Avery crossed the draw-bridge and entered through the large doors into the front room of the tower. She didn't bother going any further as she unhooked the strap that went around her which held the scroll onto her back, releasing the thing. She leaned the huge scroll up against the nearby wall and then sprawled herself comfortable on one of the nearby couches. While she had learned an aweful lot while up in the mountains and had grown a lot stronger she was still very glad to be home. The week had been a long one, but she was more than happy with the results.

She glanced towards the towers front doors, wondering if Alec would be right behind her, or if he would've spent more time talking to that monk. She was still very curious as to who the guy was, and hoped he wasn't back in Makkura to be up to no good. Still, she figured that was something that only time would tell.

As she waited for Alec to join her she found herself wondering what all she might have missed in the past week and hoped that she wasn't about to hear a tale about some village or another being wiped off of the map because they had made the mistake of attacking Makkura or someone from Makkura. She yawned and stretched out with a satisfied groan. "Ugh.. good to have something to sit on besides a log or the ground.", she said softly to no one in particular.

The Blind Criminal walked back through the streets of Makkura, crossing the bridge above the bottomless moat that surrounded the Tower before opening the front doors and stepping inside. He made sure to send a word to Jr and Kinzoku about their newcomer, along with anyone who happened to be listening on the Op party line. If this whole thing went to shit because it turned out that this new guy was a spy or something along those lines, then there would be all the more reason to spill more blood. Alec, still undecided on whether or not Niwa was even worth attacking, walked over to the couch that Avery sat upon, noticing how much stronger she seemed after her trip.

”Holeman, Mitsukai, and her sister, a Jinchuuriki named Emiko defected from Yokuchi. It's a move that's left Strafe pretty much defenseless. All of them have different reasons for leaving the village, but they all agree that Yokuchi has never really had a very competent leadership figure. Every one to wear that Kage hat since this guy named Luca has been some idiot who fails to even notice what's going on in his own village. Holeman and Mitsukai will be moving on to Hinowa sooner or later, but Emiko asked to stay here...”

There was also still the chance that Strafe could act on this. He remembered those kids saying they wanted to fight their own battles, but part of him couldn't help but to worry for their safety anyway. There was also the matter of Aella and her wanting to stay here, and whatever Hiroyuki was planning on doing to get her back once he found out. All in due time, he figured.

”Also... A woman came here named Amaya to bring Aella here. She had some sort of sickness but Dez was able to cure her. Turns out Aella is a clone of Aisling, who had the same disease before, and she's a clone of Amaya. Aella also tells me that this Hiroyuki guy purposely held her back in terms of strength and rank so that she couldn't leave the village. I recognize his intentions but i'd never try to stop any of my kids from growing... Aella asked to be able to stay here. I don't mind, but i'm expecting some sort of a reaction to this. Aella is also a Jinchuuriki, meaning Makkura just put on a lot of muscle...”

Avery blinked once, an eyebrow raising as she listened to everything Alec had to say. Apparently a awful lot had happened in the short period of time she had been up in the mountains training. Holeman, Mitsukai, and Emiko had defected from Yokuchi meaning that that village had just lot all of its power. Mitsukai and Holeman were going to move on to Hinowa eventually, but Emiko who was a Jinchuuriki was going to stay here in Makkura with them. They all left the village of Yokuchi for different reasons, but the overall gist of it was the same. Avery of course couldn't blame them; if they were busting their asses and were given barely a thank-you for it then leaving was the right thing to do. She knew Emiko would find things to be a lot better here in Makkura, and could only hope that Holeman and Mitsukai were better off in Hinowa than they had been in the other village.

She then listened as Alec went on to explain that little Aella was back in the village. She had been brought here very sick by some woman named Amaya who felt the need to play God and clone people, something which caused Avery to frown slightly as she listened. She was glad to hear that Aella had been cured by Dezzy and even more glad to hear that Aella would be staying in the village with them.

Both of these big events were likely going to have repercussions to them but Avery was more than willing to face that sort of thing, especially now with all of that training under her belt. "I see...", she said in response. "Gosh, I figured I had missed something in the week I was gone, but I wasn't expecting all of that. I can't blame Emiko, Holeman, and Mitsukai for bailing out of Yokuchi like that - I just hope that Holeman and Mitsukai find better things up in Hinowa. I'm sure Emiko will feel right at home here soon enough." She shifted on the couch. "I can't believe though that people in Niwa are over there playing God... there's something seriously wrong with that.", she said as she shook her head. "Better for Aella to be here if that's the sort of thing going on... especially if it made her sick like that. Last time she was here she learned a whole bunch of stuff, so it wouldn't surprise me if she got even stronger this time around..."

