Harsh Landing

Two weeks ago...

The town of Yamigakure. Bustling as usual, with citizens moving about and going on with their daily lives. It was a gorgeous day outside, with the midday sun shining brightly and not a cloud in the sky.

Which made it all the stranger when the thunderclap went off.

It definitively came from the southern edge of the village, near the entrance to the forest. Most people would just dismiss it as one of the ninja's training sessions going wrong, but any Chunin ranked or up ninja would be able to tell that the cause of the sound wasn't based around Chakra. It was based on another, almost unknown source of power: The Spark. Of course, it wasn't like there would be any more of it...

--

Venser's landing was harsh and unrelenting, hitting several tree branches on his way down. He was completely wiped out; not only had he teleported between worlds without his Spark, but he had endured tortuous beatings for a week prior to his phasing. That would be enough to put any Planeswalker on the brink, let alone one with no power left.

No power truly described his situation. He could barely move without horrendous pain shooting through every cell in his body; both his physical and magical reservoirs were stretched to their limit, possibly to the point of causing permanent damage. On top of that, he had no idea where he was; without a Spark, navigating through the Aether was impossible, so it was entirely possible that he had landed on a completely hostile world.

If it had been any comfort, at least Venser knew that Koth was safe. The monstrously large golem, the closest thing he had to a child, was roaming the streets of Urban City as Venser lay here, slowly dying; the group that had taken Venser would not be able to take Koth while the golem was out in the public, he was sure of that. The sky here was very different from that of the Urban City; while the City's sky was dominated by buildings and smog, this world had a very clear sky, with a sun shining brightly on everything through the trees. It reminded Venser of his home plane, which he would likely never see again. All in all, there were worse places to die.

Venser felt his eyes growing heavier. If he fell asleep now, there was no turning back, but it wasn't like there was anything better to do than escape the pain. Venser's eyes shut slowly as he resigned himself to his fate.

"This should do the trick." The red haired girl said. She turned to the man on the bed. He had a warm towel across his forhead, and blankets on top of him. His wounds were propery dressed and bandaged up. Shini had found him in the outskirts of the city. He was covered in his own blood and dirt from the grass. She had been out doing recon for the city. It was by luck that she found him. She glanced over every few moments, seeing if she would catch when he would awake. It had been a few days since she found him...

"I'm glad Kaseki taught me something before. I'm glad I know some Medical Ninjitsu..." she said softly. She had put the man in traditional attire for her city. She had to discard his old clothing due to the blood. The stains, if they came out, would take at least a week of that volume.

But she could wait. She was very patient. She just hoped the man would be okay.

The first thing Venser saw when he opened his eyes was a plain bamboo ceiling. I didn't think God had an Eastern sense of style, the former Planeswalker thought wryly before a sharp pain shot through him. He grunted in pain; even though it was nowhere near how he had felt when he had landed, his body still ached all over. Plus, there was still a strange emptiness in him, like his body was missing a vital piece.

Venser suddenly became aware of the other presence in the room. She was a red-haired girl, with a white headband; she was dressed in a style befitting their plain Eastern surroundings. If Venser had to guess, she was either an angel, or a powerful medic who had brought him back from the brink. Either way, he was going to find out. "Who are you?" He asked bluntly in a raspy voice; it seemed as though even his vocal chords were beaten.

Shini had been cleaning a bowl that she had crushed the herbs in. She was on a pillow by the only table in the room. She smiled when the man awoke. "Save your energy. Please do not speak." She said with a warm smile. She was glad that she had fianally succeeded in healing someone from death. It was her first attempt. "I am Shini Chikai of the Chikai Clan. I am the Kuraikage of Yamigakure. I am an expert Taijitsu artist. And we can discuss this all later." She lightly placed the wooden bowl on the table, not making a sound. It was at that point one could notice the dramatic difference in color of the two woods. The bowl was the night sky while the table was the earth.

It was an odd sight. "Close your eyes and sleep. I'll take care of you. I promise."

Venser's eyes narrowed somewhat as Shini told him to sleep. "The Chikai Clan? Yamigakure's Kuraikage? Taijutsu? These words are all...foreign." He paused a bit as he finished, coughing somewhat. "I'm not from here. I come from a faraway land, so excuse me if I'm not as formal or colloquial as you're used to."

