He'd spent a while camped out in the snow, watching the city in the distance. He wasn't noticing any military or guards. When he decided finally to approach, he wasn't met with any negative resistance... for now. Alec still didn't think word of his criminal exploits had come out this far as of yet, and began to think that it possibly never would, seeing as there were barely any tracks coming and going from this place.

The large glacier in the center seemed to be the Administration Complex, the brains of the place. No, he wasn't going to set off any explosive here, there was no reason, and he'd only just arrived here. It was starting to seem like the perfect place to lay low for a while, if not indefinitely. Whoever ran this place had to be around this complex somewhere, maybe he'd run into them.

Mitsukai had spent the past few days settling in and coming up with a routine: she met with the people, spent time in the market, and then would hide away in her office either doing paperwork or trying to learn all that she could about the village that had appointed her to lead them. There was a lot to learn, but it was coming easier. She had even realized that there were several things she could now do, being here in Kori, that she hadn't been able to do before: jutsu wise, that is.

But now, she was simply taking a nice long walk around the complex as she did from time to time; familiarizing herself with her surroundings. It was about that point when something stood out: a person. Dressed differently than the normal wear the villagers tended to wear: they looked like a bunch of Eskimo's, and this guy did not. At least not to her. She might not have met everyone formally, but she had got a good look at the majority of the people around, and she had never seen him before.

She approached cautiously, her hand resting on the hilt of her weapon; ready to detach the thing and use it if the situation called for it: which she hoped it didn't. She took in his appearance as she neared, and stopped about ten feet away.

"Something I can help you with, sir?", her voice was formal, and yet held authority in it: she was the Korikage after all, something that the hat above her head stated clearly: she wouldn't have been wearing the damn thing at all, but she had been outside, and it was cold as hell out there, so the hat and the robes helped.

The voice sounded familiar. Alec turned toward the female and saw Amaranth, his grand daughter. How the hell was she here? This girl looked just like her, but there was no way to be sure of that, not yet anyway. He'd just ran into Niala a few days ago so it came as no surprise. But what would she be doing way out here? Did she run this place?

”Amaranth?” he said. He wasn't sure how she was going to respond. “No, wait, that wasn't her name here... Mits-Mistukai, that's what she said her name was here. That is your name, right?”

This was only getting better by the second. If it was family that ran this place, he was going to consider creating himself a camp here, a hideaway spot to sit and make weapons. Perhaps this would even mean back up if he became out numbered, that's if this girl, if she had no idea who he was, didn't throw him back out of here on his ass.

......

Her hand moved away from her weapon before her arms folded across her chest. She wasn't cold, there was no way to be in the thick robes she was wearing, it was simply a way to make her stance a lot less threatening then it had been before.

"Grandad?"

She blinked a few times over again, confused. She /knew/ who he was, but he looked a heck of a lot different than she remembered him being. "... Either this snow is getting to my brain and I'm suffering from some sort of snow hallucination, or.... " She couldn't finish her sentence: too confused at the moment. She remembered everything, just like Amaranth had over on the other side. But, that didn't make it any less confusing than it was.

".... Why are you here? I'm... I'm confused."

So Alec had family in this world. He felt a little more comfortable now to know that he wasn't alone. Alec moved the scarf from over his mouth to reveal his grain, nodding his head. He let out a long sigh. ”I thought i'd give being a ninja a try, I was bored,” he responded to his grand daughter.

Alec continued to look around the place. He scratched a hand through his white hair. How was she going to take this next part, he thought. Though if she already saw the headband around his neck and the scratch across the symbol, she'd have already known. ”Afraid I may be considered a bad guy in this world. The last village I was in, Hana-something. Just Hana for short. I was able to learn some very useful stuff, like how to design special weapons and whatnot. Like I said, I got bored, so I set off a couple bombs. Wanted to test their defenses, see what they were about. I guess some people got killed, and there may be some visitors this way soon looking for me.”

Alec rubbed his eyes. ”It looks like you have something pretty nice going on up here, i'll keep on moving if you don't want that sort of trouble here. Just need to chill out for a second. There hasn't been anyone after me so far but who's to say that won't change...”

Her gaze finally focused on the headband: she didn't know why she hadn't spotted it before, there was a line, a scratch, going right though the village symbol. She knew what that meant, and she knew what her next words were going to mean too: but she couldn't bring herself to care. He was family, even though in this world he likely had no physical relation to her, and she wasn't about to turn him out to the cold and the metaphorical wolves that might be chasing after him. She listened carefully to what he said and then smiled gently.

"You're more than welcome to stay here. So far no one has shown up since Holeman and I have found this place. You're the first visitor, and I'm sure more will follow. If anyone does end up showing up here after you... well, we'll handle that when the time comes. It'll be nice to have someone around that I know, in a way. Holeman returned to the desert, to Yokuchi. I don't know when, or if, he'll be back. So, it's just been me up here..."

