Humans Are Not Like Leaves [Private]

"Our eyes do not deceive us."

"As this may be true, why has this not happened until now?"

He stood within the locked tower he had built such a long time ago. He had ran away from the world that hunted him. It always seemed like his travels ended like that. He was always on the run. People wanted to kill, capture, and either destroy or dissect him. He watched worlds go to war for his capture long after he disappeared from sight.

Kaseki would argue with the demon within the battleground of his mind as he always did. He was always looking out his window to pinpoint unusual energies. He would decide the fate of the living in that moment. Everyone there was that of a wandering soul. To have so much disruption at once could only mean a new world was arriving.

"You sure that's Thorn?" Xiaowei would say to her husband. She would place a steaming bowl of ramen on the desk behind him. It was not often Kaseki would seek out a visitor. But she knew the tales of Thorn and Kaseki. They were "House Plants" in the Pillar of Decay in the infamous Savage Skull so many years ago. Xiaowei never really cared if it was love, lust, or just connection on nature alone. As long as Kaseki was happy, she was happy.

"I have only seen the blend of plant and meatsack once in my life." Kaseki would say. "And it belonged to that of my Plant-Kin."

And in that instant, a portal would open within the center of his office. His wife would smile as he walked away to tend to other things in the home, such as caring for Yoshige. It would be soon that she would enter his estate.... so very soon.

Thorns heir floated softly in the wind her eyes scanned the scenery infrount of her it had been years since she had seen this land. walking forward she smiled softly as her hand glided over trees as she listened to there soft whispers "I is good to see you again my friends" Thorn said in a soft sigh and froze in her stride looking back at one of the trees a stunned look on her face "No that's impossible he died Sinali killed him so long ago now I almost forgot he even existed, My staff is made from his mangled body I saw it happen!" she seem to almost scream at the tree even though she had Sinali as part of her life back then Thorn always felt like she had an empty void that Kaseki left behind after his death.

Turning away Thorn desperately tried to tune out the plants around her she tried to convince herself they where mistaken, lieing even convincing herself it was not her beloved plants that was saying these things. When Thorn got to the center of the small forrest the voices where to grait and Thorn shock her head "Fine where is he I will go kill this imposer!" she said through gritted teeth and started to run in the direction of where the plants said he was.

"A lot has changed, Kaseki-ssi."

"Don't talk to me like you know me, Dro'Kodai."

Kaseki would turn from the window and sprint towards the portal. He was not one to keep people waiting. And after all, Fiore was the place where he offered his soul to his father, only to be rejected, and offered a life with Kodai. It was an offer he had no choice in. And it was not the first time it had happened.

His home was a great deal away from any civilization, he preferred it that way. Humans were savages, and poor substitutions for life. He preferred the hybrids of Pandora's natives. It was a change away from the weak meatsuits.

Jumping into the portal, he would land on the grassy floor of a forest. It was only fair to find himself in the Forest of Taalos. It was full of mismatched trees. They had rooted themselves by choice. It was the once place that the roots of Pandora began.

"I can smell her." Kaseki would say with a smile. He was in a state of chaos and havoc, the shade of darkness even Kodai feared. It was the very creature that earned the respect of the murderers of Savage Skull, not the one with red eyes.

He would reach into the sleeve of his cloak, pulling out a small stick. "The aroma of a severed bond." Kaseki would say. He would smile, the stick growing into his preferred staff. Khaos was a tool of chaos, able to fit Kaseki's needs of Life.

He would lift the six-foot staff and slam it into the ground. "DOTH MY EYES DECEIVE ME?" Kaseki called out, his eyes still that of the lavender hue, "HAS THE GODS BLESSED ME WITH A THORN?"

Thorn skidded to a stop she dear not turn to the sudden voice her fists clenched she readied herself to fight this person if they where impersonating her old friend, well she was not shore she could call him her friend differently a kin though.

"your not really him, he died, I will kill you for portending to be him for slithering into his life!" she hissed her body shoke in anger and she finally turned to look at this person. Thorns eyes widened staggering back slightly she shock her head "you.... you look like him why, why do this to me its been years I was alown for so long he would of been there you are not him!" she was again screaming her words by the end.

Thorn moved sideways going around in a cereal never getting closer to this person she went the whole way around he looked just like Kaseki could it be true or was it just all portend.

"I do not die." Kaseki said, his eyes trained on her body as she circled him, yet his face remained ahead. "When a pine cone falls from its tree, it spits its seeds moments before it dies." He laughed. "They harvested me for my material, you really think I had a choice?"

