Training.

That had been what Avery had spent the past few weeks doing. She hadn't bothered with it much before but with everything having been looking the way it was when she took off - of course leaving behind a little note stating she would be in the mountains training - it was needed. Heck, for all she knew some sort of war had already started while she was up in the mountains: she doubted it due to Aella being in Niwa, but it was possible.

She had gone to the mountains to train because she figured it was far enough away for her to really be able to let loose without the fear of harming some innocent bystander. Plus, there were enough beasts and baddies running around to provide an endless supply of people and creatures to practice on. There was only so much you could learn from a straw or wooden dummy after all, and if she was going to train to get stronger then she figured the best way to have gone about that was to train against actual living opponents. It had worked of course. Between the books and scrolls she had brought with her - many of which she had pulled right out of the library - and the actual practical work she had put in she was significantly stronger than she had been when she left. She had learned and mastered both Fuuinjutsu and Storm Release, on top of more jutsu than she cared to count, and had even trained her chakra up a significant amount. She felt overall more confident in her abilities, and had even gotten closer to her two summons in the process - Kuki and Kama.

So, with her training finished she had packed up her supplies which all fit sealed inside of the giant scroll she carried with her - or what was left of them - and traveled back down the mountain and into the village of Makkura. As she reached the border of the village itself with the tower in the distance in front of her she paused and glanced about. She found herself wondering what all had happened in the short period of time she had been gone. As she stood there for a moment a wind picked up and whipped up a pile of leaves which were then caught in her passive shield. The leaves swirled around her several times before she released them, causing them to float away from her.

Looking for a breeze after doing his boring monotonous duty; clean up his little temple, Edo stroll out around the villages border. He wore his straw hat and holding his monk staff. That staff clatters in rhyme following his footsteps. At some point around the border, the clatters become louder because to the wind gusts become stronger. That wind almost blow away his straw hat, he hold it with his hand immediately. He widen his eyes and saw a girl with beautiful white hair, seems like playing with a couple of leaves.He then walked slowly approached the girl after collecting a few leaves from the ground.

"Ah look! It seems like the leaves isn't like me like they love you.", said Edo after blowing that leaves with his mouth in front of that girl. That blown leaves more like doing free falls instead of beautifully glides. Edo then shifted his gaze to the girl. He smiled at her while he lifted his straw hat, his body bent slightly to do greetings. "Hello. I'm Edo. A brightful monk from around here.", he said. "I know its always as windy as a ghost town in Makkura. But i never met a girl who really attract the winds around like you. Thats good though, it gives you such a mild look.", he said after realize the wind was really coming from the girl. He puts his hat back and offering his hand to be able to get acquainted.

Avery had returned from her week of training in the mountains. With a grin, he stood from the comfortable couch in the front room of the tower, with the intention of going to greet her. As he began to walk through the large front room he suddenly noticed the presence of another; someone he hadn't seen in the village before.

After opening the front door to the tower, Alec was off and running. He moved so swiftly that ordinary eyes that managed to catch a glimpse, they would only be able to make out a black colored blur. Quickly down streets and between houses did he travel, making the space that separated he and Avery smaller in milliseconds.

To untrained eyes, it would look as if a man just appeared standing next to Avery, bringing with him a breeze that scattered the surrounding leaves. He was wearing a hooded black cloak, the hood down. The man looked quite young still, with shoulder length white hair and a blindfold over his eyes. In his left hand was a polished black walking stick. At his left side hung a sheathed glowing katana that didn't look of this world.

This man seemed to be “looking” right at the newcomer, even though he was blindfolded. He stood with his black walking stick in front of him as if it were a cane. No expression was on his face. He took all new individuals seriously, especially in fragile times of war such as this. He was also all too aware that there were those that didn't have the courage to attack head on, and chose to harm friends and family members instead. Kinzoku looked to be quickly headed toward this location as well, but Alec decided to come himself seeing as this was Avery.

”...Good to see you, Avery... I trust the training went well?... I also see you brought a friend back to visit too... Although I could be wrong. If that's the case, I think this gentleman here would have some explaining to do, hmm?”

Avery's attention instantly focused on the male who had approached her. She hadn't seen him before, and given how long she had been in Makkura that was saying something. Perhaps she just hadn't met everyone in the village yet? Or, perhaps this was some sort of spy or something of that sort sent to get in close to the Dark, to Makkura itself, and infiltrate it. Regardless, she wasn't going to let her guard down. When the leaves were blown in her direction by the male the passive wind sheild that constantly surrounded Avery instantly snatched up the leaves and then turned the leaves to a power like substance by cutting them into minute pieces which were then carried away by the breeze.

