Crashing Waves[Closed/Invite only]

Shira sat on the heap, looking down at the sea. He had managed to get away from the kingdom of Kai and all of its merriment. He felt much at home here, close to the sea. He watched the waves move forth and back, crashing onto the shore. The weather was moderate, not too shiny and not to cloudy either. The sea breeze was perfect, running through his hair and pushing back his coat. His booted feet planted deep into the earth as his gloved hands rested on his thigh. His mind flashed back to his younger days, when he always went sailing with his father. At a very young age, he had learnt to put up the sail, fasten the ropes and even steer a little. He was the youngest amongst the crew members and even when his father did own the boat, he was not given any special attention. Not like he also needed it. He was smart and courageous, looking the terrors of the sea straight in the eye. Stormy nights, he kept watch, rainy nights, he feared not. But then everything changed when the might fell and his boat was lost.

The unknown looked farther, men bringing in their boats and others pushing it to sea. He could not help it as he tried to shut out these memories. They all mattered less now. All that he wanted was to be above the weak or that was what he had always believed. The weak were always at the bottom and in this world, only the strong survived. He took in a breath as the breeze slapped against his chest. His coat was half buttoned so the chest region was visible. He would sit on this heap with thoughts swirling in his head.

It just wouldn't end.

She continued to run. She didn't know why anymore. The world was different then. The people changed. The world changed. But she remained the same. Her mission was to infiltrate, and so she did. But as a Leaf Shinobi she wasn't sure that working for the Mist like this was the right thing. Everything seemed wrong. But was the way of the ninja the right way to live?

"I have... To find... Master Onihara..." her words came out of her painfully as her body begun to exhaust herself. It was an endless sprint. All she did was run. It wasn't until now that she finally looked around her.

"What is this world?" she thought to herself. And then everything turned black. And she lay on the ground, cold and unconscious.

Boundless lost at sea, abandoned and unknown, where all things come to pass. Then the waves rush, the winds blow hard, tides change yet special moments remain.

"Hold the ropes! Row men! Row!
"e oh..! e oh..! e oh..!

Such was the usual thing Shira always listened to during stormy days when the storm threatened to take a sacrificial lamb for itself. He would never forget what had moulded him into the man that he is today.
One stormy night, no different from others. Shira set to work, fastening the ropes and securing them. He was doing all these so fast that one of the knots was not firmly tied. The men began to row with all of their might and then the wind came, shaking them to the roots of their spirit. The rope that was not fastened firmly broke loose and one man was nearly tossed overboard by the force of the wind.

When it all seemed to have died down, he was given a serious beating by his father but that mattered less to him except the words that were registered in his memory.
"In this world, only the strong survive! The weak are condemned to total destruction! Die now or live to be on top! Those were the last words he heard from his father as he received a hit to the head and fell down unconscious in the lower part of the boat before the storm suddenly arose again. The valiant man rose up to secure his survival but then he was lost to sea, never to return again. Shira awoke drifting on a solid log of wood, the ship's mast, floating atop the sea. He remained on this for days without having any real food to eat except the little fishes he ate raw and the salt water he drank. He later arrived at shore and thus began the new life of an unknown man.

The predatory eyes of the unknown caught a figure running out of no where. Whoever it was, the person seemed to have been running from a long distance. The legs could no longer cope and the person seemed to be slowing down until the figure finally came to a halt and fell to the ground. The young man thought for a minute if he should check it out but another part of him decided against it. Whoever was capable of falling down in such a way was definitely weak but then what if he could manipulate this person to his advantage. The unknown finally got up and approached the spot. He stood and looked down at the person. A female it was. He exhaled a bit and picked her up. He knew this area. His father's crew once had a ware house here though it was probably old by now.

He got to the ware house with the female in his hands. The old place no longer smelled of fish. He opened the door and looked at the long forgotten place. He climbed up the rickety stairs and finally laid her in the old bed in the room. He got down to the main floor and sat in a chair waiting for her to wake. He needed to make plans.