"Like I had said outside, my training went pretty well. Learned about twenty-two more jutsu. I also learned Fuuinjutsu so I can seal pretty much everything and anything... and I learned to combine a few of my elements and make storms. Rather fun... spent a good day or so amusing myself with making storm clouds."

"Panda no Jutsu!", came Aella's voice before she came running into the front room. On her head, sticking out from her blondish brown colored hair were two real-life panda ears courtesy of her half transformation. Sticking through a slit in the back of her pants and robes combo that she currently had on was a matching black fur covered panda tail. The ears on her head wiggled slightly as she came running in with a giggle. "Pandapanda!", she spoke telepathically, her voice projected into the room as a whole so that both Avery and Alec could hear her.

She ran over to Avery, stopped in front of her long enough to poke her on the nose, and then proceeded to run around her grandfather in a circle: giggling up a storm. "This panda had some suuuuuuuugarrrr! Dezzy gave me pixie sticks! Really, really big pixie sticks! Mmmm they were good.", she explained, projecting her voice telapathically once more. She came to a stop next to her grandfather and bounced in place hyperly.

”...So, once again, we expect attacks from all directions. But knowing the history of these individuals, I don't expect anything to happen, or anyone to come looking for their missing nin. And here it was people making a big deal over ninjas who leave their villages? They can be either brought back by force, or killed?  No one has still even come after me. Is that stipulation a joke or what?”

Avery said she learned a number of new jutsu, a whole new specialization that would allow her to seal things, say, a chakra beast or bijuu if they ever happened to run across one, and she could also create storms like the Holeman kid and Mitsukai. Alec would rather Avery not even enter the battlefield, but at least he wouldn't have to worry about her much anymore, should the shit hit the fan.

”You learned that much in such a short amount of time? That's pretty impressive. Will come in handy should he happen to get out hands on another one of those beasts. I personally will pass on having one in me, but I wonder if we could get someone to volunteer to contain one, if we happen to find one. Maybe Kinzoku... i'll ask him later on.”

4 Jinchuuriki. Technically 3 and an Ancient Phoenix. One of them being his grand daughter, who came into the front room in a half transformed state, which made him stare at her a second. With this amount of power it would be stupid for someone to attempt something such as a take over or an attack. Even with as powerful as that Ranmaru character was claimed to be, he'd stand no chance in a full frontal assault. But Alec knew as usual that little to nothing would transpire in these fragile times, unless he were to act first...

Avery laughed. "Yeah, I doubt anyone will come after them. Hell, my own village didn't come after me when you 'kidnapped' me five years ago." She shrugged. "I kept hearing about the rules of what happened when someone left a village without permission but so far I've yet to see anyone really do anything about it." She then grinned fully at his comment about not wanting a beast sealed inside of him. "Eh, you already know my stance on that subject... it's one of the first discussions we had when we got here." She wasn't going to go into detail of course see as Aella had come running in the room half transformed into a panda, but she was sure he would remember her 'the only thing I want in me...' comment she had made years ago.  "Once i got in the mountains it was much like home... I'm an air monk after all, so being up that high in all of that fresh air was rather awakening. Then, once I put my mind to it the days just flew past. Still, good to be home finally."

She chuckled as the child poked her on the nose and then ran around Alec while speaking telepathically. "I can definitely see you've had sugar... how many pixie sticks did Dezzy give you? You're likely going to crash here soon from the sugar high.."

"I think it's time I go wash up... I'll come find you later, Alec.", she said as she got up. She went up to him and pressed her lips lightly against his in a kiss before wandering over to her scroll with a smile, picking the thing up, and disappearing up the nearest staircase to head up to her room to deposit all of her weapons and supplies.

[Exit for now~]

Aella continued to bounce in place as she stood next to her grandfather. She looked at Avery as she heard the female speak and then held up both hands. She put three fingers of her left hand down to indicate the answer to the question of how many pixie sticks Dezzy had given her was seven. "Seven! This panda was given seven pixie sticks!" She dropped her hands and went back to bouncing in place. She watched Avery walk over to Alec, kiss him, pick up a huge scroll, and then disappear upstairs. She watched her for a moment and then turned her attention back to her grandfather.

