She hadn't been in Makurra for a while, though exactly where she had gone she wasn't mentioning. It was something only her family knew, and it was best kept that way. The child moved through the streets un-bothered by the residents within the village, they knew her well enough, and left the little blind girl with the walking stick alone. She tapped the walking stick in such a manner to suggest she was using it to see exactly where she was going, but in truth that was far from the case - her chakra radar was in full effect, and showed her all of the village, including the locations of everyone within it.

White hair kept the majority of the black cloth that covered her eyes from being able to be seen, and the high collar of the white shirt she wore kept the majority of her face up until her nose hidden. Black shorts that went to her knees helped to complete her outfit; with feet snuggly placed in a pair of open toed sandals, and a Makurra headband wrapped around her left leg - not exactly needed, but she wore it regardless.

She began to whistle a soft, rather sadistic tune as she walked... she had heard this place had changed a bit, and was interested in seeing exactly what those changes were, and who the new Kage she kept hearing about was.

So it appeared that Dez decided to take a trip back, at least. He didn't know if any of his other kids were here yet. Alec got drunk and decided to stick around just for fuck's sake and see what happened. Maybe giving peace and quiet a change instead of waging war 24/7 wasn't such a bad idea. Maybe Dez was thinking the same thing since she was back here.

“Hey there girl, come ova heah and sit on my knee.”

Alec knew his daughter would recognize him, even through the drunk shitty old man accent, or even the disguise that the Symbiote was currently covering him in. He was sitting upon one of the porches of the houses of the street that Dez was currently walking on. His disguise was his usual 'old bald man' with a long bushy mask of a beard that concealed everything beneath his nose. He was dressed in a long grey robe that stretched to the floor, holding a gourd of alcohol in his right hand.

He rocked back and fourth in the large rocking chair upon the porch, still taking in the idea that someone had come along and claimed the title of Kage in his village. He nodded with a grin, still seeing the villagers loyal to his family.

Symbiote:

She had almost been about to go off on someone when she actually focused on the man in the chair... it was her father, there was no mistaking it with the fact that she had seen the same routine used many times before when they used to live in Makurra full time. A giggle escaped her as she walked over in his direction, the stick still in hand though she wasn't bothering to use it much now. "I was about to come smack you with my stick.", she said, giggling again.

She jumped up on the porch and ran the few steps over to her father. She promptly jumped into his lap and hugged him. "Did you meet the new Kage person?", she asked curiously, head tilting to the side a bit. "Demi was here for the briefest bit.. she uh. Well, she gave me that ability you two share and her eye. I dunno exactly how she did it, but I went to sleep and when I woke up I had it... had a horrible headache though."

”Yeah, because we all know you're just waiting for the chance to kick your ol' dad's ass.”

Alec didn't mind his daughter jumping on him like she did, and barely even reacted to it with as old as he looked. He returned the hug she gave and poked both of her sides. Alec listened to her questions; had he met the “Kage” yet, and heard as she told how Demi gave her the Uchiha eye and also the ability they shared. As long as one of the girls could do it, Alec didn't much care who.

”I introduced myself... and I think he knows who actually runs things. I don't exactly know what the guy's game is, but i'll play nice.... for now.”

Some of Alec's people were still here. He was left to wonder the whereabouts of Jr. If the secret weapon was still here, then there'd truly be no worries should new threats surface. But then again, Alec had his doubts this would ever happen....

Dezzy giggled and shook her head. "Nah, I was gonna hit you with my stick 'cause at first I thought you were some pervy old man... or Santa Clause, and Santa owes me some dang presents." When her sides were poked she giggled again and squirmed. "Noooo tickling!"

As she listened to her father explain that he had introduced himself her head cocked to the side again in curiosity. "So... you didn't cut off one of his limbs and attempt to beat him with it, then?" Well, apparently they'd be taking things slow and steady then, compared to the violence streak they were on before: it didn't make a difference to her, really. So long as she got to keep her labs and her family was safe and happy she could honestly care less about who was in charge.

