New pieces of the Pot

The demon brothers followed a path that led to a small and uninteresting settlement in the Land of Key. Kenjiro was the one who controlled their shared body while Keitaro slept. It was their special ability that allowed them to share a body and take turns staying awake. It was also their curse that condemned them to a life on the fringes of society, hunted and hated like demons. Kenjiro was the one who was more aggressive and adventurous, while Keitaro was the one who was more cautious but still a sociopath. Kenjiro enjoyed a moment of peace while exploring new places, while Keitaro enjoyed sleeping.

Kenjiro looked at the surroundings as they walked along the path .He saw green meadows, a blue lake and a thick forest that smelled of oak. He felt the warmth of the sun on his skin and the wind in his hair. He heard the birds singing and the rustling of the leaves. It was a beautiful and peaceful day and Kenjiro felt good. He felt that they were doing well and that they were on the right track. Keitaro woke up when he felt their bodies slow down substantially. He opened his eyes and looked over Kenjiro's shoulder. He saw that they were very slowly heading towards an area with a small abandoned warehouse that was on the edge of the village. He also saw that a man who looked like a beggar was sitting next to the warehouse. He had dirty and torn clothes, long and unkempt hair and beard, and a dirty face. He held a bowl in his hand and asked for alms.

"What are we doing here?" Keitaro asked. "I saw this warehouse and thought we could hide here for the rest of the day and for tonight," Kenjiro replied. "It's close to the village, but not too close. And it looks like it's empty and no one comes here." "What about the man?" Keitaro asked. "Shouldn't we avoid him? He could give us away or rob us." "Don't worry, he's just a poor guy who shouldn't give us trouble for his own good," Kenjiro said. "Maybe we could give him a little food or money. It would force him to get out and not hang around where we'll be staying," Keitaro then added as a suggestion.

"I'm not sure, I'd rather do it my way" Keitaro said. "Hmm, who's going to kill the poor guy?" His brother asked annoyed as if they did this regularly. 
"Please Kenjiro, it would cause too much of a fuss here. We'll do it my way but without the blood," Brother Kenjiro finished the conversation one last time. "Without the blood?" Keitaro sound very suprised "No, you can't do that, so leave it to me and go to sleep." He says in a slightly commanding tone, and still out of sight of the homeless man, another pair of legs begin to seemingly sprout from his lower body. As he stands up, the original pair in turn begin to retract into his body until within seconds they are completely gone. The bodies seem to start wrapping around each other, including their heads. Within moments the bodies are completely switched and Keitaro becomes the dominant brother. Younger brother Kenjiro obeys him and goes to sleep without further discussion. Subsequently, Keitaro begins to move closer and closer to the poor-looking man. He had a plan to lure him away from the area next to the warehouse.

WC: 582

Yama Kokoro's journey for peace and tranquility led him into the heart of a remote and untamed wilderness. As he ventured deeper into the uninhabited expanse, the world around him transformed into a breathtaking spectacle of nature's raw beauty.

The dense forest that surrounded him was a sea of towering trees, their mighty trunks reaching for the heavens. Sunlight filtered through the canopy in dappled patterns, casting intricate shadows upon the forest floor. Shafts of golden light pierced through the leaves, illuminating patches of emerald moss and delicate ferns that carpeted the ground beneath his boots.

Yama's senses were overwhelmed by the symphony of nature. The air was thick with the earthy scent of damp soil and decaying leaves, a fragrance that filled his lungs and invigorated his spirit. The occasional breeze whispered through the leaves, creating a soft, melodic rustling that seemed to resonate with the very soul of the forest.

Birds of countless colors and sizes flitted among the branches, their songs creating a melodious chorus that echoed through the woodland. Their sweet trills and chirps filled the air with a sense of harmony and serenity, a stark contrast to the turmoil within Yama's heart.