"Grandad. I have a question.", she said, suddenly becoming still as she focused herself on what she wanted to know. "Back in Niwa there's a lot of people who can speak using their minds; telepathy. Just like I can. Is there anyone here who can do that?" Her head tilted at her question, blondish-brown hair falling in front of green colored eyes and tickling her nose. If no one here was a telepath she figured she would have to teach someone: she liked being able to use her mind to speak, and she liked others being able to do it too. It felt more.. personal that way. Especially since Aella barely liked speaking verbally, and had only done it as to not come off as rude to everyone else.

Time would tell what happened, and who had any sort of spine. Like last time, it was beginning to look like no one. That was fine. When Avery came close to him, Alec took a hold of her hips while pressing lips back against hers. Since there looked to be no immediate action, and Avery was fresh back from being gone a week, perhaps there would be a chance for some alone time with her later on.

”As a matter of fact, no, there isn't Aella... I remember how you once said you didn't like talking much. Why don't you show me how to do it, since you're going to be staying here a while if not for good, huh? That way nobody can butt in on our conversations.”

Speaking with the mind would be a valuable technique to be in possession of. In a dangerous situation in which talking would be impossible or stupid would be when such a technique would work wonders. There would probably soon come a time when speaking on the wireless comms party line would be a bad idea as well, as the line could always be intercepted with the right equipment, whereas telepathy would for the most part remain unknown...

A grin slowly spread wider and wider across the child's face at Alec's suggestion. She had been almost sad to hear that no one in Makkura was a telepath like herself, but the idea of being able to show Alec how to do it, or gift him with the ability as the case would be, had brought a bigger smile then ever on the girl's face. She nodded several times over again with a giggle. "I can do that! I can give you the ability like you have me the chakra radar. 'Cept, you're gonna have to shrink, or pick me up.", she said with yet another giggle as she reached up towards her grandfather's head. "I have to be able to touch your head."

She waited patiently for Alec to either pick her up so she could reach his head or otherwise kneel or sit down. She knew how to do it of course, or rather, Lil' Bai knew how to do it and therefore the knowledge was transferred to her as was the experience of having done it before - even if she personally hadn't. Sometimes being a Jinchuuriki was a very handy thing. "Being able to give the gift of telepathy is something Lil' Bai told me how to do because he did it before. So I know how to do it in exchange because he shares all the stuff he knows how to do with me."

Alec went down to one knee, using his Blind Fury stick as a brace. He often thought about catching a beast of his own, but the idea of sharing a body with another living being sort of gave him the irks. Well, there was the Symbiote, but that was different. It was intelligent, but it never talked to him and didn't seem to have any way of communicating with him besides protecting him when in danger. He didn't know if he'd be able to deal with someone else talking inside of his head.

These chakra monsters seemed to have been all over the map. Were there any within The Land of Shadows that they didn't know about? Alec reminded himself to keep a better eye out on the radar. If they were going to be one of – if not the - strongest countries on the map, he may as well make it official. Alec was pretty sure Niwa nor Yokuchi would do anything to attempt to recover those they lost, and didn't much consider them threats anymore, but a visit would have to be taken to the new village called Hinowa, and he began to think it would have to happen sometime soon.

”I may have to leave here for a day or two, Grand Baby. This new village up where Kori used to be bears some investigating. Really strong people up there. If I can get up there before anyone else does and make friends, maybe they won't label us all bad guys and scum like everybody else did, and at least one of these villages would be on our side.”

Mitsukai had been wandering aimlessly around the tower, exploring really. There were so many rooms that looked like they hadn't been touched and she had even found a secret passage or two: the first leading to what seemed like nowhere which told her more exploring was needed later on that one. The second had led to the kitchen pantry and had made her laugh: apparently someone had felt some late-night secret snacking was in order when they had created that one.

But, now she found herself wandering back into the front room of the tower just in time to catch a bit of the conversation going on between Alec and Aella and to see Alec kneel down so Aella could reach him easier. An eyebrow went up as she heard Alec speak of going up to the new village which she assumed to be Hinowa to go make friends. The idea behind it was solid: make friends before someone could convince them they were enemies.

She wandered her way over to the pair, having had something of importance she wanted to speak to her grandfather about: she remembered how she had given him his own blacksmith shop to make weapons via Hana's technique of Weapons Tech, and had wanted to learn it so that she too could enhance her weapon. If she could make it fire better chakra bullets, let alone fire it silently she would get a serious edge in battle, plus not have to worry about using the bullets when fighting alongside Holeman, or have to worry about using it near any of the other Holeman's. "Hey, you two.", she said with a grin. "Grandad, when you got a second I had a question for you." 