She watched a few people walk past, dressed exactly like everyone else: thick clothing, fur lining hoods and sleeves, or completely covering their entire coats. These people lived off of the land, so animal skins were easy to obtain, and effective in keeping the cold out. She thought back to what had happened over the past week or so since her and Holeman had found this place and figured that this was just one more thing to add to the stack - she might be in trouble down the road for this, for harboring a fugitive when rightly, especially as a Kage, she should have sent him packing, or captured him herself, but for now she couldn't bring herself to care.

"Do you need a place to stay? It's freezing during the day, but worse at night... so much worse."

”I'll stick around here for the time being. If any clowns come around, i'll take care of them myself,” Alec answered.

Alec was truly prepared to kill now that he knew he had family in this world. If anything happened here it would be on his head. This place seemed peaceful and barely touched; the last thing he needed were military clowns dirtying the place up looking for him. ”So you and the blind kid found this place. A city in the snow, interesting. They made you the leader from the looks of things too, fine choice. I don't mind the cold much, day or night, so you won't have any complaints from me...”

Alec took a squad and sat down to rest after all of the running through tunnels with a grunt that was more of a sigh. ”There some place around here where I could build some weapons? Got a forge in here somewhere?”

Mitsukai nodded. She didn't doubt he'd be able to take care of it if anyone showed up, and figured she would just leave those who tried to him. She took a moment to look around at all of the splendor that was this village; it was so beautiful, with small tints of blue hidden within the snow that signified the ice beneath. The large glaciers that made up the buildings and the majority of the village itself sticking out proud and tall through all of it. Even the cold itself only added to the rarity and beauty of the place.

A small smile slipped across Mitsukai's face. "Yeah, we were going on a little adventure. Traveling around and stuff. We were in the tunnel when an earthquake started that opened up the tunnel to here. So, we stumbled upon this place, and here I am... I have, from the other clan I'm a part of which originated in this village, a marking on me... and I suppose that, and the fact that I can produce chakra wings that look like angel wings... Well, I guess that was enough to seal the deal. These people became very religious when they got sealed off from the rest of the world... Still trying to accept it all, though. It's a lot of responsibility."

She then thought about his question and nodded her head in the direction of the market district. "The market district has forges. In fact, there's an old blacksmith's shop that isn't used anymore. You're more than welcome to it, no one owns it. Might need fixed up a little bit, but I'm sure you can get it up and working."

Interesting. It sounded like this place had been sealed off from the world for a really long time. As chance would have it, Mitsukai and Holeman happened to be in the right place at the right time, right as the way to this place opened again after ages of being sealed shut. Mitsukai had ties to the village, and the natives here were religious, worshiping an angelic figure that looked just like Mitsukai. It was only natural that they accept her as their leader.

Mitsukai mentioned an old blacksmith's shop in the Market District that wasn't being used, and it sounded perfect. He was relatively unknown here; it would be easy to put in a little bit of work to get the place up and running again. Then he could begin building weapons... Test out the fruits that he'd stolen from Hana.

Alec grave his Grand daughter a hug, happy to see her. ”Thanks for taking in a criminal like me,” he said, patting her on the back. “I'll try to keep out of trouble, but like I said, some of those Hana clowns could show up here anytime. For now I think i'll go check out this blacksmith's shop, i'll be around...”

Alec turned to exit the Administration Building and headed further into the village...

[Thread Exit]

Spook had arrived in this snow village moments ago, seeing someone dressed in dark clothing leaving what looked like the center of the village, the Administration area. He didn't get a good look at the dark dressed individual, but for some reason he felt an odd connection to the person. The look the person had told Spook that perhaps they weren't from up here either.

Walking further along into the buildings that were made of ice, but oddly warm on the inside for some reason, Spook continued to take in the sights. There was a girl ahead dressed in what appeared to be Kage's robes, and she seemed familiar as well. Upon closer inspection, the child appeared to be Mitsukai. His prodigy? His first disciple in the art of Spook-Fu? What was she doing up here?

”Mitsukai,” he said. Spook, for those that knew him, it would be impossible not to know who he was. He was dressed like he was over in the other world: Dark green hoodie with the Black-Hand symbol on the back, green cargo pants, sneakers, Gas Mask with inscet-like eyes, Leaf headband tied upon his right upper arm, two swords, one on his back another one that had a strange black glow about it at his hip. ”Is that you?...It looked like this village was closed off to the rest of the world for a long time, but recently re-opened... Did you have something to do with that? I can guess yes, since it also look like you're the Kage here. What's going on?”

Mitsukai nodded to Alec before watching him leave: she figured she would end up seeing him around again pretty soon. She also found herself thinking about the trouble that might end up coming this way: it didn't bother her as much as it likely should have. But, Mitsukai was used to living her life dangerously, killing serial killers and monsters, so fighting and killing was just something she was used to, something she expected. It made the idea of someone from that other village showing up not as problematic as perhaps another Kage might have thought.

But, before her thoughts could go any further she found herself hearing her name being called and turned her attention to the new arrival: another familiar face, or well.. appearance, to be more accurate. Spook, of the Blackhand. Her teacher who had taught her Spook-Fu. This day was just getting more and more interesting as it went along.

