Oracle

The mist was thick as the heavy traveler wondered into the forest at around sunset. The sky grew dark quickly and soon he found himself, heavy laden with military-like pants and jacket, trudging through a terrain of endless trees and hills. A large green sack was carried upon his back as the strong fisherman walked yonder, following the directions he was given as soon as he had stepped off the boat earlier that morning. It was eerie, this part of the country. Destitute of life and of anything resembling the tranquility and peace that had once flourished in the borders of the land of waters. Once a place full of trade and commerce, bringing in the greatest amount of revenue for the country, now completely left in pieces and in ruins. Mithrandir could almost hear the ghosts of the destroyed cities as he took steps out of the thick wood and into a somewhat flatter plain, now traveling through what was once a small inner village.

His boots crushing the weak gravel beneath them, he walked straight through the ruins into yet another wood, this time even more dense. As he approached the edges, he dropped his sack behind him, it crashing to the ground, and put hands around hips as he stared into the distance. He kept thoughts of doubt from his mind as much as possible, having been traveling on foot for 40 miles now, he could not possible entertain the idea that he was going the wrong way. There was no map, nor any sign posts. He was simply told to keep walking until he reached the "cave of mystics" which was supposedly deep within the final wood, and impossible to miss. There he would be escorted by whomever lived there - wherever there was - and brought to the monks. They were said to be capable of helping him answer the most important questions in his life at the moment. Where he was, why he was, who he was... All the things he had shyed away from confronting while living a peaceful life as a fisherman on the coast.

He picked up his bag once more and trudged forward into the wood, his long black hair in a tie, as the mist pounded his face and clothes. He was a large man with heavy clothes carrying a heavy bag. You can imagine the struggle as he walked up and down the small hills within the wood, searching in the dark for the "umissable" cave that would magically appear at any time. Or so he hoped.

It would be about an hour later before he would drop his bag and strike a nearby tree in frustration, collapsing to his knees in angst.
He cried out a cry of exhaustion and anger, striking the ground now in his small moment of fury. Since he had stepped upon the boat, he had carried with him swelled up emotion for the events that were now taking place. Leaving his home town, his love interest, and the few friends he considered to be close to him. He had kept strong while in front of them, but deep inside he flet fear and even anxiety somewhat, over facing his past. The part of him that was a complete blank and even a frightening hole that seemed to have no diameter. Nothing he could measure by. The feeling of lostness was indescribable as he sat upon the forest floor, tears welling up in his eyes as he hyperventilated. He stared at the ground, breathing heavily...

Nearby, several guards had taken notice of the large man. They had kept eyes on him from the moment he entered the wood, the cave very nearby. It wasn't like what he had been told. It was not, large and impossible to miss. Quite the opposite. It was kept hidden and almost impossible to find. The shirtless guards stood atop the tree tops above, arrows pointed at the distressed visitor, As Mithrandir arose to take his bag and move forward, the general knew it was time to act. He was too close. They could not afford for him to actually find the cave. An arrow wizzed through the air, striking him in the neck and knocking him out instantly. The poison would not be terminal, but it would do the job. They then proceeded to carry his body to the cave entrance only three yards in front of him...

Mithrandir awoke to a dark room with only candle light to alleviate his eyes. He laid upon a small bed inside the stone room, in the corner with a dark entrance about ten yards south of his bed post. He stared into that darkness without blinking for five minutes, not making a move. He realized that his body felt almost completely numb, and that he was naked. Panic crept in, but he neither shouted nor struggled as he began to try and figure out the situation. As brute as he was, he was a thinker. Never someone to throw in the towel or try and arm his way out of a situation. He waited in silence studying the room, and its various crevices. It was quite clear immediately that there was no way out. He laid back in the bed, only his neck able to move slightly in every direction.

He laid there for about thirty minutes, listening for any and all sounds, to get an idea of his location. Nothing. There was absolutely nothing. Then suddenly, without a sound, six yards to his right of where he lay, a body began to emerge from the wall. Mithrandir's limbs still numb, he could make no move to react, only the veins in his neck and his heavy breathing signs that he recognized the threat. A bald man in purple robes emerged, suddenly, standing by his bed side.