Aella watched him get down on one knee while listening to him explain that he was going to have to leave for a few days so that he could go make friends with the people from the new village. She nodded in understanding as she moved closer to her grandfather's side. "Emiko said she was going to build me a giant sandcastle to play in, so I'm sure I'll have plenty to do while you're gone."

She extended her hand which was glowing a soft white and black mixture of color and which gave off a suddenly distinct smell of bamboo. She touched the back of her grandfather's head causing the psychic abilities that laid dormant in each human to awaken. The whole process would be quick and painless; if anything it would likely feel like her grandfather had more room in his head then before. When she was finished she withdrew her hand, the chakra disappearing. "All done.", she said happily with a giggle.

She then turned her attention to Mitsukai's arrival just as her stomach began to growl. She looked between the two of them. "Don't leave without saying goodbye, kay?", she said to both in general. She then poked her stomach. "I'mma go get a sandwich... and some juice." She turned and began to wander off, straight towards the kitchen; her stomach growling like a bear the whole way.

Alec smelled trees or something as she reached around and touched the back of his head. The process didn't hurt, instead it felt like his brain was growing bigger. When she said she was done he stood back up straight, rubbing the back of his neck. Much appreciated, Grand baby, was his mental thanks to Aella as she began walking toward the kitchen, the roar of her stomach obvious to his sensitive ears. If anything this will make things much easier on you.

Something new learned. Alec always enjoyed adding potential weapons into his aresnal. He often wondered when he'd get the chance to use these uchiha eyes to copy someone else's technique, or put the newly formed Chimera Technique into plat and absorb someone else's kekkai genkai. He could imagine the look on someone's face at the sight of their own trademark abilities being used back against them. Another one of his Grandchildren Mitsukai came into the room then, saying how she had something to ask Alec. His sarcastic grin re-appeared upon his face, propping his hands upon the top of his Blind Fury stick.

”Ask away, Mits...”

Mitsukai watched Aella walk out of the room to go grab something to eat; able to hear her stomach growl when she got close enough. She gave a nod as a response when Aella mentioned neither of them leaving without saying goodbye: she'd make sure she told Aella she was leaving when the time came - though she figured that trip to Hinowa was still at least a day or two away.

She then focused her attention back to her grandfather with her own grin on her face. "Back when I was the Korikage I gave you a space in one of the blacksmith shops so you could make weapons and stuff. Could you teach me how to do that? I've had some ideas for my scythe to make it better but can't figure out how exactly to make it work... but I figured you'd be able to teach me. Right now I have to use a jutsu to make chakra bullets, and it becomes chakra taxing after a while. Plus, it's so loud I can't use them near Holeman, or any of the rest of his family. But... if I could find a way to make them come from the weapon themselves, and be silent... well, maybe I could make it work the way I intended. It'd give me an advantage over people able to evade me, or long ranged fighters without having to waste precious time getting close to them."

Overall she figured the idea was sound: it'd make her stronger in battle, a more deadlier opponent with more tricks up her sleeve. She didn't like fighting those who used Genjutsu or were Ninjutsu exclusive because she had to waste time to get close to them while they tried to run away and normally she was faster.. but what would happen if the day came that she wasn't faster then them? She needed that ace up her sleeve just in case.

Weapons Tech. The art he'd manage to rob from Hanagakure. Seeing as that craptastic village no longer existed, Alec had to be one of the last anywhere with knowledge of making special weapons. Passing on this knowledge to a family member wouldn't be a bad idea, because it would still be here when he was gone. Perhaps Mitsukai could do more with it than he'd ever done.

He motioned for her to follow him and began walking through the large front room; his Blind Fury stick tapping the black and white checkered floor. After ascending several flights of purple carpeted stairs, Alec walked down another long hallway lined with rooms until he came to his own. It smelled rather heavily of cologne. The global radar near the exit out onto the balcony was active and lit up; the chakra signatures of strong individuals visible in different colors.

Alec walked over to a bookshelf and pulled one particular book out. The shelf moved backwards and to the left side, revealing the entrance into a hidden compartment. The small room beyond contained the designs and half finished constructions of many weapons Alec had tinkered with over the years spent pretty much bored since none of those other countries wanted to wage war.