She raised her right hand, tilting her hat back to better allow her face to show. "Aye, it's me.", she said with a soft chuckle. She nodded in the direction that Alec had gone and grinned. "You just missed Alec Kane." She looked around the ice created walls and then back to Spook with a nod. "And yeah, this place was closed off for a good long while, but when Holeman and I were exploring some tunnels and earthquake occurred and ended up opening the tunnel back up. I showed up, and apparently between the clan symbol on me of a clan that originated here, and well.. I had been using my chakra wings because I thought we were about to be attacked, these people think I look like their deity, and asked me to lead them..."

She shrugged, picking at the hem line of her right sleeve. "I mean... I really couldn't say no and leave them defenseless and all. So, what brings you up to the cold?"

Alec? Here in this world, that other version of himself, the Angel with the guns and the dufflebag, he was here? That was probably why he felt the way he did when he passed by him outside. If he knew an alternate version of himself, it was probably because he'd gotten bored in that tower of metal and glass watching those floating pictures all day.

”You and Holeman huh. Nice, still partners in crime, here and even in the other world. Your clan originated here, it's only natural that you lead. Nice. When I saw big things for you back in the old days I guess I wasn't mistaken...”

Spook sat down right there in the middle of the floor and folded up his legs. ”I was bored and restless, and the village I was in, Niwa I think it's called, was pretty peaceful. I wanted to go back to Konoha, but i'm being told that was a bad idea, so I went into one of the tunnels and just started running... I saw a hole in one of the walls in there, and snow coming out of it, so I thought i'd go take a look... and here I am.” Spook made several asjustments to his mask. ”So, you Holeman and “other me,” do you all have something going on out here?”

"Well, I suppose Holeman and I are still partners in crime... but, he left shortly after we got here. I believe he headed back to Yokuchi, to go see his family." She frowned slightly. "I'm not sure if he's coming back or not. He didn't seem to be too comfortable up here, and I know he can feel things far easier than most people, so the constant cold was likely bothering him even more than the average person."

She watched him sit down, and didn't care: the floor was always warm, due to the thick carpets that helped to keep out the cold so it wasn't like he would end up being cold. If he wanted to sit on the floor he could sit on the floor. "As far as everything else... well, Alec I guess came from Hana. According to what he said he sort've left a real nasty, explosive, going away present. Blew up some buildings, likely killed some people." She looked off in the direction Alec had walked off in again. "I suppose I should have captured him, had him dragged back to Hana and all of that... because harboring a fugitive is a crime and all of that, and I should know better because I'm the Korikage... Lead by examples and all that horse crap. But, I can't do it. I don't want to do it. So, I offered him the blacksmith shop because of this spec he's got, and told him it was all his."

She turned her attention back to Spook as she finished, wondering what he was going to say about all of this: she was hiding a fugitive in plain sight, and she didn't care. Most people would likely think she was losing her mind, that perhaps all of this cold and snow as getting to her... but, she wanted to know what he thought.

”Yeah...that kid is something else. Up here in this cold, I don't think he'd last too long, he'd probably freeze to death,” Spook responded. He noticed her frown, indicating that she probably had feelings for the blind kid, or there was something more to the two of them. Spook didn't dwell on it too long since it was none of his business if they were together or not.

Alec bombed a village and caused a few people to die, huh? So he decided to take the criminal route in this new world. Spook figured Alec must have been on his way back for another round, if he knew the other version of himself. ”Well me personally, i'm not getting in his way. If I know my other self, Alec knew what he was getting himself into when he did what he did. Honestly I don't see anyone taking him out, even here in this world without all of those guns and devices and supernatural abilities he had. I'm sure we'll hear more about what's going on sooner or later.”

The carpet in here was abnormally warm for some reason. It made Spook want to lie down and take a long nap in the warmth. ”It looks like you're up here pretty much by yourself with Alec and Holeman gone. Not that i'm worried you can't defend yourself or anything, but I think i'm gonna stick around here for a while. Has anyone joined the village since you took over? Do you have any warriors or guards up here?”

Mitsukai nodded with a grin. "Yeah, I'm beginning to think he might've disappeared to go back and cause some more trouble. I don't blame him though... he made it sound like that place was pretty dull and boring, it could use a little spicing up."

She sat herself down on the floor near by Spook, legs tucked beneath herself: easier that way, with the long robes and all. She could hear the grumble of the secretary down the hall who had a pretty good view of them at the moment: the woman having just got back from lunch. She likely didn't like the fact that Mitsukai was sitting on the floor, being Kage and all, but she wasn't about to actually say anything about it. Mitsukai giggled.

"It's just me up here right now, and I'll take all of the back up I can get if things turn nasty. I believe I have a genin running around from the reports I've read, but no one really other than some civilians. Apparently, when this village was blocked off from the rest of the world for that long period of time, they became less warriors and fighters and more farmers and fishermen."