She couldn't bear it anymore. She knew why she ran. She knew what she was escaping. She knew her world would be forever lost within the sands of time. That old man disappeared, as did the many other shinobi. She tried to follow the footsteps of the hooded man he told her about. She needed to live in her father's legacy. But she failed. Shibuki would never be in her hands. She would never find the hooded man. The Seven Swords would never be in her hands. And that same boy would be forever lost as well.

But she lay, her mind racing. Her body unliving... for now.

Shira sat in the chair waiting, thinking, planning. He knew more than enough time had passed and the young female had not woken up. It was surprising he had to admit. When he picked her up from where she fell, she was still breathing and he felt that she needed some rest. She had had enough, that he was sure of but why was she not getting up..

He decided to give her more time and see if she would come down. He relaxed in his chair but did not let down his guard. Was there anywhere that was ever safe for him? He could not take his mind off those days with his father and the crew on sea. Had he really lost his path? He had hardly thought of this in so long. His father was a pirate disguised as a fisherman. He could well remember the frightening tattoo of each crew member and the eye patch his father always put over his left eye. He could see with it perfectly but he often used it to make his aim more precise.

Now this was taking more than normal time. Shira finally got up from his chair and climbed up the stairs to the room. As he entered the room, he saw the lady laying on the bed. She was just as he had placed her. He shrugged and walked over as he placed his hand to check her pulse. He could still feel it and he moved his hand to her head. Her temperature was rising and he needed to do something about it. He looked around the room and got a piece of cloth. Their was a bathroom to the left of the room and he hoped it had water. He walked in and filled a bowl with water, thankfully the water was extremely cold.

He rolled his sleeves and soaked the piece of cloth in water as he began to mop her face slowly so as to reduce her body temperature. He removed the long gloves on both of her arms and mopped them too. He moved on to her legs and did the same after removing her sandals. This was against his way but he just decided to do it perhaps something good would come out of it. This took a few minutes and when he was finally done, her temperature had cooled down. He stood against the wall with his legs crossed and waited for any improvements.

She could smell it. It was near, yet so far. Was he in this world? No, it couldn't be. This was not Konoha. It was not the world she was born into. No. There was no chakra that she could see or sense. Not even that of a simple civilian. Whatever this world was, it was run on a different kind of energy. It was just as the old man's stories. This was maybe by his own doing. Maybe he was trying to save her. But that made no sense... the old man was dead for years...

Her body was weak, cold and damp with a foggy sweat. She begun to open her eyes slowly. What was the world she was now in?

Shira leaned against the wall waiting for any improvement. He was really going out of his way on this one but he did know that to get to the honey, he had to engage the bees or avoid them. Was she really the honey he wondered. What if his efforts to bring her back to the world of the livÍng proved futile. Even if she did come around sooner or later, what would he get from manipulating her. He was beginning to realise that this was just a waste of his time. He was aiming for the top, he had always aimed for the top. He had let himself get distracted by one who dwells in the fold of the weak. This world was for the strong and only few deserved to be on top. The bottom was where the weak belong.

Shira took a step forward and decided to leave the room. He looked at the lady one more time and as he was turning away, her eyes opened slowly. Why now, a part of him wondered. It had happened and he just had to face it. Whatever was said about him, he was still a gentleman in a sense. He moved over to the side of the bed and helped her sit up. If he was going to use her for anything, then she had to be healthy. He got some water for her in a plastic cup and handed it to her before he moved to the end of the bed where she could well see him.

"I saved your life so introduction.."

She stared at the man. His words seemed to be stringed together with too much thought. As if he chose his words over time, but with not enough effort. It was confusing to grasp what was really going on. It seemed to be a dream.

Her vision would be cloudy and foggy. The man's figure familiar. She could barely make out his words. All she could muster was...

"Perhaps I should let her rest up a little before she can finally tell me something.." He thought. How damn long was that going to take? As long as he loved to be patient, he also could not waste time around. He was going to take it as simple as she could understand so maybe she would finally be able to say something because it looked like she even had no idea where she was.

"This is pandora. Where or what were you running from before you collapsed?"