Before Alec began to continue fixing and tinkering with a pair of special gloves, he handed Mitsukai a book he'd written. It wasn't so much a story book, but it contained all of his notes and findings when it came to Weapons Tech. The process of constructing swords and projectile weapons. The proper temperatures to smelt metals. The process of using your own chakra and elements should one choose to do so. Everything Mitsukai would need to know would be written inside, and with proper study he would be able to build anything just as good as he could, and perhaps even better.

Mitsukai followed after her grandfather as he walked across the black and white checkered floored room, ascended many purple carpeted stairs, down a hallway, and finally into a room that smelled heavily of cologne. She glanced about curiously, noticing something near the exit out onto the balcony that had things moving around on it in different colors: she figured it was a radar of some sort that she guessed expended far past just Makkura itself. She watched as her grandfather pulled a book on a bookshelf out that caused it to move backwards and to the left which revealed an entrance into a hidden room. "Neat...", she said in response before following her grandfather inside.

She figured, as she saw all of the designs and half finished projects lying around that this was where her grandfather made his weapons: where she would learn how to do the same. She took the book that she then opened to the first page and began to read over it. Everything she read she quickly memorized. With this information she was going to be able to make her scythe far more dangerous than ever before; while also making it stealthy so that not only wouldn't she have to worry about harming Holeman or any of his family members with the loudness of the chakra projectiles, but also so that she could snipe an opponent without them even knowing what hit them until it was too late.

After several minutes of reading she glanced up from the book and over to what her grandfather was tinkering with. "Whatcha making now?", she asked curiously before her silver colored gaze moved back to the words written in the book and she turned to a fresh page.

They looked like bracelets, but they were actually much more than that. He'd been working on something that didn't seem like a weapon at first glance, until the user activated them. They would cover the users hands and be durable enough to block powerful attacks with as little as a hand swat. They would give the user vast amounts of strength, and allow them to use special crystals which could be charged with elements, creating many dangerous possibilities and attacks.

”Something i've been messing with for years now... it looks like i'm nearly done with it. Something Avery could use in case i'm not there to help her. These crystals I swiped out of Hana, they let people charge elements into them... Maybe she could get Jr to fill a few of them up with that black rage fire of his. That way she couldn't get hurt by it, and she practically wielding the powers of an Ancient Phoenix...”

Alec made several more adjustments and closed the small panels on both of the bracelets. He'd written a few pages of notes on these new creations of his so Avery could know everything about her new toys. Alec took the bracelets and the notes out of the small room and into Avery's room next door, setting them on her bed for when she was done washing up. He'd taken quite a while to build those and was anxious to see how they worked out. Afterwards, Alec returned to his room to sit in the recliner in front of his radar.

”Feel free to build or fix something while you're in there, I don't mind Mits...”

"Oh, that sounds nifty... ", she said in response as she flipped yet another page. It wouldn't take her long to read the whole thing, she was a speed reader after all: and soon enough she was able to close the book, all of the knowledge it held now memorized for use on her own weapon of choice. "Maybe I'll help Avery by teaching her my speed, Swift, later on. I know a lot of her abilities are really chakra taxing, and so is Swift... but, add in a weapon like that and she would be even more lethal, and no one would escape her. Plus, if she got herself into a tight spot she would be able to at least escape if no one was around to help her." Yes, this was definitely something that she wanted to do: a way to help Avery out who given how long her and Alec had been together Mitsukai considered just as much of a member of the family as everyone else.

She went over to the table and began to work on her scythe after unfolding it. It was simply enough, a few adjustments here and there, a scale added to the weapon that Aella had given her earlier on when she had first arrived that housed the raiton power of a dragon, her own suiton chakra imbued into the scythe to add water power and increase the raiton damage. Plus, a trigger that would allow her to use it all... all while it would be completely silent.

"What exactly is that thing you're looking at?", she asked her grandfather curiously while she continued working on her scythe.

After Avery had gone upstairs with her large scroll, taking her time as she walked up the purple carpeted stairs and down the hallway that led to her own room which was connected to Alecs, she had decided that a bath was definitely in order after a week in the mountains living as any other survivor would.