Kaseki's fingers traced the metallic wood of his staff. He could feel the heartbeat of his living weapon.  He was one to use a sword as a shield. He was the false horseman of wrath. Even in his traitorous tone, or hostile demeanor, he only brought about peace.

"Three years for you, has been a million for me." He said, letting her walk around, soaking in his change. "Over a million years ago I left with a samurai and a dog to create this world. It was only fitting that you saw a double get destroyed." He'd smirk, exhaling through his nostrils like a wild animal. "Tell me..."

He would turn to face her, half of his face hidden by his hood. "How did they kill me?"

Thorn slowly walked up to this person "if you are not the Kaseki i meet how do you know who I am?" she asked him her eyebrow raised.

Thorn tilted her head the eyes where the same how could she be shore it was just a copy she sore cut down she thought for a long time she had no idea what say to him before long she backed up again and looked at some flowers kneeling down her hand tenderly touched them "Sinili cut you down it was all a bluer but I sore you die I was the only one left after that, being so different was hard Sinali understood so we teamed up but it was never the same! I was new to this life I was changed into this I could of used your help!" she stated lightly.

Thorn turned her head looking over her shoulder a soft smile on her face as she smelled the sweet scent of the flowers these where her family now.

"We were her personal circus." Kaseki spoke clearly as if he was a politician weaving a web of lies. His words were calculated. He knew better than to lie, and as a result, he spoke the truth.

"I am the Kaseki that welcomed you the guild I once loved." He sighed, "But the guild did not return the favor." He thought back to his raid on Era, stealing a bunch of books and impersonating a Rune Knight. It was fun to do so, but even then, the Council did not see him as Kaseki, they still saw him as a monster. The knights themselves did not see him as a threat, and never harmed him. He was the thin line between order and chaos. And to Sinali, he was just a toy.

"Sinali, Rekka, Indar..." He looked at the ground, nodding his head in great disapproval. "I'm made of Ironbark. I'm a biological creature taken in to feed these people for their higher ascension of power." he turned fully towards her, his full face looking at hers. "But it is nice to see that they have left you unharmed." He smiled.

"I would have been locked up for an eternity." he thought to himself. "I tookd everything I had and left... can't she see that?" he wondered.

Thorn shock her head softly "you where that to some yes!" she stated softly biting her lip softly.

thorn tilted her head lightly her features softened and thorn relaxed only slightly "you left and Sinali cut a clone or something down?" she asked seeing if she got it right inside her head. her mind raced as she was figuring it out.

Thorn nodded softly "I was never harmed because I was never part of SS until that day and I never gave them reason to harm me I stayed by Sinali's side never giving them any reason to do anything!" she stated softly her hand closed into a fist she in her mind wanted to touch Kaseki to be close to someone like her again

Thorn smirked lightly "you have forgotten I can hear your mind!" she stated quickly adding "you could of taken me with you!" almost in a whisper

"When Dragon Fang was created, I begun to grow versions of me. Whatever you saw die that day was nothing more than a prototype of my own personal collection." He sighed, shifting his weight to the staff like an old aged man. He thought about his ventures, and the few he did trust. But even so, he never trusted a human. His allies were misfits and outcasts... but then again, Thorn was not a human.

"I left everything behind, and left with the clothes on my back." He smiled, thinking back to that day. It was the comforting silence of three creatures. The Silent Samurai, the Two-Foot Warrior and the Plantman. Brushogun, Fetus and Kaseki shaped his world, either they admitted it or not. "I left Yuna. I left all of my friends. I did not take any of my Garm. I left with nothing, for I was nothing."

He smiled, but it was no normal smile. It was something of youth and glory, and not out of spite or sorrow. "And so I made this world, so that creatures like us have a place to belong." He smiled.

Pandora was his birthchild of creativity. He was banished, and made a haven to enjoy. And it only took him a million years before his friends and family came to join him.

Thorn griped her staff and brought it over her shoulder "I thought you dead, I thought I was keeping the memory of you alive using a part of your body as my weapon!" she stated softly laying it on the floor. thorn collapsed onto her knees looking at the floor "you where always there with me with this!" she said waving her hand over the staff "now I find out it is a lie" she whispered.

Thorn nodded lightly "I see, I guess I just hopped I would not be the only one left after you, but it was all a lie you left I felt an instant connection with you then you where dead I cried for you!" thorn stated in a flat toned voice trying hard to hide any emotion that would connect her to her human side.

Thorn looked around her eyes blank "everything seems to like it here and it dose look amazing!" she said with her eyes looking up at kaseki.

"All Ironbarn originates from me." Kaseki said with a smile, "It brings a smile to know that you used a stick to beat the crap out of people in my name, heh." Kaseki let out a small chuckle. It sounded less of a "Haha" and more of a "Keke".