The man was aged, yet had a brightness about his face that was noticeably different than most his age. He wore a purple robe with golden trimmings and designs around the wrists and ankles. He stared at Mithrandir with a look of almost amusement and yet friendliness at the same time. The fisherman wanted to jump out of the bed and put the old man in a chokehold, though no muscle in his body moved as he stared dead into the green eyes of the man. Green indeed. They were even a strange emerald. There was a silence for about twenty seconds, along with an ackward eye contact before any sound or motion was made.

"Hello Kenta, and welcome!"

The man said with a beaming smile.
Mithrandir was shocked. It was as if the man did not notice him glued to the bed with dead limbs. Did he think this was a game?
Before he could strain his throat to respond, another man appeared to step through the wall, this time clearly not a friend. A dark skinned man wearing only a small skirt in his lower body emerged, a sword in hand and a fierce look as he stood behind the old man.

"What are we to do with him, sire?" he said in a deep brooding voice.

"Give him the syrum. Once he awakes, have him escorted to the waterfall for purification. Then bring him to the field. We will go from there."

With that, the elderly man bowed to Mithrandir and turned to step through the wall once more, disappearing from site. The dark, muscular man then approached Kenta, pulling a needle from his side, and stabbing him straight in the chest, a sharp pain spreading from there throughout all of his body. So severe was the pain, that he began to convulse in shock and strain. Soon the convulsions would stop as he went unconscious, his body relaxing and going numb as he passed into another deep sleep.

Once more he awoke. This time fully mobile and his body without restraint. He arose from the bed, grabbing the sheet to keep around his naked waste, and headed towards the dark area in front of his bed that he had presumed was the exit. It was not. Merely more stone. He then went to the part where he had seen the old man and the soldier going in and out of the wall. It was unclear how they managed to, but very clear that he could not follow after. He pounded his fist against the stone wall in frustration, stepping back as he realized the effort was hopeless. He stood back staring at the wall for a moment, blindsided by what happened next.

An arrow could come flying through the wall, stabbing him straight in the chest. He fell back against the side of the bed stunned once more. A woman, this time, emerging from the wall. Adorned in a white gown, she carried with her white garments, that he presumed were for him. Reaching shakily for the arrow stuck in his chest, he breathed hard in pain as he stared up at her.

"Take him," she said in the most cold way he had ever heard a female speak.

And as expected, his body went numb once more, as two massive guards emerged to grab him and drag him through the wall and into wherever they came from.

As he was dragged, he looked around to see that they were within a bright forest with grass and trees all around. He was being lead to the end of a small pathway, lead by the mysterious woman, with a waterfall in twenty yards away from her. Trees all around, he was dragged by the shoulder forward onto what he realized was a cliff leading to the water fall. Panicking he began to try and struggle, his muscles entirely unresponsive as they walked steadily. Finally reaching the edge, the woman turned around briefly to look at him face to face as he was lifted up by the guards to her height.

She stared at him with a blankness and emotionless look that he could not compute nor understand. She was beatiful, this girl. Her hair was black like his, but her eyes were as blue as the sky, small freckles upon her cheeks and a look of innocence and fierceness that stunned him. She withdrew her eye contact at him to nod at the guards, walking around the three men back towards wherever they had come from. The guards dragged him forward, him having no strength to resist, and threw him forward over the cliff naked, the waterfall and its pool below awaiting him as gravity took over.

Hitting the water sent a shock through him that somehow ended the numbness within his limbs. He swam up from below, looking around to see a circle of cliffs all around above him, and a small pathway leading to a wood at the edge of the pool he now swam in. He immediately swam for it, emerging from the pool naked wet. Walking forward into the wood he looked all around for any of the soldiers or the like who had thrown him down, hoping they'd meant to kill him and would no longer be looking for him. He made it about ten yards into the forest before he was confronted by four all around him, them sliding down the nearby trees. He raised his fists and looked around, ready to fight for his life. Instead, he had a pair of white pants and a tunic thrown at him by the guard straight in front of him. He ackwardly dressed in front of the men, and was then silent escorted into the wood further, barefoot, as they led him to who knows where.