She walked over to her bed and placed the scroll down in the center of it. She then sent a burst of chakra into the seal that kept the scroll closed which caused the seal to open and unlock. The large scroll unrolled revealing everything that she had put into it: camping gear, extra clothing, weapons, books, scrolls, and her large iron folding fan that she liked to keep with her at all times simply because it was technically a contract for Kama, her weasel summon. She took her time putting everything away: camping gear went back into the bottom of her large closet neatly, dirty clothing found their way to the laundry basket, clean clothing went back to her dresser. The books and scrolls were placed onto the many bookshelves that seemed to make up all of the walls of her bedroom. Weapons were returned to the hip pouch they belonged in after she examined and cleaned each one to make sure they were in tip top shape. Finally her giant iron folding fan was leaned up against the end of her bed; right up against the elegantly carved wooden frame. With everything put away where it belonged she rolled the scroll back up and then slipped it into one of the drawers that made up the under side of her bed. Finally finished she allowed herself to fall backwards onto her bed where she laid, arms spread out, staring up at the ornately painted ceiling that depicted two warriors fighting with an angel watching over the female warrior and what she assumed was supposed to be a demon cheering on the male warrior she was fighting.

After several minutes of just allowing herself to lay there and rest she sat up, got off of the bed, and wandered over to her dresser where she pulled out a fresh and clean outfit; said outfit seeming to be a combination of colors - yellow, brown, orange, and even black. With her outfit in hand she wandered her way into her own private bathroom which was one of the reasons the room she had chosen was well worth it: the tub was deep enough and big enough to swim in if she chose to, and it had plenty of counter space, while a shower with spray heads at all levels and on all walls including those designed to work on the door so long as the door was shut. She placed her clean clothing onto the counter and stripped out of the clothing she had on. She deposited it all into the laundry basket in the bathroom and then pulled the ponytail out of her hair, allowing her long blond locks to rest against her back and butt. Knowing that a bath would have been relaxing but a shower faster she chose the latter option.

She started the hot water up and waited as the bathroom got good and steamy. After several minutes in which she made sure that the temperature was just perfect she stepped in. Shampoo and conditioner went into her hair as she washed it twice to ensure it was super clean. She washed her body in much the same way with mildly scented soaps - she didn't use heavily scented things with all of the super senses that the tower was filled with - and then rinsed off rather well. When finished she stepped out and wrapped her hair up in a towel. She then towel dried her body off. With the towel keeping her soaked hair from making her body wet she got herself dressed. A tan vest with gold piping over a yellow, cleavage-and-midriff baring shirt with a black crest that resembles a burning heart. The vest has puffy cap sleeves with black cuffs. On the sides of the cuffs, there are two small golden buttons. A brown belt with a buckle, a pouch, and a small banner-like object. The same crest appears on this banner, only golden in color. She wears black short shorts under her belt which, in the back, resembles a pleated skirt. Over the short shorts but under the belt is a white, asymmetrical back skirt which is white in color. An orange infinity scarf finally goes around her neck, but no other discernible jewelry. She slipped her feet into brown, knee-high platform boots that look like they are made of leather, with orange socks of different lengths. Her left leg also has a gray bandana-like object wrapped around the top of her boot. Lastly she slipped her hands into black fingerless gloves which go up over her wrists. 

When she was finished on getting dressed she turned her attention to her now mostly towel dried hair which after unwrapping she ran a brush through. Allowing her long blonde hair flows loose and messy, with a few locks sticking out and a small cowlick on top of her head which becomes lighter in color at the tips.

Completely dressed by this point she walked out of the bathroom, the steam floating into her room and filling it with a rain-shower type of smell. She glanced about her room for a moment before she headed out of her room, down the hallway, and back down the steps. However, she didn't go back into the front room and instead continued on to the kitchen. She reached the kitchen roughly the same time as Aella, and after making the girl two sandwiches and snagging her some juice she then made herself her sandwich and then grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. She ate her sandwich in the kitchen, bite by bite, until the whole thing was gone. It was enough to quiet the growl in her stomach until it was dinner time which she could already smell cooking courtesy of one of Dezzy's experiments which was human looking and yet not human at all. She opened her bottle of water and took a good few sips before she closed the cap and with her water in hand headed back up the steps.

When she reached the front room she noticed it was now empty and following the smell of Alec's cologne she went back up the purple carpeted steps, down the hallway, and to his room. However, as she got to her own room she noticed there was a concentration of the smell in there as well. With an eyebrow raising out of curiosity she stepped into her own bedroom first which was where she found the bracelet looking objects and what looked like written notes. She sat down on the edge of her bed and picked up the notes first, reading them over. She realized quickly into her reading that these bracelets were really weapons: powerful weapons that could be used for defensive attacks as well, including being able to make her immune to Juniors fire if she could get him to fill a crystal or two up with his firey chakra. When she was finished reading she folded the notes up and tucked them into her pouch before slipping the bracelets on with a grin.