He would make his way over to Thorn, eventually crouching down right before her. While she spoke, he would continue to listen, trying to find answers to a world he had all but forgotten. "Only one left?" Kaseki thought to himself, "Even when we are two..." Kodai would think in reply.

Upon hearing her final words, he would smile and take a seat, crossing his legs upon the cool green grass of the forest. "Well, since no one respected the forests in Fiore, I took time to care for each plant here." His eyes would meet hers, and he would continue. "Think of it... as a new beginning for the world." he would say happily.

Thorn looked at Kaseki her lips flowed into a soft smile "it's been so long since I could have a confiscation with someone I could hear the thoughts of and not look compleatly mental!" she stated lightly biting her lip softly.

thorn shock her head "you are wrong people did respect the forests they are blooming till this day but there are some and they get squished by me to feed the plants of tomorrow!" she stated lightly her comment showed the darker side of her.

"so know I find you again what do I do, do i carry on or do I stay in this land? Is there even a reason to stay other than you being my kin?" Thorn asked softly she wondered where she should go from here she wondered if she could continue after finding him again she half hoped he would find a reason to stay but she did not say it she was independent and did not want Kaseki to know what she felt or what she was thinking.

"That world we lived in was tainted by corruption and war." Kaseki said. He set his hands on his lap and arched his back much like a monk in practice. He often pondered going back, but found himself unable to face his past. It was just something he had grown used to.

"Those woods were kept alive by the blood of mortals, and reinforced by my own waters and steel." Kaseki shook the thought away. He would much rather move on and into the present, than that of his darker past. "The choice is yours, Thorn." Kaseki would say with a lighthearted smile.

"Whatever you choose, wither you choose to stay in Fiore and do as you please or venture in the depths of Pandora's most dense forests, I will be there watching over you." He gave a short laugh, "Both metaphorically and literally."

thorn sighed softly the answer he said was just what she had expected expect the last part "I don't know any more Kaseki, you are here and the one person I am close to back there cares nothing for me!" she said here head knew her loyalty was with her guild back home but her heart was screaming at her to stay here with Kaseki to learn from him. Thorn wanted to be with someone of her own kind to be with a kin

Thorn smiled softly looking at Kaseki see did not know what she was to him, Thorn sighed softly moving her body so she was right infrount of Kaseki bowing low "please take me into your world!" she whispered she would stay for now at least. "how will you always be there do these creations shear your thoughts?" she asked looking at him in the eyes her hand open and moved close to the ground moving towards kaseki, Thorns hand got half way when she shock her head seeming to become aware she clenched her fist and brought her hands close to her own body.

"I care everything about you." Kaseki would say. She seemed so lost, so different, yet was the same person he met so many years ago. He thought about the millions of people he met in his lifetime, and she was one of the few he still tried to reach out to.

"You aren't in Fiore anymore." He told her, "You're in Pandora." He smiled, looking up to her as he stood above him. He would not move from his seat. The blades of grass below him would grow and adapt to carry his weight, lifting him to meet her at eye level as he continued to sit on his throne of grass. "I made this world with nothing more than my mind." he said, "I see everything that happens here."

He would reach out to her, as if to offer himself to her. He would only wish to feel her touch, so that he would know if she was real, or just another hallucination of his. "Anything can happen in Pandora." he said with a smile.

Origin Power: : People of the Pandora Origin can control all Pandora native plants and nature at will. (ACTIVE)

Thorn tilted her head and laughed softly "I thought I would never see the day where someone said they cared for me!" she said softly biting her lip softly her eyes glittered with joy as she looked to the floor to hide it from him.

thorn looked around at her surroundings "I can see that and you have created something I will never see anywhere else!" she stated lightly smiling her eye looked at the thrown he just made and grinned wider.

When she sore his hand thorn brought her hand forward, she hesitated slightly but slowly placed her hand him his. gasping softly as she felt the solid mas thorn sighed with happiness all she could thing was 'your real'.

"I have always cared." Kaseki would say. He would fold his thumb over her hand, giving her palm a slight tug and a squeeze, just to ensure it was not his mind playing tricks on him again. His hand was that of the metal and bark, being cold at first, but reflecting warmth to the touch.

It would be then that his four fingers would be seen and presented. It was an odd thing to bypass and overlook. He was born a human, only to be corrupted by demons to turn into the thing he was today. That was his reason for his distaste in mortals. They reminded him of the people who casted him away so many years ago. And while he could not remember the events themselves, he knew what he felt in his heart.

"Then perhaps you will join me, and care for the realm of Pandora." Kaseki would say with great joy in his voice, like a child getting a pinata on their birthday, "Then we can ensure Pandora will always be beautiful."