After walking for about ten minutes, they came indeed upon a massive field which was surrounded by more trees all around, with mountains in the background behind them. The guards led him to the center of that field and then departed quickly, Kenta left to figure out by himself what would happen next. The field contained flowers and the like that reached up to his knee caps, him able to see all around for what looked like miles, only mountains in the far distance. The white tunic and pants fit him perfectly, drooping around his great shoulders and peeling down eight inches into his neck line. The clothes made of a mysterious fabric were extremely comfortable, though the situation was not. There was no cloud in the sky, yet it seemed and felt like sunlight was everywhere. The field was shockingly silent and come to think of it - where had all of this come from? All of this... space? He had never heard of Kirgakure containing such a landscape near the ruins... Once strange feeling of discomfort over took him, Kenta now proceeding through the field.

Walking forth, in the distance, he saw a single tree that rested at the edge of a small mountain. There, he saw the purple robes of the old man that he had seen earlier. The man stood near the tree, a small flat land all around that tree and the man, who arose and made motion for Kenta to meet him there. He kept the same pace, looking out for guards everywhere as he drew near, suspicious of everything he saw as he came within five yards of the man.

"Who are you?" He said, his deep brooding voice strained with his distrust for the man showing through.

The man smiled, taking no notice of the threatening tone that Kenta spoke in as he proceeded to walk towards the edge of the mountain.

"Follow me, my friend. We have much to discuss."

Kenta made no move at first, his fist crunching as he was ready to ounce on the man. He saw no guards around, at least none close enough to stop him from grappling the elderly man. Instead, he calmed himself and proceeded to follow him. He wanted answers. And he wanted answers more than he wanted bloodshed. The two would walk along a small path that led up the mountain, the old man leading the way.

"You are wondering who I am. Why you are here... Where "here" is perhaps..."

Kenta cringed, his eyes dead on the man as they increased altitude. He said nothing, simply listening and watching.

"My name is Caidus. I am a sage that has lived in this place for a little over six hundred and eighty years. I know, I know, I look much younger don't I?" The old man chuckled a bit as he looked back to the domineering man behind him.

"I came here around the age of sixty three, while on foot fleeing from a rebel army that was in a civil war with my town here long ago. We had a series of bloody battles that had lasted for decades, and this was the final one to blow it all to bits. I was old, but still strong. So instead of fleeing with the women, children and elderly, I stayed to help the young men. We were losing though. And we began to flee, looking for refuge in the backwoods until we could recover and counter attack. It was there that we hid inside of a small cave for several days, the enemies taking territory, and the sounds of our clansmen's last breaths heard as we hid, afraid and hungry. After about 16 days, thinking we would die, we decided that instead of dying of starvation we would kill one another should help not come that day.

As i began to write our suicide note, that night, upon the walls of the cave, I discovered a hidden seal marking along the walls. As I was writing, I had somehow activated it. It lit up bright red, and soon enveloped the entire cave with light. I went blind for a moment and then I blacked out. My two friends had departed to find sticks for a fire, and therefore only I was taken. When I awoke, I was here. In this... pocket dimension, if you will. Everything you could ever desire I found here, and more. I was alone, yes, but I was safe. I had no clue how I arrived, but I was happy to be there. It took me a while but I finally found a way back, appearing back inside the cave after a few weeks. My friends by then were gone. They had either escaped or were killed. Worse, I'd realized that I teleported back in the midst of yet another war! I quickly scrambled back inside my private world and kept my but there.

I decided that I would call it my new home, since the normal world is full of death and greed. And nothing more my boy, nothing more. I would be the king, and would come back only to recruit and gather rare individuals who I felt fit and deserving for such a place into its secret bosom. And thus, the villagers here are that. People who have been progressively selected and gathered over centuries. For in this world, nothing ages."

