Tuujaimaa

Naruto: Of Compassion and Tyranny

"Of course, your Grace. I will wait in the prisons until you have use of my talents - if it pleases you, I shall also probe your would-be assassin's mind for reasons. I should have extracted any information necessary by the time you are ready to speak with her." Came the reply, formal as ever, as she gave a brief, solemn nod to indicate that she had finished speaking. With a level of grace that few in the Empire could hope to achieve, Ra turned on her heel and begun to walk down, following slightly after Namine and the unconscious form of Ryuza.

Her position in the Empire was a precarious one at best - but her motivations for having joined them were, in essence, fairly simple: Shoko radiated a raw power and elegance unlike anything she had ever seen in another person, and with that power she had dominated the entire world. It was fitting that Ra had joined her, for no matter what happened in the future, her time spent in the Empire would put her talents to use in more ways than she had otherwise anticipated. Of course, she had mulled over the inevitable thought process of betrayal to achieve her own ends - but deep reflection had found that she had no such desires. The Empress was perhaps not academically superior to her (then again, perhaps she was - it was a possibility she entertained), but she was far more powerful. Her presence inspired a deep sense of devotion, and Ra knew that there could never be another ruler of the Empire, deep down, that could compare to Shoko.

Still, for all of her qualities, Ra did not find Shoko worthy of her complete and utter devotion. She was devoted to the Empire, yes, but not to its Empress as a person. She was the model leader, a being that was truly meant to rule, but Ra's standards for the ever-so-elusive emotion that was often called "love" were even higher than anything that the Empress could have hoped to attain. That fact spoke much about the Empress, yes, but it spoke even more about Ra. It was an obvious vulnerability to those who knew how to look for it - and fortunately, Ra knew how to look for those who knew how to look for it. If Namine was nearly as perceptive and insightful as she seemed to be - and on this Ra had no doubts that she was correct - she had at least briefly entertained the ideas and sown the seeds of future growth in her mind. What that future would be was a mystery, but it would be a pleasant experience to watch it unfurl.

As she began to descend down the stairs, slowly, she turned once again to look at the fleeting scene before her before it disappeared from sight and into memory. Yakoul's mere presence - and earlier suggestions - sent waves of revulsion through Ra. She knew better than anybody alive the thrill of domination and how intoxicating it could be - but the act of taking someone sexually as a display of dominance was abhorrent in all forms of the word. Murder has long since passed having an effect on her, but there were some acts that even she could find no pleasure in - and the thought of that was almost enough to make her want to remove all of the foul urges from Yakoul's mind. It was not something that she would ever do, but the thought was there.

Thoughts, for people like Ra, were rich, complex, and immersive - they were what they had based their entire ways of lives around, and for all of the importance that they held, they were still fleeting; still as ephemeral as a single life among the great vastness of the cosmos. As she turned back around, the thought was gone, snuffed out, and it would perhaps be reborn another day - but she had different things to focus on now. The descent down the stairs seemed to take an unnaturally long period of time, various thoughts flooding into and out of Ra's mind. When her foot hit the bottom step, she was shaken from her reverie, and the world swam back into a lucid state.

After Namine had completed her brief healing of Ryuza, she saw it fit to speak.

"Say the word and I'll remove all thoughts of rape from the fragments of Yakoul's mind."

It wasn't much, but there was a true sense of disgust deep inside her at the thought of such things - and in the presence of Namine, an emotion spoke more clearly than a hundred thouand words.

Naruto: Of Compassion and Tyranny

I suppose I'll post first, then. I've been posting with Sketcher in PMs as well, so I was hesitant to start posting first. xD

If you want to PM me the sort of relationship you think the two of us would have in character, that'd help a lot towards making a meaningful first post, Ouro c:

Naruto: Of Compassion and Tyranny

Or maybe you could speak first. :P

Naruto: Of Compassion and Tyranny

If you want to get some posting done Ouroboros, our characters are in a position to interact. c:

Naruto: Of Compassion and Tyranny

Windspeaker is a title. Hence, "The Windspeaker". :D

If you make an opening post, I'll reply. c:

Naruto: Of Compassion and Tyranny

Around. xD

Floating above the village. Getting food. Helping poor people. That sort of thing.

