiymo himself was not untouchable.  The Church had a system in place they could use to replace him if the need arose but it was not something to be used lightly.   They idea that she couldn’t do something about the Twin’s stepfather if she had know about his abuses was frankly laughable.

“Oh is that all?” Ryuko asked as if it was a trifling matter after being told that the twins had skinned the man in question to death. “So you killed someone who was abusing you… someone who frankly deserved a much worse punishment then he received.  Getting your hands dirty with the blood of the wicked is not a crime or a sin.  In what way does that make you bad people?” she asked rhetorically.  

“Typically death from fraying occurs from shock, the lose of body fluids, hypothermia or infection.  Most pass within hours while the unlucky can take days.  Even if he was conscious for the entire process which I doubt, tis was a quick death relatively speaking” explained Ryuko talking as an experienced physician.  

“Considering the sheer magnitude of his crimes he got off lightly.  If tis where up to me we would have publicity humiliated him, walking him though the streets in handcuffs so that the people could throw rotten fruits and stones at his figure.   We would use his trial as an example to set fear into the hearts of his fellow evildoers, insuring they would know the grisly fate that awaits them when their turn comes.”  

“And then once declared guilty he would be dragged thought the gates of Tartarus and be subjected to a fate worse then death itself.  I won’t bore you with the finer details but I guarantee you he would be given plenty of opportunity to recognize just how wrong his actions where.  Before long he would beg us to beg us to kill him by any means, no matter how painful. However...we wouldn’t give him that luxury.” said Ryuko with a smile on her face that was as cold as the vacuum of space and yet eyes that burned with hatred hotter then any star.

Needless to say the way she was speaking was such an extreme change from her usual cheerful disposition that the Twins would be almost sure to do a double take as she realized that Church of Hakkin and the Church of Jashin had more in common then she might have originally thought which was why they had occasionally work together in the past before coming to a more longstanding agreement in recent years.


“Good because I never asked you to stop killing.  In fact I would be right beside you in doing so, at least as long as you stick to only doing so to those that truly deserve it.  That’s the biggest difference between people like you and Shimiko and the Church leadership.  They don’t seem to care who they kill as long as it’s not a fellow believer.”  and even at that Ryuko had her doubts about. If a member of the church failed the tow the line they would likely be met with a fate worse then mere excommunication.

“I suppose that’s as good as any way to deal with them. They are not so vile as to be thrown into Tartarus and are too powerful as figureheads to simply exile or jail.  To make matters worse If I or the Raikage deal with them we risk turning them into martyrs, throwing more oil into an already  volatile fire.   Having a member of the church itself clean house tis way would avoids that and reduce potential casualties.” agreed Ryuko sagely to the Twins offering to poison the church leadership.

Shimiko was like a sister to her, someone she trusted implicitly.  She had little doubts that under her friend’s leadership the church would be able to turn itself around and become productive members of society again.  If anything their was the risk that Shimiko would run the church so well it would rise in popularity where it could match the influence or even exceed the influence of her own church but Ryuko cared little.  As long as people had the freedom to decide that outcome was acceptable.[/b]

They always treated Ryuko as herself, they never considered her rank or her family, it was rude to think of people in such a way. She continued on saying her family had influence but even if that was the case it would have put Ryuko herself at great risk. They were glad she felt that way but in reality, they didn't feel she could have helped back then.

"We still feel you could not have helped back then, but... you can help now we have about five men we know for a fact were involved with the sex trade. We know these men because we were forced to service them orally, now if your family has any clout you will track these men down."

The next part shocked them she was not only not bothered they killed the man she didn't even get mad they did it and said he deserved more. He truly did but at the time this was all the could muster to deal with him, they didn't have leverage within the Jashin church like they do now. Then the true kicker she said she would never ask them to stop killing and would assist them. This left a stunned look on the twin's face, to them Ryuko had always been so kind they had no idea she had this side to her.

"We had no clue... you had this side of you I guess like us you are layered like an onion... we still feel we are bad people that do good actions when it suits us. We agree about the church we have become increasingly frustrated they won't change their ways they have left us no choice but our final action. With us doing it and not someone else it gets rid of a lot of chance this will cause riots or worse. So we feel we will need to do this ourselves."

The twins would smile before rushing over and hugging Ryuko again, it was clear they deeply cared for her. When she had been away they often came and sang for her, they had no idea if she could hear them but they hoped she was able to hear their voices.

"We are eternally grateful you are back Ryuko, Shimiko has been so alone for so long, we are like her children but what she really needs to heal her wounds is a good friend's shoulder to cry on."

Ryuko raised an eyebrow at the twins request. Not that the request itself was too strange or anything, it was more the fact she was surprised that anyone directly involved in the twins case wasn’t already six feet under.

“I would have thought Shimiko would have murdered the lot of them already. Very well then the sooner scum like that is taken off the board the better. Tell me everything you know about them and I will issue missions to have them tracked down and brought into custody immediately.” promised Ryuko.

The ringleader had long been dealt with. These where just low level scum that had somehow managed to slip away back then. She didn’t have time to track them down herself when their where far bigger fish to fry but the thing about leadership was knowing when to delegate.