At that, Kenta paused, eyeing the man strangely. He processed the bizarre story completely, but was now beginning to ponder exactly why he was "chosen". Hadn't his father paid for him to come here? The doubt began to creep in and he stepped back from the man in distrust.

"Allow me to finish before you go..." Caidus said quietly and calmly, seeing the retreat in his eyes. He proceeded up the mountain.

"Enough about me... Let's talk a bit more about you."

"You do not know where you are from. Your earliest memory is that of you being a full grown man upon a beach naked for reasons you do not understand. You neither remembered your name, nor your mother village, nor your people. You were raised by fisherman, though you had no memory of every having such skills, and took residence in the poorest and most remote part of Kirigakure. Is that correct?"

Kenta silent agreed, though no physical signs showed it. He trusted the man so little he could not even bring himself to speak lest he give out any confirmation or information about himself.

"If I tell you about your past, you will not believe me, son. And therefore I will not. However I would like you to see it, perhaps. For that is why you are here is it not? Not to be told by some crazy old man whom you do not like nor trust the apparent truth of your life - but to find out first hand what lies within you and why it is hidden from you.

At the top of this mountain, which we will reach in the next two minutes, there is a small temple. Inside that temple are three men, each endowed with great spiritual prowress, as well as psychic abilities. They will unlock within you your natural nature affinities and begin to unlock already dormant abilities. This will be the first step in your process of recovery. Afterwards, I will reveal more and more and we will begin the intensives of unlocking your lost and locked memories."

They reached the top in no time indeed, climbing up the steep steps of the small temple, Kenta was left to himself once more as he walked across the stone porch into the dark entrance. He was greeted by no one as he proceed yet forward again and up another stair flight. There he stood upon a large platform, about 50x50, twelve men standing within a circle standing there, gathered in a common hymn it seemed. He hated to interrupt, as they seemed unmoving as he approached. Humming for about three minutes in a strange language, the men suddenly disbanded, with only three left to take the center stage.

"I'm here for affinity testing" Kenta said sharply, the three hooded men standing there, eyes upon him.

He walked forward to stand in the center of them, unsure of what to do next exactly. Standing in a circle of silence, he soon found himself being approached by several black hooded figures behind him who approached with basins of water, chopping wood, fans, long metal poles, and what looked like a large chair that he would be expected to take seat in. A stage like set up was placed around and before him in a matter of moments, Kenta unsure of what to make of it. He had experienced a lifetime's worth of strangeness within a few hours it seemed. Could this really be any worse?

They sat him down, the temple's roof somehow retracting, allowing light to pour through as he sat down in the chair, surrounded by mute spiritualists. They began to put ink markings all around his face, disrobing him, and pouring spices and oils upon him as the equipment was set up. The basin of water was put in front of him, logs of fire behind, a pile of stones to his right, and six long black rods to his right.

He was motioned to arise, and the implication was that he was to attempt to manipulate the elements placed before him. The black ink drawings all around his chest and face began to tingle a bit as he arose, looking towards the basin first. He stretched forth his hand into the water and held it there as commanded, making no move for about five minutes. The water, suddenly and with no warning, would then explode in his face, causing him to stagger back a bit. The basin holding the water was quickly taken away, and a symbol was drawn upon his back that he could only assumed meant "water" in their language.

He turned next to the portion of stones that sat in a pile to his right. They were small but very heavy. Water, he had confidence in. All other elements he was unsure. Water was the only element he'd ever needed and therefore the only one he'd truly ever used. It never occurred to him he could have the capacity to learn any others. Molding his chakra within his inner core, he sat down near the stones, closing his eyes as the strange men surrounded him. He felt that somehow they communicated with him though they spoke no words. They were telling him to focus, and to relax his body. He would make all attempts to do this as he sat there for going on an hour, practically unmoving. The beaming light above for some reason did not add tension nor sweat to the situation, and soon the rocks began to levitate as without thinking his chakra molded in such a way as to access the element. Not all raised, especially not at first, and definitely not all at the same time or speed. But eventually, the pile of rocks was lively, and Kenta manuevered them around about in a circle around the room freely.