"So long as he does a good job I don't really care whose in charge... just don't want to see this place go back to the way it was before. Too much work would be wasted, and too many lives ruined."

”I admit... I thought of cutting off one of his legs at the knee. It didn't really seem like he wanted to fight though. Something strange about that guy, he has this big stupid smile on his face. You'll know him when you see him...”

Take over and ruin the village? Kane would die first. He was pretty sure his message got across. Alec also didn't care who called themselves being in charge either, the people of the village already knew who ran things. As he began to rock the large chair that he sat in whit his daughter upon his lap, several villagers walked down the street, waving to he and Destiny. Kane nodded his head and waved back.

”I'm left to wonder where your brother is, and if he's still got that bad temper he developed here. It's a good thing he wasn't here during my intro to the smiley man...”

Dez shook her head for a moment; while Makurra was a happier place than it used to be she couldn't understand why someone would go around with a smile on their face all of the time, and found herself thinking that she would likely think the man creepy if she did happen to run into him.

Then she was distracted by her thoughts by her father mentioning Jr and by the rocking of the chair. She shrugged her shoulders lightly. "I haven't seen him at all since I came back... maybe he's off visiting another village or something. I know that Aella went back home, and Niala and Aisling are off on the outskirts in an un-named nearby tiny village. I think they were worried they'd be attacked for being here with the new Kage running around." It was as good of a guess as any; Niala had lost her mind recently, and Aisling was attempting to help fix that - the last thing they would need was to be attacked.

"Do you think we should go look for Jr?"

”....Nah. Some of these clowns still might remember the shit storm we started back in the day and may still have hard feelings. Jr has that old bird with him and he knows how to get back here, if he's still here that is...”

Alec put Dez down onto her own feet and stood up to his. With his alcohol gourd in his right hand and his walking stick in his left he started walking down the street, blending into the flow of leg traffic. Things were definitely going to be different. Avery was no longer here, replaced with a smiley man. Still he was left sort of puzzled about the long term with this character.

It would suck that there was no longer a half dressed sexy babe bouncing around, and with past encounters he wasn't really expecting much action. Many times in the past he was surprised and perhaps spoke too soon; he could only hope for such a predicament now.

”I'm still not too sure about this smiley guy Dez, so keep all of your eyes open for any funny shit. Be prepared...”

Destiny nodded; agreeing. She too thought it was possible that someone might still be running around with a grudge of some kind and there was no point in stirring up trouble where trouble wasn't needed. It seemed her father wasn't interested in causing a bunch of problems like before they had took control of Makurra, she was going to be sure she kept her nose clean too - though, that didn't mean her little experiments and the like weren't still going to go on.

"If Jr. is here, I don't see him leaving without at least telling us... ", she said as she followed after her father and keeping an eye on the village as she did so. "As far as this new Kage goes, I'm not going to led my guard down... I don't know him, so I don't trust him. It sucks though... I wish Avery would show back up... Maybe she'll show up eventually. Demi said she would tell her where we were when she went back, so there's a chance. I wonder how she'd react to knowing she got booted out of her position of power..." She liked Avery, and had thought of the female as a very good leader; she could only guess how good of a leader this new guy was going to be, she figured time would tell soon enough though.

"New Kage you say?", came Avery's voice as she descended from the sky on her giant iron fan. She landed on the ground about ten feet from the two Kane's, behind them. She folded up her large fan and resheathed it in its normal position on her back. She pushed her overly long blond hair back and off of her shoulders, behind her. "I thought Demi was pulling my leg when she told me that but I see now it's true." She didn't look or sound angry - at least for the moment - instead she looked exceptionally curious, wondering who this new person could happen to be.