She was about to respond to the males words when she felt a sudden gust of wind next to her and caught Alec's arrival out of the corner of her eye: which instantly brought a grin to her face. She ignored the hand that was outstretched towards her in favor of allowing the man to keep all of his fingers intact for now: if her passive shield didn't remove them then Alec likely would. Of course, this same passive shield would move peacefully and gently past Alec without causing any sort of harm to him. "Hello, Alec. Training went excellent, but I'll tell you about that in a little bit."

She shook her head to Alec's words. "This man says he's a monk, named Edo... only monks I know are some of the Tatsumaki like myself, and he's definitely not a Tatsumaki.", or so she could easily tell - there was no passive wind around him, and any other Tatsumaki would automatically have that whether they liked it or not.

Edo is a bit startled when he saw the leaves being torn apart. He standing froze by the event, especially because his greeting hand coldly replied by the girl. Before he started to wake up from his reverie. A man with black coat suddenly appears out of nowhere in front of the girl. Edo was surprised and suddenly backed away when the breeze from that man appearance pushing him a little. This man using a blindfold and carry a walking stick, he also had white hair. Edo bending his body slightly so he could take a closer look to that man. While not so sure, he saw that man quite familiar. He puts his hand on his chin, frowned and trying to remember who is this man standing strong in front of him.

”...Good to see you, Avery... I trust the training went well?... I also see you brought a friend back to visit too... Although I could be wrong. If that's the case, I think this gentleman here would have some explaining to do, hmm?”, that man said. W-Wait... d-did he just hear this girl named Avery? THAT Tatsumaki Avery. Unconciously, Edo started to cold sweat. Tatsumaki Avery was once known as Kuraikage. The one that his elder respect very much. Hearing that name, Edo starting to put his hand down slowly.

"Hello, Alec. Training went excellent, but I'll tell you about that in a little bit." Avery answering that man question. J-Just wait. This is double shocks for Edo. Did this girl mentioned his name as Alec? THAT Alec Kane, leader of The Dark Organization!? It is the reason why the characteristics of these men seem familiar. His elder once told him about the greatness of them both. They are like fairytales heroes for him. He just never dreamed to standing in front of two great person from Makkura. "This man says he's a monk, named Edo... only monks I know are some of the Tatsumaki like myself, and he's definitely not a Tatsumaki.", said Avery to that man called Alec.

Knowing the identity of these guys, Edo suddenly on his knees and apologizing for his impertinence. "Sorry for my rudeness, ma'am. I don't reognized you as our villages former kage. I am the last surviving member of ninja monks that guarding this borderlines since a long time ago and i'm not originally from the temple. I am from Kurayami clan and i've been adopted by Makkura monks since my parents were death. No wonder if you don't recognize me since I've been trained for a long time in Yokuchi and just come back home a couple months ago to continue my family monks duty. I've been heard about both of you from my predecessor, they respect you with all their might.", he said while clenched his teeth. He is nothing in front of these powerful legends.

Alec listened to the man's explanation, watching as he got to his knees. He spoke of being the last of Ninja Monks who once guarded the borders of Makkura. Alec didn't know whether to believe the guy or not, but he hadn't seen anyone dressed like him before. He also claimed to have trained in Yokuchi a while, but if he were really anyone dangerous, Holeman would have mentioned him.

The man said his predecessor respected he and Avery highly, possibly because of their transformation of the village from a hole in the ground into a respected and feared powerhouse. He'd never heard of or seen the man or his mentor before today, and with him seemingly just appearing out of thin air in times of turmoil such as these, Alec saw no reason to be trustful just yet, even with him getting upon his knees out of respect, and his clan originating here in The Land of Shadows.

The whole time he was aware that this whole display could be a ploy, or a trap. Advanced senses were always on point for even the slightest of wrong movements. Alec said nothing else, but he did happen to raise his right hand, showing the man that he too was associated with the Kurayami clan by way of the 2 diamond shaped marks on his palm.

Avery glanced over to Alec at the man's response and his bowing: she didn't like being bowed to. Kage or otherwise she never had. There was just something about it that agitated her: likely due to events from her past. She sighed softly in response, "Please, no bowing... And, you weren't being rude. I don't exactly scream Kuraikage anymore.", she said in response to the man's words.

She shifted the large scroll she wore on her back into a more comfortable position: the thing wasn't heavy at all - though the items containd within it definitely were - but it was still rather big. She hadn't bothered carrying it home, but hadn't expected to stop until she was in the tower and could actually put the things inside away. "I never knew Makkura had monks... of course, the village seems to be filled with secrets to be discovered every day."