As he walked deeper into the wilderness, Yama came across a crystal-clear stream meandering through the forest. The water sparkled like liquid diamonds under the gentle caress of sunlight. He knelt by the stream, cupping his hands to drink deeply from the refreshing, cool water. The sensation of it sliding down his throat was soothing, a moment of respite from the inner turmoil that had plagued him for so long.

The path ahead was uneven, with gnarled roots and moss-covered rocks providing footholds amidst the verdant undergrowth. Each step Yama took was a deliberate and deliberate act, a meditation in itself. He felt the rough bark of trees beneath his fingertips, connecting with the age-old wisdom that the forest held.

As Yama Kokoro continued his solitary journey through this untouched wilderness, he couldn't help but marvel at the world around him. Here, in the embrace of nature's sanctuary, he found solace amidst the chaos within. The wilderness was a canvas of beauty and serenity, offering him the chance to heal and rediscover the music that once filled his heart, or at least it would be offered to him. Whether he took it was still up to him.

"What good will it do to go any further?" He asked himself. "There's nothing out here but abandoned towns and barely scrapped-together villages with hardly anything to call their own. Nobody to rob, barely anyone to kill. Just a pointless existence out here." He thought for a moment, realizing something, "Well, maybe that's what I need. My pointless existence doesn't need to be shared with anyone, not anymore. I can just live out here and die when the first real cold snap comes."

As Yama Kokoro ventured further into the wilderness, his solitary journey eventually brought him to a new chapter in this solemn existence. In the distance, he spotted a dilapidated warehouse, its weather-worn walls standing as a testament to time's relentless passage. Curiosity piqued, he decided to approach the warehouse, despite the faint sense of unease that gnawed at him.

Each step brought him closer to the forsaken structure, the crunch of leaves and twigs beneath his feet betraying his presence in the otherwise silent surroundings. The warehouse loomed larger as he drew near, its windows shattered and its roof sagging under the weight of years gone by.

As he reached the entrance, Yama could sense a faint hint of activity within. Muffled voices, barely audible, drifted from within the depths of the abandoned building. He paused for a moment, considering his options. The rage that simmered within him, ever a tempestuous companion, was held momentarily at bay by the uncertainty of the situation.

With a resigned sigh, Yama decided to approach the entrance cautiously, his massive frame casting a long shadow on the decaying concrete floor. He called out in a calm but slightly weary voice, "Is anyone in there?" His words hung in the air for a moment, a plea for companionship rather than a challenge. He thought that the worst thing that could happen is he is cut down immediately, which wouldn't be too bad. "I don't mean any harm, just lookin' for a place to shack up for the night. Mind if I bum a room off of you?"

Yama's heart barely hastened, his nerves couldn't be bothered to be alarmed or worried. Death would be a sweet embrace anyway, so this might as well be the place, and now might be the time. He waited in silence for a response.

After a few hours of hanging out outside, Kakushin was basked enough in nature for the day. In fact, those meditative moments were hardly only for his sake of being one with the woods, but rather core moments taken to think and plan ahead, the tall senju being a carefull and metodic man. Of course to wander outside on the edge of the road and to take time to both think and to keep an eyes for potential recruits out there, Kakushin had taken upon himself to disguishe and transform, morphing his own body with jutsu to appear as a real beggar, old, decrepit and dirty, with clothes ripped and ragged, and with a physique totaly different than his real one.

As he was attentive to the town as a whole, using his ability to sense around him and focusing on his senses, Kakushin started to hear voices around him. At first, it was the voices of what seemed to be two person, yet stemmed from the same place. The voices were too far for the senju man to hear the message that they were speaking, but the voices and their rough position was clearly distinguishable for him. 

As he waited to see what they would do, the senju man heard also another presence approach, but this time, not from the side of the road like the first two voice, but rather from the deep woods behind him, behind the not so abandonned warehouse that Kintsugi were hiding in for now. As that man approached, more clear and certain of his intentions than the other first two, Kakushin slowly got up, faking his age as an old beggar, and turned toward the man who was asking if there was anyone inside. 