All she could do was star blankly back at the man. It was true he may be rescued her, but where was she? And who was to say that she was not in more danger? She didn't know who this man was, nor what he stood for or who he worked for. She couldn't take any chances. That was her ninja way. Trust no man.

"Pandora?" she asked. Wondering what she had gotten herself into.

She stared at him with a confused look when he mentioned Pandora. He knew that look. It was the same look he had when he first entered into this world, when he got lost at sea and was carried away by the waves. He found himself on the shores of a new world, as a new man. He rubbed his temples because the lady was not saying much and he did not have enough time to waste on something that would be highly productive. He was still considering the odds and that was the reason why he was still staying here. He would have another go at it and this time hoping the female would be responsive.

"Yes, this world is Pandora. It is much more different from your own world I suppose. But to my understanding, a similar part of your world dwells in pandora. It might not be exactly the same but I assure you, regardless of where you come from there is a similar world of it here on pandora. All you have to do is explore". He said this is a more calming voice. He was right about what he said. Even if he had not explored much of pandora, he knew this because he had found the forgotten isles, his homeland here in pandora.

"Ugh, just like the old man's fairy tails..." she though to herself, her gaze fixed on the man. She would eventually drop her stare to look upon the ceiling as she lay there, a bit confused. This was a lot to take in, and she would have to find everyone again as soon as she recovered. She didn't know who or what this man was.

"Looks like I'm still going to have to walk around, even after somehow walking here..." she said lightly. barely audible for the man to hear. She wasn't sure what to do at that point.

"Looks like I'm still going to have to walk around, even after somehow walking here..."

She was finally able to put more than two words together after knowing where she was. He could not say that he had not felt what she was feeling now. He would be correct to believe that everyone in pandora had gotten this feeling before. Most of the areas in pandora were from certain world and he had some proof to back that up. Anyway, he was not interested in finding out something that held little importance to him at the moment. He had greater goals and he knew he was not on the right track. Since his life on pandora, he had not met a single pirate. Even the few fishermen he had seen did not have the guts to sail the high seas and proudly fly pirate banners. He craved for the restoration of an infallible pirate system where he would sit at the top and dish out orders like hot stew served from the boiling pot. He wondered if this lady might have any contribution to his cause. He felt calmer and he knew he would have to take things slow with her until she fully recovered. He felt like this risk was worth taking and he would gladly do it.

"Very well. Let's take a walk.." She seemed like she would be able to walk. Perhaps she was part of some trained units in her former world. First her dressing looked combative and even though she appeared slender, her physique had something about it that made her look experienced in battle. Shira would lead the way down the stairs if she agreed to take this walk. He would lead her out the house without looking back. It was evening already and the weather was calm. The sea breeze enveloping the moment and the grey skies announcing the quick arrival of the coming night. The clouds seemed full as if holding back tears, ready to rain down upon the earth once they were allowed. The wind raked through his hair as his apparel flowed with the rhythm. He looked far towards the sea waiting for the lady to catch up as his mind sunk into oblivion.

"No..."

She lay in the bed, resting, while staring at the ceiling. For once, she would take control of her life. For once it would be her choice. She would not live in the fairy tales of her father's cursed swords, nor the hooded man that the old man chased for years. For now, she would live a little.

"You can take a walk if you will. she would say, "I'm going to stay." And this time, for once in her story, she would begin to write her own pages.

The lady was a bit different or maybe she wasn't. He had not spent much time with ladies so he could not conclude. She had just refused to walk right after suggesting it. He had no problem sitting there and listening to her if she decided to say anything. The replies that followed her refusal to walk showed that she was sounding more sure of herself. He had no idea how she had lived her previous life but she was soon going to discover that her former life was gone now.

"Very well" he said taking a seat on a stainless steel chair opposite the bed so he was sitting on her right. He looked comfortable enough and ready to hear her story but that was if she decided to share it with him. He himself did not have much of a story besides he hardly shared it with anyone that did not have a part to play in his plot.

For once, he would not say anything rather he would sit and remain attentive yet relaxed.