He stood now, swirling the stones around his body in unison, and at the same time raising the water that lay on the ground above. He was trying to feel the difference between molding his chakra to control water and to control earth. Once he knew the difference, he realized he had found two elements that were without doubt natural to his chakra. One of the hooded figures began to motion hand signs, wanting Kenta to follow after him. And he did, learning elementary techniques for suiton and doton with those hand signs, and using the water and earth all around him at that time to practice the feeling. There were no explosions, only levitation and movements of objects according to the command of the hand signs. These exercises would continue for the proceeding three hours as he now wondered around the temple slowly, using his chakra to move different aspects of the stone temple around to his liking.

He could not help but enjoy the serene silence that filled the temple at all times. It was not so much a temple as a Colosseum. And he was the main event. He stepped down the steps of the main platform into a lower area that within it consisted of a small pool. He took to that pool, using the body of water as practice as he controlled both it, and several stone blocks off of the walls in formation with one another. Cutting the cinder blocks into cubes with the water, slicing it like a knife, he played around until the feel was sound with both elements. Arising later, he returned to the center of the circle to complete the test. Now before him were only three more options. The fan which was wind release. The small fireplace which was fire, and the lighting rods which were to conduct electricity. He felt a bit alienated from them all. He first took hold of the black rods, trying to feel some kind of static from them. He felt nothing. He decided to artificially create some of the friction by rubbing his hands up and down the poles, still to no avail.

Finally he channeled his chakra very strongly, transmitting them into the poles, only to bend the earth within the poles, as opposed to setting them ablaze with lightning. They were quickly removed, and no tattoo was added to his back. Next, the large fan. He picked it up, handle heavy, and began to wave it around. The idea was that if he had the chakra affinity, he could create a true gust of wind with a swing of the fan. Thus he went around, waving and swiping. His raw strength produced an initial thrust of air, but there was no charge of chakra that went into it to create the monstrous gust necessary. The wind broke as he continued to swing and swing, finally dropping the fan and relinquishing it to hooded figures. Lastly, the fire place. Now ironically, besides lightning, this seemed to him to be the least likely element that he could ever use or have affinity towards. He was a fisherman, after all. What could fire do for him?

As he stared into the fire place, however, the flames reminded him of that first fire he felt, being led from the shores of the water into the small home of Kora and Artemis. They warmed him, as he slept, with a great blanket and fire. It seemed so beautiful and comforting to him, that every evening after work he would sit by one in wonder and amazement. The light and heat was fascinating to him, though he shared this with no one. That feeling and memory inflamed him with the new desire to pull forth from his chakra the power to control flames. To control the light and to have it for his own. He began to meditate...

Mentally exhausted, he went back to his memories, the very few he had. The great catches with his father. The competitions late at night with his friends. The deep sea fishing. The wrestling with the great white fish, the delicious and hot soup Kora made on the weekends. The smell of the beach and of the fish shops. A certain numbness overcame him, and his heart rate dropped, his chakra leaking into all parts of his body. Suddenly, though he did not notice, his body began to glow an ember red color, as he stood in front of the growing flames.

His clothes became smoke and smell as his entire body lit on fire, the flames clothing him like a garment. The hooded figures stepped back, all seeming slightly astonished as he stood afar from them, like a walking torch. He did not hurt, nor did he feel them crackling flames. The sound of sizzling would be heard as a hooded monk wrote a symbol on the back of Kenta, sacrificing his own flesh in order to mark the man. The test was complete, and all was finished. He needed now only to grow stronger in these native elements to realize their full potential. He said nothing as he was given black robes to travel down the mountain with, the symbols that were inked upon him removed, though he did not leave unmarked. For the sages branded him in the chest with a symbol he did not understand, nor could interpret, but would be sure to remove someday once it healed. Feeling sore for some reason, he walked down the steps of the temple around what could be called "sunset" in that world, the beauty of the ground seen so much greater from above. He continued down the trail to search after the old man again, the session at the temple both answering and creating more questions.