She got up off of her bed at that point and walked through the little entrance that connected her and Alec's rooms, and which also had a secret set of steps that led straight to Dezzy's lab. She glanced about Alec's room, noticing him in the chair by the radar, and walked over to him. She leaned down and placed a kiss to his cheek. "Thank you."

Swift, hmm. It was a technique that he once read about in one of the many thousands of books he'd found in the tower. It sounded much like his speed techniques back home, and one he aimed to learn, but with his Raiton Armor that was no longer necessary. He estimated that it would make Avery about as fast as he was when the technique was active.

”This is a radar... it lets me look all over the world, and to see the chakra signatures of strong people. These 2 here are me and you. See this big one over here?... When it's big like that it means they have a beast sealed into them. This huge one here is Jr, this other huge one is your sister... See this big one up here, in Hinowa?... I wonder who that could be...”

Avery came into his room wearing his latest creations, ones that took years of messing with and re-jiggering to finish. She also looked a lot different. When she'd first come here – or rather, when she was first snatched from Hana and brought here, she barely wore anything at all. Then she'd changed into a more Kunoichi-ish look, and now the look she had was more modern. The bracelets seemed to just go along with her new look, which wasn't bad at all. She kissed a cheek and said thank you, to which Alec just nodded his head.

”You should see if Jr will fill up some of those crystals with some of that Rage Fire of his, and maybe even some of that explosive stuff he can make. Would make for some barbecued ass and really big booms. Would also mean you'd be one of the only people able to get close to him when he turns that fire of his on. I'm sure he wouldn't have a problem helping you out...”

Mitsukai finished tinkering with her own weapon, all of the upgrades now in place including a security one which she had read on one of the many notes in the book her grandfather had given her. It would keep anyone else from being able to use, or otherwise steal her weapon from her. Handy, especially if she ended up somehow disarmed: though so far that had not happened, and she hoped it never would.

She walked out of her grandfather's secret room and over to the radar, looking at the dots in turn as her grandfather picked them out. An eyebrow rose at how large Junior's and her sister's were. "Wow... so you can see us where ever we're at? That'll come in handy if anything every happens to one of us."

She looked over as she watched Avery walk in, over to her grandfather, and kiss him on the cheek. She listened to her grandfather explain that Avery should find Junior and see if he'd fill up a few of the crystal batteries with some of his Rage Fire and the explosive chakra. Yup, Avery was indeed going to be very dangerous, and that combined with speed was going to make her a seriously lethal opponent, right up there with everyone else easily enough. "Waiiit. Before you disappear I wanted to teach you something. I know your abilities are pretty chakra heavy, but now that you have that weapon to rely on.. I figured maybe I'd teach you Swift. It's chakra heavy too, but combined with the use of those gauntlets... well, no one would be able to lay a hand on you, nor would they be able to dodge you without pulling something out of their butt. It won't take long for you to learn it since you're used to covering yourself with chakra due to your wind shield. It's pretty much the same thing, only the chakra used speeds you up a great deal." 

She went on to explain that the jutsu would allow Avery to move at virtually instantaneous speed, granting her a great advantage over opponents with more strength then speed such as users with Chakra Enhanced Strength: thus rendering the user invulnerable against most Taijutsu based attacks. She went on further to explain that the jutsu would boost her speed to sixty miles per hour to her top speed but wouldn't stack with any other speed based type jutsu. When she was finished with her explanation she went on to demonstration for Avery by zooming around the room; stopping at certain points that caused her to leave an after image of herself behind which faded quickly - practically invisible as she moved due to how fast it was. 

She came to a stop next to her grandfather, grinning. "Give it a try, it's really not that hard."

Avery nodded to Alec's advice: it was indeed a really good idea if she could get Junior to fill up one of those crystals. She had learned while up in the mountains had to negate her passive wind shield which would make her less vulnerable against fire based jutsu used against her - however, Junior burned hotter than normal fire, especially when he was pissed off, and being close to that was still dangerous. But, if he would do this for her then she would be able to fight side by side with Junior without having to worry about suffering any sort of ill effects, even with her passive wind shield in effect. "Alright, I'll go do that.", she said with a nod, making a mental note to also ask about his explosion release chakra abilities as well. Blowing things up did sort of sound like fun, especially if she combined it with her punches and kicks.