She folded her arms across her chest; ignoring the fact for now that her outfit was slightly too showy for the colder temperatures that Makurra had this time of the year - it really didn't bother her with her natural wind affinity - so long as it wasn't snowing she wasn't going to bother changing her clothing: besides, only a fool would dare touch her since all of the villagers knew exactly who she was and knew better. She still couldn't bring herself to believe that someone else had dared take the hat from her; had dared to take control of Makurra. She wasn't a naturally violent person, but if they ended up sending the village into a downward spiral... well, she wasn't going to play nice.

Alec spotted Avery as soon as she crossed the borders into the Land of Shadows. The Symbiote began to shift and change until Alec looked as he normally did: young, wearing a long black cloak that went to the ground, but didn't hinder his movement. He turned to face her as she landed, leaning on his walking stick some.

”Uh huh... A smiley man. He has this big ridiculous grin on his face, you'll know him when you see him. I met him yesterday... let him know who's responsible for the pimp condition the village is in, and the consequences of trying to fuck up the order we have around here. Honestly I don't think he's gonna be a problem but who knows. Everyone still looks to us as authority anyways.”

Alec thought maybe she was mad that her position had been just taken away. How would the receptions to the smiling man turn out when Avery saw him in person? Or Dez? Or even Jr if he was even still here? Another episode was surely in the works. On the other hand, Avery was back and still wearing that outfit, and Alec grinned to know that he wouldn't be as bored as he thought he'd be...

Dez saw Avery enter into the village via her chakra radar and couldn't help the grin that spread across her face; especially as she heard the words the older woman spoke. Was Avery pissed off? Was she going to demand her position back, or take it by force? She knew that if Avery chose to do either of those things she wouldn't be doing it alone: she knew her father liked Avery, and she doubted he'd let her walk alone into battle against some smiley man.

"Hello, Avery! Glad to see you came back too! I'm going to go see if my lab is still in working order... you two have fun catching up on the creepy smiley man." She gave a wave and then skipped off towards the tower; not bothering to keep up the blind child escapades at the moment - besides, it wasn't like people didn't already know she had other methods of being able to see. She already knew of course how her labs were since she could see them at all times so long as she was in the village, but she figured her dad and Avery might like some alone time, and she wasn't an annoying child, or at least she didn't try and be.

-Exit-

Avery gave a wave to Dez and then nodded as she watched the little girl turn and begin to skip off. She figured Dez knew already how her lab was since the thing was locked down tighter than a fort and she could probably see it with that chakra radar of hers: and that she was simply leaving to give them some alone time. Avery wasn't going to complain of course: alone time sounded nice. She watched Dez disappear before walking over to Alec, grinning.

She wasn't going to let the situation piss her off: especially if the people in the village were still going to look at them as if they were in charge. Instead, she was simply going to brush it off her shoulders until she needed to actually worry about it. "I see... well, as so long as this smiley man understands that, and doesn't try and fuck up what we have here, I see no immediate reason to kill him, or otherwise hand him over to be one of Dez's experiments....", she said softly, stopping about a foot from Alec, her grin turning playful.

"So, what are we going to do then... with all this free time on our hands, and no village to run? Going to go back to cutting off peoples limbs, blowing stuff up, and being the bad guy, or are you going to turn over a new leaf?", she asked as she stepped closer, gently pressing herself up against him as she reached her arms up and lightly placed them around the back of his neck as she had done in the past.

Villagers began to notice that who they considered the actual Kage had made a return much like the majority of The Dark. Dez skipped off, likely to get back to whatever it is that she does down in the labs. Avery came close to Embrace Alec, allowing him to slip his right arm around the small of her back.

”Trying to start a war with those other villages turned out to be pointless. I'm going to play nice, (for now) but I can't speak for the kids or anyone else for that matter. There seems to be a lot more people here than last time, and more appearing still. So, with a bunch of fresh new faces in the mix, who knows what might happen...”