As he walked down the mountain in the late evening, these questions crowded his mind along with a desire to find out how far he could push himself to develop the elements that he had now learned. Reaching the lone tree where they had initially met, he stared out into the field, silent. Caidus seemed to come out of nowhere behind him, pacing himself as he stopped about four feet to his right at forty five degrees. He began to speak to Kenta, though the fisherman responded not, and in a bit of a daydream of sorts.

"I want to set this field ablaze" he whispered to himself.

Caidus heard him and motioned for him to go forth, smiling. Kenta, determined, did as he was allowed. He wove a few simply hand signs and stood still, harnesing chakra. He tried to flame on as he had done in the temple, this time having staggering results. It took him some time, as the flames crowded only parts of his body at first, then completely. The flame would go on and off, but eventually he found himself blazing as he stood among a field of endless flowers. He said nothing, simply allowed the flame to spread clean through the field, burning through all it touched. He blasted out flame as well, furthering the magnificent destruction also of the weeds. Within minutes, turning the flame off, he stood in the center of kilometers worth of burnt ground and gravel. Caidus, who stood near him the entire time, showed his sign of approval via his facial expression. Which confused Kenta, considering he had destroyed a portion of his perfect world.

He began to walk back in the direction he had originally come from, paying no heed to the old man whom he wanted nothing to do with, when all of a sudden he noticed that weeds and flowers began to emerge forth from the ground in succession. He soon found himself once more surrounded and flooded by a new birth and generation of flowers. He turned to face Caidus with an even more confused look on his face than he had previously shown the man.

"Nothing dies here, my friend. And all the world is ours to control. It is a temporary dimension of bliss and permanence. Get used to it."

Kenta found himself, less than what felt like an hour later, near the pool he had been brutally dropped down into earlier that "day". As he neared, he disrobed and began to walk into the cold water, the moonlight shining down upon it as he looked up to see a ring of cliff above him. He got in waste deep, letting his long hair down, the tips of it touching the water as he moved into deeper waters. The moon beamed down as though it were the sun itself, nightfall having darkened the wood all around. He hardly noticed the female that stood within a foot of the crashing water above, as he moved into chest deep water. Staring straight up, he saw nothing around him, leaning back now as he floated forward.

His lower body sunk underwater, however his chest and torso kept up as he laid back in the water, his hair spread out over the water as he stared into the stars. He found a place in the center of the lake where he stayed floating for a few minutes in calm bliss. He had gotten used to the water's temperature rather quickly, as well as to the absurd fact that he continually found himself naked and bare while in this strange dimension. And as he began to contemplate further about the nature of the world he was within and his distrust for the old man named Caidus, a naked and bare being approached him...

Galatea floated silently to his right side, staring at him as he looked up, not noticing anything but the great luminary that brightened his world at the moment.

"Mithrandir..."

She whispered into his ear as he neared her, inches away.

The large man splashed his way to an erect position, standing now facing her. He had completely been lost in thought, and not even thought to consider if he was alone or not. He was pained to see that the woman whom he looked at was the same who had led him like a dog out of the cave and had ordered to be thrown into the waterfall. His eyes were appeased, sadly and admittedly, when he realized she too was... naked. The water neck high on her, and torso deep on the massive fisherman, they stood three feet away from one another in silence.

"Wha... What did you call me?" He said, confused.


He assumed she'd insulted him in some way or language he did not comprehend. It was natural for him to see her not only as a threat but indeed as an enemy. A strikingly gorgeous enemy, but an enemy nonetheless. He remembered the child like look in her eyes. Much like the first time she gazed upon him, but this time with a more exposed tenderness. Maybe it was the moonlight, or the fact that both stood there without clothing on. But something was eerie in the air as they floated about. The woman was motionless, ever so slowly drifting towards Kenta. She got within three inches of him, before smiling slightly, and heading past him towards the shore. Having had his heart almost jump out of his chest, he followed, naturally.