However, before she could turn around she heard Mitsukai telling her to wait because she wanted to teach her something: Avery was beginning to feel like it was her birthday or something with all of these gifts she was being given. She listened as Mitsukai explained that her speed ability, Swift, was chakra heavy like her other moves, but how combined with the new weapons from Alec would come in handy really well: it was definitely something she wanted to add to her arsenal of abilities she had already. She listened as Mitsukai explained that the jutsu would allow Avery to move at virtually instantaneous speed, granting her a great advantage over opponents with more strength then speed such as users with Chakra Enhanced Strength: thus rendering the user invulnerable against most Taijutsu based attacks. Then she  went on further to explain that the jutsu would boost her speed to sixty miles per hour to her top speed but wouldn't stack with any other speed based type jutsu. When she was finished with her explanation she went on to demonstration for Avery by zooming around the room; stopping at certain points that caused her to leave an after image of herself behind which faded quickly - practically invisible as she moved due to how fast it was.

Then, it was Avery's turn to do the same. Avery focused the chakra on herself much like her natural passive wind shield felt: only this chakra would greatly boost her already fast speed due to her Taijutsu. She then went on to move just as Mitsukai had done, finding that she could already control herself very easily while doing this, able to move without a moments notice, and stop on a dime with perfect complete control. She moved around the room, stopping and starting just as Mitsukai had done so that she too left after images behind of herself. Eventually she came to a stop right where she had been moments again: a huge grin on her face. "Wow, that's actually pretty fun!" Yes, this Swift was something she could see herself using a lot of in a fight against an opponent. She then looked over to Alec. "I'mma go find Junior, any idea where he's at?", she asked, figuring she could cut her search time down by half if she knew where he was at at the moment.

It seemed others were gaining valuable knowledge that could be put to good use should someone get brave enough to attack or something along those lines...which Alec was beginning to think wasn't going to happen. Oh well... Mitsukai would become a Weapons Technician just like he was, and possibly cause Hinowa to become more powerful along with Holeman.

Avery had a new set of weapons and also the ability to move just as fast as he could with his Raiton armor active. When Jr charged some of those crystals up, she'd be as dangerous as he was. It seemed like everyone was surpassing him, but Alec was never the type to get jealous of another person's strength. It simply fascinated him; thus the reason he wanted to travel to Hinowa and get a good look at this Kurai kid.

”Jr?... I imagine he's probably outside somewhere zipping around like he usually does. Just look for the orange trails in the sky...”

\Exit\

Mitsukai watched Avery closely, noticing that she did things exactly as Mitsukai herself did. When the other female came to a stop she nodded, impressed. Just as she had thought Avery had learned Swift almost instantly. "Excellent. Well, I'll let you go find Junior. I'm going to go back to exploring... last time I did I found a secret passage from one of the bedrooms to the kitchen pantry... apparently someone who lived here before had the case of the midnight munchies. I'll be around if someone needs me!", with that said Mitsukai turned and walked out of her grandfather's room and down the hall, off to explore some more.

She knew they'd likely end up leaving sooner or later, unless of course something happened that wold stop that... what wheels were beginning to turn now? She figured the future held the answers.

[Exit]

Avery watched Mitsukai leave after saying she was going to go back to finding secret passages around the tower. "Thanks again!" She could still remember her own first few days here and all of the secrets that had been uncovered: she knew there were many more left to be discovered too. But, now wasn't the time for that. She wanted to go and get these crystals charged up so that she was prepared in the chance that something were to happen: not that she expected it to, but it was always better to be safe then sorry.

She gave a nod to Alec's words. "Alright, I'm sure I'll find him quickly enough." With the fact she didn't have her fan on her, and really didn't feel like lugging the thing around she went to the door instead of towards the balcony. She walked down the hallway, down the purple carpeted steps, across the black and white checkered floor of the front room, and then back out the front doors of the tower and across the bridge with the bottomless pit that she was sure was going to claim some random passerby sooner or later.

Once her feet hit solid ground again she looked up to the sky, searching for the familiar streak of orange and red across the sky that would signal Junior was around. As she waited to see if she spotted him or not she found herself wondering how soon she would get a chance to actually use her speed and weapons now... would war break out? Would people come searching for Mitsukai, Holeman, Emiko, and even perhaps Alec since he too left a village five years ago? Or would people just shrug their shoulders and let it happen... time would definitely tell.