''My good young man! Do not disturb the people in there, by all means. Come here, come here, eh?'' Said Kakushin disguised as a old beggar, approaching the man, while signalling to him to get away also from the door of the warehouse. 

''And to whoever was talking in the bushes, come here too! I heard you, hehehe *cough*'' added the old man, appearing weak.

In truth, the senju man was calculating the risks, but also intrigued by the presence of the revealled man. His appearance was for a lack of a better word, colossal. The man was easily taller than 2 metters, and muscular enough to uproot the strongest of trees. His overly and bulging muscular body was also covered in tattoos, and he didnt wear any shirt. ''This beast had surely the strength of 10 ox. Im sure he could break any of us'' tought kakushin, suprised and impressed by the wonders of the human body. Surely this would be a good specimen.

Swirling treetops whisked by as a silhouette of a lone figure moved through the trajectory towards a location. The sun stood ablaze in the sky, offering whatever warmth it could provide to the lands before; unfortunately, for this individual, the wintery air kissed upon their skin like sharp knives scraping against subtle flesh leaving a rose-pink hue. Blonde hair twisted and twirled against the shallow breeze as footsteps bounced from once lively branches that flourished with leaves to another and so forth. Ocean-blue eyes kept alert for anything out of the ordinary to their destination as their black, leather jacket blew and whipped in the wind.

Feeling something strange in the wind, the individual that moved through the trees known as Akaime felt his Ketsuryugan activate. The sclera of his began to take the color of vantablack with his pupils forming into two concentric blood red rings. With his blood chakra vision leading his optics, he continued to peer in front of him as he closed in on his destination.

But why was Akaime not there to begin with? It is quite simple. He was scouting the surrounding villages and taking note of their police structures, laws, and political standpoints. What he found about them was lackluster to say the least. Most of the villages were isolated and solely relied on their own villagers to supply and demand the entire settlement's foundation. Meaning no trade or alliances with other villages. As far their police go, they seemed to be just organized minute men. Nothing too spectacular. While perfect for the members of Kintsugi, these villages almost seemed to be abandoned for anything worthwhile. But nonetheless, he digresses from his thoughts onto a different matter.

As he neared the abandoned warehouse where they placed the caravan. He noticed three chakra signatures from where he was. One was familiar to him, the other two were not. They could be lone criminals looking for a score, or perhaps, a couple passersby that mean no harm. Whatever the case may be, nobody can be trusted until proven otherwise. Closing in, he noticed one was slowly creeping up on the familiar chakra reading while the other one was nearby.

Reaching the edge of the forest that leads out into an open area that homed the warehouse. A grimace appeared on Akaime’s face as he realized the chakra signature that he was familiar with belonged to Kakushin. ‘Why is he playing the role of a disgruntled old man?’ He thought to himself as his vision looked over to the one that was near the warehouse, walking in his direction.

He was the epitome of raw masculinity. His height was towering, and his muscles were extremely defined, almost pulsating with every step. Red eyes and long ebony hair. Tattoos cover almost every square inch that Akaime could see and well, most of his body left little to the imagination of the Chinoike. He was the definition of a mammoth. Kakushin seemed to notice the other one as he called out for him as the figure walked down the road. This one had silvery hair and piercing eyes. He was much smaller than the other man, but a dreadful aura surrounds him. However, that wasn’t what caught Akaime’s full attention. As he studied this individual, he noticed there wasn’t just one chakra signature radiating from him, there were two; almost as if someone was hiding inside him. This could be an ambush of sorts. Not taking the chance on his father to get ganged up on, he formed the hand seals, placed two fingers on his forehead and teleported four meters next to Kakushin, who is still in disguise.

He would then shift his gaze between the two males before talking, “if either of you are thinking of causing harm to this man. I would rethink that because if you try anything, I will remove both your heads from your bodies.” Akaime stated, giving off an unsettling expression as his ketsuryugan is still activated before ultimately focusing on the silver haired individual if he was there. “And for whoever you have residing in your body, I will do the same thing to them.”