Whisking through the forest, he found himself lost as the girl soon disappeared. She was no where to be found, and he began to feel a bit silly being in the dark woods naked at this time of night. He had been fortunate to have been allowed free reign by Caidus as they had been walking back towards the main area hours ago, but he did not like where this was going. He was getting lost in this place. It reminded him how he felt on his way here, traveling through the damp woods in the dark. He kept moving forward, though he saw nothing for several yards.

Soon, for what seemed like miles away, he began to see a glowing neon light. He followed it naturally, not surprised anymore by the strangeness of the dimension he resided within. He began to pick up pace towards the glowing neon lights and soon found that something was within the forest itself creating the light. For as he got closer, he began to notice other lights emerge all around him and of varying colors. Finally reaching the source, he came to stand in front of a single bright neon tree. He stood in front of it in amazement, hardly noticing the barren girl who stood nearby it. She looked at him with wonder as he looked up and down the strange plant. Its branches were oddly shaped, and it had protruding holes all throughout it, which made him curious as to what kind of plant it was indeed.

"It is not from this world, Mithrandir. And neither are you." The girl said softly, catching him off guard.

What was she talking about? When she said things like that, it gave him the chills that he might be in the midst of some strange lunatic asylum. Maybe that is where his father had sent him to get "mental" help. They'd lied and said they were in a pocket dimension, than put him under drugs which would explain all the strangeness he had seen. And finally, glowing plants for the finale.

"What the hell is going on here?" He said, a bit agitated. He did not like feeling like he was being toyed with.

The woman did not say a word but motioned for him to come closer to the tree and even to  touch it. Getting within a foot of it, he did indeed reach out his arm to touch the bark of the tree, trying to examine its strange texture. Touching it, he felt a certain warmth and connection with the tree. It was strange. Almost as if an electrical current pulsated through it and now passed on to him. He felt connected to it in a strange way...

He reached out his arm up above, and suddenly, a branch of the tree extended out and down to meet it. He staggered back afraid for a moment, now staring at the girl in fear and suspicion.

"The trees obey you as master, Mithrandir. You have power over this nature. This forest is your throne."

"Why do you keep calling me that?" he protested in confusion.

"It is your name. Your true name, from your true world."


He began to grow angry with the woman, and as he was about to walk towards her in aggression, he stopped as he noticed every tree turn a neon red. Not just the oak around him, but all over. The entire forest as far as he could see. He began to calm down as he realized something strange was happening. And as this happened, the trees turned into a cool blue. They were mimicking his emotions. Somehow, someway, his heart, mind, soul, and life force were directly tied into the plants themselves.

He kept silent, as he then proceeded to try and examine this power, as he had done similarly in the temples when learning his elemental affinities. He started to control the branches from the trees themselves, and use them to gather him up into their greater heights. From the top of the first oak, he could see in expanse over the entire forest region. Nothing but trees for miles. All the same color. He reached out into the nothingness of space, and tested himself to see if he could get trees, even from a far to obey his mental commands. It worked... He could even point to a tree and feel something - the trees color would mimick it. He noticed the trees were not like normal trees either. These plants were very strange indeed. Almost metallic in look, and far too large to be the same kind of plants he had seen growing up in Kirigakure.

He reached for the ground, trying to see if the very roots of the plants would obey him. There was a pause, and then several small explosions everywhere across the expanse as roots the size of buildings emerged all around, the ground shaking in revolt.
He could not help but wonder how it was all possible. He smiled, fearfully, as he spent the rest of the night exploring the power of the plants surrounding him and using them to slice and crush the ground around him. It was destruction for destruction sake. And also creativity at work, for he had never felt such..power. Freedom. He felt like anything he desired he could do, and at the mere thought of it. The girl stood atop a treetop not far behind him. watching and studying him discover this new power, and taking great note. For Caidus had planned this event... This... awakening. And she was the tool used to lead him into it.

Mission complete.




Learned Fire, earth, and Ea Release.

WC - 6666