Thorn smiled softly taking her hand back. Thorn looked about making shore she was alown with Kaseki befor she quickly moved forward placing her arms around hi¨m embracing him in a hug. Thorn held so tightly to Kaseki she could not beleave her eyes.

Moving away thorn smirked lightly "thank you for caring, and I am sorry for that!" she whispered lightly looking at the ground as the human side made her blush. Thorn quickly shock that off and turned back to normal

"I will help anyway I can!" she stated lightly looking back at Kaseki placing her hand on his shoulder "as soon as I have found a place to live I will come back to you and help however I can!"

Embracing her in her sudden show of affection, he would place his hand over her back. At the slightest recline of her movements, he would pull away to give her distance once more. "No worries." he would say. His eyes would not shift away from her as he normally would. He was transfixed on the sudden change in her behavior, as well as the world he thought he was cursed with. It seemed as if suddenly the stars were aligned, and he would be able to accomplish his goals.

"As this is an odd thing to request..." Kaseki started. He thought back to the death and chaos caused by Savage Skull. But alas, that world was long gone, and Pandora was the new cityscape. "I would like you to join the Legion of Neutrals."

He thought about his words, and how strange it must have sounded coming from him. They were the police of Pandora in many ways, but were not seen as the government by any city. Aeylst Crux was the new Magic Council in the eyes of Fiore, but he knew it was still the Nox Animus it always was.

"I'm not asking you to do good and arrest people, or even going out to murder others..." he paused to give a sigh. He always thought Aknaid would do better than the band of misfits, but alas, nothing in Pandora matched. "I only ask that you have a hand in making sure the nature of the world is protected." He smiled, reaching out to her with his left hand, softly setting it below her chin, "Can you do that?" he would ask. Hoping he would finally have someone to help him look over the massive world of Pandora.

Thorn smiled softly she felt relaxed with Kaseki there was no one here that harmed her in the past so she felt almost free to be someone she thought she could never be again.

thorn laughed lightly "it is am odd request I have no where to lay my head and you want me to join your employment!" she said in a teasing manner she knew he was series but she was going to ask as if she thought he was joking with her.

Leaning her head into his hand she felt safe there "yes I can do that I will do that for you!" she whispered a soft smile on her lips as she closed her eyes wondering if this was a dream rather than real.

Kaseki smiled yet again at the sight of Thorn. To him, it was a million years, and to her it was just three. But it was as if he had left just the other day. "Worry not." He would say. He would tilt his head and offer another heartwarming smile, "You may join me at my estate if you would like."

As soon as he said those words, a portal would open up in the center of the clearing, not too far from them. As Kaseki sat on his grassy stump he would still manage his magic to change the other end. It would be his office, just as it was before. Young Yoshige would be on the other side, as well as his bird and so forth. But it was up to Thorn if she wanted to join him.

thorn smiled softly her eyes widened at his offer and nodded softy "I would be very thankful to stay with you, Thank you!" she said again bowing slightly to Kaseki. Thorn jumped slightly when the portal appeared form nowhere Thorn had lost her footing and landed in Kaseki's lap "when did you learn to do that?" she asked looking behind her Thorn realized where she was and froze in place unsure what she should do.

"I.... I.... I am s.... so sorry!" she screeched standing up as quickly as she could straightening her cloths to be able to avoid eye contact with Kaseki. Thorn looked at the portal figuring this is how he traveled this time "so shall we go?" she asked trying to cover her imbarisment.

He would get off his seat and set the grass back in its place as if he had not manipulated any of it before. It was untouched and back to normal. He would follow Thorn, saying nothing about her fall just moments ago.

"About... Nine hundred thousand years ago I think." Kaseki admitted, "I learned how to do that after the first few centuries I came here." he smiled again, "My father came down to teach me."

He would stand beside the portal, offering her the first steps into portal and into his home. "After you, my dear." he would say to her.

thorn smiled lightly "at you know how to do it properly!" she stated softly a soft laugh flowed from her lip. "anything I need to know about before going into the portal?" she asked lightly "anything I should be worried about?" winking playfully

Thorn wondered over to the portal biting her lip she tock a breath and tensed her body nodding at Kaseki she stepped through the portal. The journey was seconds and once in the other side Thorn quickly moved from infrount of the portal and walked around the room she had landed in.

"Other than that my home is completely made of Ironbark?" He smiled, following behind her. "My home is your home, the same." he would say. And taking his place back at home, he would close the portal behind him. He was going to enjoy Pandora if it meant his friends and allies would join him soon. It could only spell good things.

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