Alec lowered his head until his nose was brushed up against the side of Avery's neck and took a long inhale of her. He was left to wonder if he'd ever see her again; he was glad the situation didn't turn into another one like Sunny, where she went off to handle some personal business and was never seen again. Alec himself wasn't in criminal mode, not like he was back when he bombed and kidnapped, but it would be interesting to watch this world with all of the new people and see what sort of drama unfolded...

An average guy came walking into this dark village. He wore a red top with a large collar that hid the lower half of his face. He had on black gloves, black loose fitting pants and black open toed sandals. The boy was averaged sized; he had caramel colored skin, short black hair and piercing yellow eyes. Upon his back was a large black gourd that looked far too heavy for him to carry, yet he didn't look weighed down or hindered by it at all. The gourd seemed to have a glow about it, and if there were any sensors around, it would seem to them that the thing had a life all it's own...

No doubt this stranger would have attracted stares by now. He seemed to be taking his time, on a casual stroll into the village of Makkura. He wasn't seeing any of those guys dressed in purple from the old days; could he have been too late? Did this Dark gang even still exist? Kinzoku didn't want to give off the idea that he was here to start something. This is why he walked slowly, with his arms folded in front of him.

Kinzoku sniffed the air several times. The scent of a female floated into his nostrils. There was also the scent of something else; something he hadn't smelled before. Whatever it was, it seemed to be all over someone close by her. Ordinarily things like this wouldn't catch his curiosity but he had to see what this was.

And it wouldn't be long before Kinzoku was face to face with a female who had long golden hair, dressed in a revealing outfit, standing before a man with white hair, who was blindfolded. But Kinzoku wasn't stupid. There was more to this man than met the eyes....

"I smell... the desert.", came the child-like voice of Dez's as she took in the new arrivals appearance via her chakra radar. She had been playing with a new pet - a new creation of sorts from an experimental medical ninjutsu that had gone terrible wrong - when she had noticed the newcomer making his way slowly through the village. She hadn't seen him before, and so her curiosity had been enough for her to leave the safety her lab - her new pet, a zombie she called Subject Z with a whole bunch of protective armor on it on a thick steal chain walking behind her the mouth guard in place to keep him from biting anyone as were the gloves to keep him from scratching anyone accidentally - and come investigate.

She was currently to the right of the man with the odd gourd about fifteen or so feet away; a gourd she could sense seemed to have a life all of its own. She gave the thick steal chain in her hand a tug, causing the zombie to move closer; to the point to where it was standing only about three feet to the right of her. Dez kept her stance non threatening; the blind child simply tilting her head to the right as she waited for some sort of reaction or response: her face facing him, though the black strip of cloth was around her eyes, keeping them hidden from sight.

She glanced behind her as she felt a tug on the chain in her hand; the zombie had been attempting to wander off to go sniff at a woman walking down the street: no doubt in an attempt to go eat her, though that wouldn't work at this moment. Dez gave a firm tug on the chain, causing the zombie to return to where it had been before. "Z, stop trying to eat the villagers, you know you're not allowed."

A smile slowly spread across Avery's face as she listened to Alec speak and felt his arm around her: it felt like the days back when all of that chaos was going on, and she was glad to feel it again. Just as she had been about to respond to what he was saying Dez's voice was heard and Avery turned her head slightly in the direction it had come from.

Her heart skipped a beat as she took in what was behind Dez: It was a zombie, straight out of one of those horror movies she used to watch... only, after she blinked and let her eyes focus more clearly in the thing, it became apparently that it was on a chain and restrained in such a way that it couldn't harm anymore... a new pet? Or perhaps some horrible experiment? She wasn't about to have that thing roaming around the tower was she? Because, Avery was going to be damn sure to lock herself in Alec's room if that was the case... she did not want to wake up being chewed on.

However, she couldn't concern herself with that for long as her gaze then took in the man with the gourd on his back, who seemed to be the focus of where Dez was 'looking', even though the child was blind. She raised a brow curiously as she took in the man's appearance. "New faces do keep popping up, it seems..." 