He struggled and, after a few tense moments, managed to sit up, although he groaned in pain slightly as he did so. "I've also been held captive by several people who claimed to be helping me, so I apologize for not trusting you fully at the moment. Instead, how about you tell me a little bit about this place?" He strained his neck a bit to look around, peering at the rest of the plain room. "What kind of world is this? Peaceful? Warlike? What role do you play as the 'Kuraikage of Yamigakure'?"

Shini giggled at the man's attempts to fish information. He seemed to be healing well, but even then he could not get far from her. "Throughout my life I have encountered the impossible. From fallen spirits to starfalls," She couldn't help but smile. Her entire life was on acceptance and encouraging the weird.

"I've also been held captive by several people who claimed to be helping me, so I apologize for not trusting you fully at the moment. Instead, how about you tell me a little bit about this place?"

Interesting. Now he was going to be hostile while his life lay in her hands? This was an odd man. Maybe he had something important."As Kuraikage I am the chief in command of this city." he remembered the other question, wording it as her old friend would have said, "If I had a kingdom of war, you'd be dead."

Despite himself, Venser chuckled a bit at Shini's comment, only to cough a bit afterwards. "Fair enough," he muttered, finally shifting his eyes to make eye contact with the strange girl. "So you're the leader of this place, then? You look a little young to be head of a kingdom, but I don't know enough about this place to judge. For all I know, you could be an incredible prodigy."

He was silent for a moment before speaking again. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm a very blunt person. I know that curiosity killed the cat, but it's also the only way to make progress in all of the many worlds. So forgive me if I offend you in the process, but I'll continue asking questions of the people around me until the moment I die."

Shini stared back into the man's eyes, almost as if looking into his soul. It was a trick that she learned from her old friend "Kabuto." She would feel and see the very thoughts he would think, or at least... it seemed so. "Here, a person is judged on skill, not on age." she said."It was by destiny that this place came into this new realm of Pandora, and it was by fate that I encountered that Starfall. It was by chance I was there when our leaders breathed their last breath, and by happenstance that the most wanted man in my land was the very person who saved our lives." She let out a small sigh. "Please rest. You won't be any good if you die~" she said with a small chuckle. She got up from her seat and walked to the door. She slid it to the side and turned her head slightly to the man enough to let her voice travel, "Three days. There is food in the cabinet if you grow hungry. I will check on you later. If you harm my people. I will harm you. Rest well~"

And with a step she vanished from the home as the door slid closed.

Shini had other matters to attend to.

Venser watched Shini leave, eyeing her somewhat warily. "Three days until what?" He muttered before flying into a coughing fit. He rested his head on the side of the strange chair he was sitting in and sighed. Regardless of the current situation, there was nothing he could do at the moment; he was in no state to escape. He could at least grab some food, however. Venser closed his eyes and focused (at least, as well as he could with his injuries), reaching out his magic to teleport some food into his hands.

Nothing happened.

Panicking slightly, Venser tried again and again, to no avail. Either something here was dampening his magic, or...he no longer had it. The latter thought was too much for his already exhausted body to bear; weakened from shock and hyperventilation, Venser passed out once more.

--

Three days later...

Venser paced around the small room quickly, his mind lost in thought. His wounds were mostly healed, thanks to Shini's assistance and his own natural speedy recovery rate; his magic, however, had still not returned. He'd been able to traverse the village a few times, learning more about this strange new world that he now seemed stranded in.

The people of this land did not seem to know anything about magic, instead using strange 'Jitsus' based around their inner energy. They didn't seem to be magically powered, so Venser would likely be able to learn a few even in his magically-impaired state; in fact, the longer he went without magic, the more appealing the idea became.

Now, however, he was supposed to meet with Shini once more. She had been very cryptic about it, not mentioning what exactly she wanted to talk to him about, but Venser had a few guesses. Still, he wouldn't know what would happen until she came in to talk to him, so here he was, waiting.

Shini pushed the door open. She held a small bowl of berries and her mouth was full of them.. She smiled as she had he cheeks filled. This person was a formidable student, and would be treated as such. He was going to learn the ways of the shinobi whether he wanted to or not. She walked in and placed the bowl on the table next to the door as she continued to munch on her food. "You ready for your trainer" she asked. She tossed a long piece of cloth with a single symbol engraved into it. It seemed to be a headband of some sort, but it fit a child's head. Perhaps for his arm? "Your first day at the academy is today. Have fun."

And she turned and walked away.