TWC: 695

Kenjiro was a little nervous as he approached the warehouse. The warehouse was large, dirty, and probably unused for a long time. Kenjiro noticed a figure approaching him. It was a man who looked very poor and dirty.
Kenjiro moved and approached the man. He had a ruse ready to push him away. However, he couldn't believe his ears. The poor man, who looked penniless, invited him inside the warehouse.

Kenjiro looked around, keeping an eye out for danger anywhere. At that moment, the poor old man started talking towards the bushes. . at that moment they realized that he was no ordinary person. This place could have been very dangerous, but a certain curiosity tempted them to look inside the warehouse. "You're not an ordinary poor man, are you? Who are you?" Kenjiro asked, realizing that he had keener senses than a true pauper would have. He was so preoccupied that he didn't notice another person threatening them. He didn't care about the man with the dojutsu now. He just wanted to know who is this guy.

WC: 177
TWC: 958

The group was becoming lively rather quickly. The behemoth could hear the individual speaking from the other side of the older man, warning them not to harm the older man. "Why would I want to harm the old man? I'm just looking for a place to sleep for the night, and you guys were here first. I want some permission to sleep with you all tonight. I could make it worth your while! Have I ever heard someone play a violin before? Beautiful instrument. Hell, if you want, I can cook some good food tonight. There's a river not too far, and I happened to catch more than I could eat alone." He would pull out a string of fish from his pack, "Just caught em' not even an hour ago so they are still plenty fresh. I'll cook some for your oddly conjoined twin there, friend." He would bow to them all, "If you'd have me, I would be eternally grateful. I currently don't have anyone, so having someone watch my back instead of trying to stab it would be preferable."

He allowed his guard to fall. He wasn't entirely concerned about an attack from the one to the far reach. If they wanted to take his life, he would probably let them, but on the off chance that they were amenable to his request, he would be appreciative to them all. He would continue walking closer to the older man as that seemed to be the point that they would all converge, and he would keep his hands out in the open so as not to draw any suspicion of any tricks from himself. When he arrived at the older man, or at any time before that, he would respond to the group in kind, hoping to make some fast friends or friends at all.

As Akame had joined him outside, Kakushin couldnt even hold his smile anymore, probably a tell tale sign that he wasnt an ordinary old man. As the discussion continued, Akame brought up to the attention that the weird voices from the other side of the bushes were what appear to be two person stuck together, conjointed twins, or something. 

As the pair of twins approached the disguised version of the tall Senju and asked him who he was, the old man, grunted, and got up slowly, faking the old back bone sof a decrepit old beggar, while in truth being quite youthfull and energetic. As the other man approached too and calmed down the situation by saying he only wanted a safe place to sleep and eat, as he was alone, Kakushin knew he couldnt keep the facade active anymore. In the end, his disguise had this exact purpose: to be either inconspicuous enough to observe and notice folks who could be good recruits, or serve as a test for those travelers and exiles with good enough sense to see trough the subterfuge.

As he looked at both individuals, and also looked around to make sure they wer eremote enough to not scare anyone in the hamlet, Kakushin transformed slowly but surely back into himself. As the old man appeared to shed his skin in a serpentine way, growing in both height and size incredibly, his hair becoming more dark and brown, and the young man ascending from the ugly transformation being a creature of pure beauty, handsome like it wasnt possible, and muscular too, as well as tall.


As his tall stature, of muscular pale skin covered with ritualistic papers with runes looked over the others with his bright green eyes, look and turned toward the people asking who he was, and asking for hospitality, the senju man showed a large and welcoming smile before answering to both of them.

''Sorry for the mascarade. I often play this game, when I want to look into people deeper than they show in public. I've been observing the both of you for a while now. My name is Kakushin, pleasure to meet all of you.'' Said the tall man, his voice deep and full of assurance, yet calm. 