The first thing that caught his attention had to be that thing standing next to Dez. He'd almost moved away from Avery to slice the thing from it's ass to it's appetite, but before that he noticed that Dez seemed to have the thing under control. It was tied up and restrained with chains. Alec assumed that it had to be one of her experiments from the lab, so he wasn't about to ask too many questions.

The second had to be the Ops following the individual who came casually walking into the Land of Shadows as if he didn't have a care in the world. The scent that came off of him told Kane that he was from the desert. He had a headband with a scratch through the symbol, meaning he was Missing, much like he himself was. The big black heavy looking thing on his back... there was something about the thing; it seemed to be giving off a life force all of it's own.

Dez was to his right a distance, possibly just in case he tried something. Kane guessed he wasn't here to be hostile, otherwise he'd have done something long before he got this close, and he wouldn't have been walking so slow. He removed his arm from around Avery's waist and stood nearby her, resting his hands atop his Blind Fury stick. The Ops nearby standing on rooftops and in alleys looked to Alec, and he waved them off, letting them know that he'd handle things from here.

”A new face... we don't see too many of those in the Land of Shadows much. Something I can help you with, Stranger?”

Several people had been following him since his arrival. They were possibly village security. They all seemed to dissipate when the blindfolded man waved them off, meaning this guy had to be someone important.

To his right stood a child, also blindfolded, who had what looked to be a zombie by a leash. Maybe she was part of security too. Kinzoku hadn't planned on attacking or anything like that, but he knew it never hurt to be safe. He kept his arms folded.

”You're Kane,” Kinzoku said, his yellow eyes going back to meet the blindfolded man dressed in black with the stick. ”There were wanted posters of you up a few years ago... Terrorism and Kidnappings... There were some other guys who were dressed in purple who painted things on walls too, like invites to this crew you have, “The Dark.” Would it be too late to join?”

Dez kept a careful eye on the stranger; even though Avery's look of slight shock at seeing a zombie didn't escape her notice. She turned her head in Avery's direction for a moment grinning. "Don't worry, he can't scratch or bite anyone without my permission: else I wouldn't have him out of his cage."

She then turned her attention back to the new arrival, listening to her father and then the stranger speak. An eyebrow rose, hidden mostly by the black strip of cloth that covered her eyes, as she listened to what the man had asked. So, he had shown up and wanted to join the Dark? Did that organization even technically exist? The villagers still were loyal to them, but was the organization still going to go around causing havoc? 

As the zombie tried wandering again, this time towards Kinzoku, she gave a sharp tug on the chain and frowned. "Oi, I know you lost the majority of your functions but I said no eating people, that includes guests: try again and I'll let you rot." she muttered to the zombie which returned to her side and just stood there making rather disturbing groaning sounds.

Avery stared curiously at this new arrival; more focused on him than the zombie that Dez seemed to have completely under control: even less concerned about it at her words. Dez was smart for being only a child, and she wouldn't have let something dangerous roam around unrestrained like that: not in the village she helped create and loved anyway - anywhere else was likely a different story. 

So, this young man wanted to join The Dark? That was like joining the village itself really, missing-nin or not. She didn't mind of course: but technically she was no longer in charge in the village - though the villagers still didn't seem to care about who held the official hat: they knew who had saved them from a horrible fate and who had restored the village, and that was who they listened to.

So, she kept silent, looking up to Alec and wondering what his answer was going to be. This new arrival seemed interesting enough; and even without sensory she could tell there was more to him then met the eye.

Alec grinned. This guy was missing, from Yokuchi. He no longer had a home, and he wanted in here, so Alec didn't think the guy was going to attack. Something about the guy's body language told him so, and Dez could probably pick up on it just the same. His stance would be much different, his heart rate would be up, he'd be amped up, excited; This guy wasn't any of that. He relaxed, and loosened the grip he had on the Blind Fury stick.