“And then if you desire I will personally assist you in putting them to the sword.” saying this the priestess made to draw an imaginary sword from her hip. Then she made a motion as if she was stabbing it straight into someone’s guts before pulling it out then flourishing it to remove the blood she returned her make believe blade to it’s sheath.

As a doctor she knew exactly where to strike them to inflict the maximum amount of pain and make it linger for days before they expired. The worst thing for these fiends was that there was no chance of them getting lucky and bleeding out sooner from an accidentally cut artery since Ryuko was nothing if not precise.

She had a savage grin on her face as she looked forward to meeting these malcontents and delivering long overdue justice. Usually when it came to executions she would deliver a strike so quick the victim wouldn’t have time to feel it before they passed but she had a special animosity when it came to these kinds of crimes in particular.

Just the idea of a man touching her when she didn’t want to be touched was enough to make her skin crawl. The fact that the twins had managed to survive being violated and regain some semblance of a live spoke to the strength of their character. Ryuko wasn’t sure she had even an inch of their fortitude. If Hakkin forbid someone was to violate her in a similar fashion, she would likely enact revenge so sever they would wish she had just settled for murdering them on the spot and then commit seppuku to restore her honor.

“Tis peculiar to me that you would see it in such an inverted fashion. Most would think of themselves as good people doing a bad thing. Smiting the wicked isn’t wrong but killing people, even if they deserve it isn’t entirely right either. Tis simply necessary.” said Ryuko with a shrug. Even for as wise as she was she had no answers for a better path.

Some people were just broken beyond fixing. Imprisoning them for a lifetime was in it’s own way both needlessly cruel and a waste of good resources. Sometimes it was just better to shuffle them off and pray they would find a better path in their next life. There where some that considered the priestess almost Saint like in the way she could pray for the souls of even her bitterest enemies but for her it was simply regret at being unable to find a better path.

As the twins rushed over to hug her again Ryuko had to brace herself so they wouldn’t bowl her over in the process before returning the hugs with one of her own and a warm smile on her face. While she had been asleep she had dreamed about them, and though her memories of said dreams where vague at best and quickly fading she distinctly recalled a particular tune that had been hummed to her.

“Thank you for the songs….I’m not sure I would have found my way back without them.” Ryuko whispered quietly just loud enough that the twins should still be able to hear her. She was sure she hadn’t simply been hallucinating them, just as sure that fact that Nozomi must have visited her at some point as well.

“Do you know when Shimiko is due back? Tis would be nice to give her a pleasant surprise for once!” asked Ryuko. The warm she was receiving right now warmed her chilled soul. It felt good to know she was still wanted in this world.

She said she would help in any way and the twins were glad to hear this, they couldn't allow Shimiko to do this due to the fact political backlash could affect her and the church, they had to have someone outside of the church do this. Of course, they knew Ryuko would wonder why Shimiko did not have them taken care of and they would simply answer this before she asked.

"I am sure you are wondering why Shimiko didn't take these men out, it's simple we couldn't afford the political backlash against the church or Shimiko. We need someone outside of both of those things to do it or we would have taken care of them ourselves."

They liked the grin on Ryuko's face, she was certainly something else and it made their hearts flutter with excitement. Just thinking about what she could do to these men, it would be delightful to hear the screams and suffering they would have. Of course, she wasn't wrong killing wasn't right and of course, they knew this but sometimes they had to deal with the swift hand of death on the evildoers of the world.

When Ryuko whispered thank you for the songs the twins seemed delighted as they would hug Ryuko tightly happy to hear she heard their songs. She was someone they cared for almost as much as Shimiko. As for when she would be back they were not certain about this and simply nodded their heads no. They realized the time and sighed, as much as they wanted to spend more time with her they had to go to service, it was important to them after all.

"We need to head out Ryuko but we are pleased you are well, we will see you on the training grounds later. For now, we must go to service and plan our actions for changing our church until later Ryuko."

If she allowed they would both kiss her on the cheeks before they would walk out the door smiling and humming a song she had heard in her sleep. This helped brighten the twin's day as they had nothing but bad news the last several months.

10x7=70 EXP

-Exit Thread-

Ryuko chucked slightly. Her friend Shimiko was an elite in her own way being the sister of a former Raikage. She was also one of the strongest ninja in the village, perhaps even stronger than Nariko herself at this point. Her bloodline made her a bitch of an opponent to fight. It was weird to think there were people that even she was afraid of having to deal with politically.

As the twins kissed her on the cheeks and said their goodbyes Ryuko blushed fiercely at the attention. She was used to being the one giving the affection not receiving it and even then it was usually reserved for hugs. She’d never really kissed someone and the closest she’d ever come to being kissed before now was Nozomi pressing her lips to her hand.

With the children gone she gave a sigh of relief. She loved them dearly but she had just woken up so being left alone gave her a chance to compose her feelings. There was also the fact she’d wanted to get changed out of the hospital gown into a proper outfit but it was hard to do so in front of the twins when one of them was a guy. Even if it was easy for most people to forget that fact between him always wearing a dress and his long hair but it wasn’t something she was ever likely to overlook.

Undressing before a member of the opposite sex was considered to be very immodest especially in high society. She’d given Natsuru enough complaints about that over the years and wasn’t about to start doing that herself. Humming a happy tune to herself Ryuko quickly got changed and checked herself out of the hospital feeling like this was just the start of her new beginning.

[exit]

8 posts