'' I want you to know that i understand your pain, your struggle. I see exile in you all, and loneliness. You are more than welcome to join us and eat. You too, both of you. But you see, my family is ... special. Before welcoming you, I would like to.. know you better...'' added the tall man, dressing himself back into his dark kimono, loosely covering his torso.

Yama would see the old man turn into a man much younger, and far more attractive. "Whoa. Hello there handsome." He would speak with no hesitation. "I would appreciate the ability to eat with you all tonight. I would be more than honored to be here and provide protection where needed." He would then sit beside the fire and pull out of his pack some fish that he had just caught recently. "As I said, food!" He would then pike the fish and hang them over the fire, cooking them. The aroma would fill the air, and he would cook food for his newfound friends for the night. After dinner he would go to bed, finally in a place that he felt at least somewhat safe.

WC: 126

Sweet melodies could be heard in the air. Nightingale’s playing their most beautiful songs to those closest to hear. The sharp echo through the wood left that sound mystical yet mesmerizing. It was a gentle reminder that not everything is diluted with some essence of darkness but a relief of hope. Or perhaps, he was just too optimistic with the little things, hoping they would remind him of a time before. Or maybe he was hoping it was a blessing coming to pass. Although, looking at these stragglers, he wasn’t quite sure he could count them as a blessing.

Their moods almost contradict each other. The muscle-mass seemed endearing, the way he spoke it was as if he was longing for something. A few words came to his mind on what this individual wanted, and they were: company; companionship; friends; family; and home. How he is displaying himself with the game he caught, and offering it to strangers, he must be very lonely. But not at all hopeless. He was practically a gentle giant just trying to find his place in the world and those that would accept him. Almost like a dog, and who doesn’t love dogs. Plus, of course, Kakushin being as forthcoming as he is, he would definitely accept this man. 

As for the other one, this was not as well-mannered as the designated friendly giant is. He was cold, distant, and dismissive. That is what he appeared to be to Akaime for the individual who just completely disregarded his warning and still questioned Kakushin. It would be a lie to say that Akaime’s eye did not completely twitch. He could tear this one apart in a matter of seconds, but Kakushin would be displeased because he would like to get to know the person first. Therefore, grace shall be given. Although, the next time, it will not be taken so lightly.

But that was enough about them for a minute as it seems Kakushin decided to give up his facade and grace them with his real features. His metamorphosis was slow as well as disturbing to watch as he began to switch from one being to another with his skin shedding like a reptile. And just like that, he was giving them an accurate representation of himself. Sticking to his roots, he was shirtless once again. If Kakushin was going to do one thing, it was going to be showing his body to anyone and everyone.

“Should’ve known you’d be barely clothed,” he said as he sarcastically rolled his eyes before setting them on the tall, muscular man once that wasn’t Kakushin. Cue the compliments, as this man seemed to like what he was looking at regarding Kakushin. “I’m sure you and my father will get along just fine,” Akaime spoke out as a small, yet gentle smile appeared across his lips. His eyes moved from the man to the one with white hair, and his smile began to fade. While he doesn’t just these two just yet, he trusts that one with the thing inside him even less. Was it because of his attitude, or just his aura? Perhaps it was both. Though, time will tell with him. Well, that is if he and the other one joined for dinner. 

“Hee who, try not to lead them into bed like the last ones. Wouldn’t want to make mother mad again,” Akaime said as a sly smile formed over his mouth as he looked at Kakushin from the side. Putting his fingers to his forehead once again, he would announce his departure. “Alright, I’m going to leave these documents I have in your room and be back tonight.” He said before turning to the two other males. “Sorry, I didn’t get to catch your names but have fun boys. Not too much fun. Mother can be really vicious if she wants to be. Adios!” He said as he completely disappeared from the place.

[EXIT]
WC: 657
TWC: 1,352