”Wanting to join The Dark, eh? I can see that you left Yokuchi without permission which means Strafe and his pals might come out here looking for you soon, but we're prepared for that. Who are you then, stranger? Why do you want to join us? What can you bring to the table?”

Hearing this yellow eyed guy's story and learning about the big black glowing thing that seemed to be alive on his back would make for an interesting tale. Besides the smiley man who was calling himself Kage now, he hadn't seen anyone new around here since Hanako, and that was years ago. The Land of Shadows could use some new people, even if “The Dark” wasn't actually official anymore.

When the zombie next to him started to move in his direction, the gourd began to wiggle and move. The thing had hostile intentions, and the gourd responded to such. Besides another slight glance over to his right, Kinzoku himself took no action. When it was evident that the little blind girl's pet could do him no harm, the gourd stopped moving.

Alec and the little girl; Kinzoku was left to assume that they were blind, which boosted all of their other senses, thus the reason the little girl was able to smell the desert on him. But the girl seemed to be looking right at him, just like Alec was. These were some strange characters indeed, but at least they were looks of curiosity and not the stares he got back in the Sand.

”My name is... I don't actually have a name,” he said. ”When I was in prison, the inmates started calling me Kinzoku, after an incident with another man. It means metal... “ Kinzoku made adjustments to the strap holding the gourd on his back. ”I didn't exactly have the best of childhoods, but who has?... I've done things i'm not too proud of, like rob and commit murder, but who hasn't? Things happened before I was born, and the story spread through Yokuchigakure like a disease. Rather than kill them all, I chose to leave, and this place seemed the only logical location to travel to. I wouldn't do well in a “normal” setting...”

Kinzoku hadn't remembered saying so much before. “I don't know if you're familiar with Sand Manipulation, but I do something similar with what's known as Iron Sand... I often combine this with my Magnet Release. I also have experience with sensory, and tracking...” Kinzoku didn't know if his set of skills would be good enough. If not, he'd probably just wander somewhere until he came across a location suitable for settling down....

Dezzy remained curious of the individual as she continued to watch him through the chakra radar. She noticed how the gourd had begun to stir when the zombie had attempted to go straight towards Kinzoku, but how when the zombie had been put at bay Kinzoku's gourd had seemed to relax, and quit moving: strange, but not the strangest thing she had seen.

She listened to him explain that he really didn't have a name, but that the people in the prison he had been in had named him Kinzoku: none of the information he was giving away surprised her bothered her any, of course. At Kinzoku's question about sand manipulation she gave a nod. "I know of Sand Manipulation. Emiko can do that: 'cept she has something inside of her, a beast..... she comes to visit from time to time.", basic knowledge given. They didn't have anyone around often enough who could do something like that: and it surely would be an interesting skill to have at their disposal. "I think it'd be cool of Kinzoku stayed with us.", she said, adding in her opinion.

She then glanced towards her zombie, noticing the way it was attempting to chew on the mouth guard: it wouldn't be able to of course, but still... "Are you hungry again? Bloody virus is a pain...." With that said she turned and walked back towards the tower, the zombie in tow: off to likely feed the thing before it attempted to eat itself.

-Exit-

Avery listened carefully as Alec asked the young man some questions; and the young mans respones to them. He had been to prison, which meant he had either done some pretty bad stuff or been blamed for it - neither of which mattered to Avery. She listened as he confirmed that he had come from Yokuchi; and about how instead of slaughtering the village he had chosen to leave: a good choice in her opinion. He had a good skill set, one that they didn't already have, so he would definitely be useful, and she was curious to see what all he could do with that sand of his.

She heard Dez speak up, saying that she thought it would be cool if Kinzoku stayed here, and she found herself nodding in agreement with the child, even as she led the zombie pet of hers away: that thing was going to take some getting used to, and she found herself hoping that Dez kept it caged during evening hours: she really didn't want to run into it down some dark hallway. "I agree with Dez..", she said finally, looking over to Alec and wondering how he felt about the situation.