Natrelmon: Legends

"Normal people don't seem to get my jokes." Kasumi idly commented, dropping the PDA into Dom's hand with a less-than-graceful shrug. It wasn't like she actually cared about the PDA in of itself - it was merely a principle she felt she had to stick to. It was unwise to needlessly insult a potential opponent - especially when that opponent was one Kasumi Touho. Still, Chelle Lee and Dom couldn't have known what they were going up against, so she shrugged the whole thing off, relaxing her posture a little. She could hear Shio in the background, and despite humour not being her strong point, she still found Shio's lack of ability to talk to people properly amusing. She did empathise somewhat with the socially awkward woman given her lack of a propensity towards the finer points of camaraderie, but she wasn't nearly as bad as Shio. At least, she hoped she wasn't.

"Don't worry. I'm not actually going to kill you. I might steal your wallets, though." Kasumi started, before quickly adding, "That was a joke." as an afterthought - it was perhaps a little jarring, but there was the intention of good humour there, right?

"The stealing. I wasn't joking about not killing you."

Situations like these made Kasumi remember why she'd given up trying to deal with normal people in the first place - thieves that travelled together typically spoke only about missions in order to achieve maximum safety, there was very little time or desire to get to know one another on a more personal level. There was the issue of trust, of course, but thieves (at least, the kind that Kasumi hung out with) were by definition careful people, and it was fairly easy for people of such high calibre to judge one another to satisfactory levels. Kasumi had never met someone that she disliked in her circle of thief buddies, but she'd never really gotten to know people on any level that wasn't necessary for the job at hand.

"I'd tell you my name, but I won't. The mask is there for a reason. You can call me Fox, if you like. A variant of that is also acceptable. Maybe Fox-Mask. I train Natrelmon because I'm bored. I also steal things because I'm bored. I usually give them back if they're petty. Like your PDA. And your attitude. That was a joke." Kasumi began, quickly losing herself in a superficial state of being engrossed within a train of thought. Constant vigilance was essentially hardwired into her system at that point, so she was ready to react to the hot-tempered Chelle Lee if necessary. Dom mostly just seemed a little dim, so he was immediately dismissed as a potential threat.

Naruto: Of Compassion and Tyranny

The Windspeaker is free if y'all want to interact with her.

Natrelmon: Legends

"It's rude to tell an assassin they're an idiot." Kasumi replied, the mirth dropping out of her voice as she spoke. Her facial expression hadn't changed, and the grin was still plastered on her face, but the two of them didn't know that. Taking the cue, Kasumi entered into her invisible state again - it was an imperfect disguise at the short range they were in, but she darted backwards quickly enough that she'd be able to slip from sight completely before either Chelle or Dom could react. Despite the short time that Shio and Kasumi had known one another, Shio knew of the Touho family and specifically of Kasumi's abilities, so the sudden disappearance would likely not have come as a shock to her - and she was not socially adept enough (or she simply did not care enough) to warn Chelle of what was likely to happen next.

Kasumi would be more than content to bide her time, stalking around the periphery of the square in order to reach Chelle without her noticing, but the situation called for a more immediate sense of action than that. With the dexterity and speed of a practiced killer, Kasumi darted around the outskirts of the sight radius through which she could be seen in order to get behind Chelle as quickly as possible, and using the opportunity created by the surprise of becoming invisible, she would poise herself to strike and pickpocket the young woman's PDA, before dismissing her invisibility.

"I could've killed you, you know." Kasumi dryly noted, keeping her gaze on Chelle while she studied the PDA. Based on the previous conversation, it would be no more than a few minutes before Chelle was seeing red, and maybe then Kasumi would give her a break. Maybe.

Naruto: Of Compassion and Tyranny

Double Post 2OP