She watched as Alec showed the monk a marking on his hand, an eyebrow raising in curiousity - she figured it would likely mean something to the monk even if it didn't mean anything to her. She wondered how long exactly the monk had been gone in Yokuchi, and the need to learn about what had happened while she was gone training rose up - but she figured Alec wouldn't want to speak about those things in front of a complete stranger. "I'm going to head back to the tower... I need to relax after all that training. Alec, when you get a minute I need to be caught up on everything I missed while I was gone. Something tells me I missed a lot.", with that said she gave a nod to the both and turned and made her way towards the tower in the distance.

[Exit Thread]

Edo immediately stood up and took off his hat after hearing Avery's words to not bowing down to her; but he keep lowering his head as a sign of respect to both of them. He was raised by monks, respect and discipline is an important things for them.

"I never knew Makkura had monks... of course, the village seems to be filled with secrets to be discovered every day.", she said questioning the origin of Edo. "It seems my predecessors have failed to provide something useful for Makkura. Even they have been guarding this border since the locked down incident by Hana. I bear their duty right now and i hope i can be any use in order to protecting Makkura.", he said to clearing the suspicion and tension that obviously seen to happened between them.

While Edo trying to build up their trust and rid away the suspicion to him, that blindfolded man showing him the Kurayami mark in his palm. Edo was surprised to see the sign. He knows that he had left the village for a long time, but he never know that the greatest man known in Makkura history actually is from his clan. He slightly smile when he saw the sign. There is a proud in his clan after seeing that, even he himself never had any special feelings towards it. "Ah i never know that there is someone as strong as you are from my clan. Its a honor to have you as part of our clan, sir.", he said.

Edo seen Avery is a little inconvenience with her big scroll she carried. She must be tired after that he-don't-know-what training. "I'm going to head back to the tower... I need to relax after all that training. Alec, when you get a minute I need to be caught up on everything I missed while I was gone. Something tells me I missed a lot.", she said while noding and turn her body away to go somewhere else. "Please rest well, ma'am. Next time we meet again, i'll make sure i'll be some use for you to protect Makkura.", he said while bending his body again to ninety degree. Bowing down to her as he respected her.

He then shifted his attention again to Alec, "It looks like both of you were busy with something. I promise i'll protect this border while both of you managed it from the inside. May the will of shadow always stay by your side, sir.", he said. He is a monk after all, giving people blessing and such is his daily duty. He need to make sure someone that rule Makkura should not stray away from the will of shadow. "Your life must be so close to the darkness, maybe you already inside of it. But please make sure you dont get consumed by it. Your people counting on you sir."

This was new news to his ears. Makkura once had monks that guarded the borders? He wondered what happened to them all. He thought perhaps it had something to do with Hana, and how they tried fucking over Makkura back in the day. But such security was no longer needed, seeing as he had a global radar, and with “eyes” such as his.

At the sight of the clan mark on Alec's palm, even though he wasn't technically part of it, the man here who'd been asked to stand up by Avery seemed pleased that Alec was a member. He kept saying over and over how he would protect the borders, and for the moment, Alec saw nothing wrong with that. He wasn't going to deny the man the right to live in the country his people were from, seeing as he had the Kekkai Genkai that originated here in The Land of Shadows, but that wasn't to say that eyes weren't going to be upon the man 24/7.

”...If you want to protect the borders, then I won't stop you... You should be aware that we of The Dark are considered villains, and these countries are upon the brink of war. Meaning anything could happen at any given time... A Kage could be assassinated, or even an entire village may disappear from the face of the earth... You should also be aware of a maniac on the loose that calls himself “Ranmaru...” Extremely dangerous individual who also happens to be a Jinnchuriki. He should be approached with caution...”

He asked that Alec not be consumed by darkness, and to this request he only grinned, before turning to head off toward the tower and to catch Avery up on current events....

/Exit/

Edo listening carefully when Alec talking about war and person called Ranmaru. Edo seems know nothing about the outside world. He just thought that this Ranmaru guy should be really strong since he was mentioned by the hero Alec Kane. This information could give him warning for the future events that may be happening soon. That way than Edo should train harder on his barrier jutsu so he could protect Makkura when the time comes.

He bows down when Alec leaves and promising in his heart that one day he meet those two legend, he must become someone they can rely on. He then leaves after Avery and Kane out of his sight, back to his little temple to train by himself.

/EXIT/