The shadow in the light

Ren stood in the centre of the monument grounds, looking up at the sky, rain pouring down around him as it always seemed to in the village of mist. The past few months had been arduous to say the least, restructuring the academy, supervising Genin teams, and running missions of his own had begun to take its toll on the young man. His already effeminate figure had begun to loose quite a bit of weight, his now thin form coupled with his long hair and androgynous clothing making him look even more effeminate than before.

The students had, for the most part cleared away the remains of the destroyed statue of the Mizukage, although a polished head with a pronounced crack through its skull still stood in the centre of the square, the result of some foolish ninja taking the order to clean up the monument far too literally. All the same it was all that really remained to remind Ren of the short time the village had been without the shadow of Xyxer Goyjin, back when The second Mizukage had brought peace and stability to the village, without oppression and fear. Ren Clenched one fist before catching himself. He still remembered the fall of old Kirigakure, and the horrors that had happened there, even if the current Mizukage was an evil monster, forcing children to fight, he was still the lesser of two evils, for it was through his strength that this village remained standing.

Wandering through the torrential rain on this drowsy night, Xyxer's path came across the ruins of his former glory, as it always did. It served as a constant reminder to him, a recognition of his strength and his capabilities, but it also reminded him of his hubris. He believed himself to be worthy of exuberant praise, to be looked upon as a god by his people. Everything he had done had kept them safe and preserved their life, no matter how small it had been. He saved the people of Tengakure, he united the people of Shimagakure.. the least he deserved was a statue. Yet, it had always sat wrong with him. He didn't care for this kind of praise.. the folly of a man who wanted to be a god in this world. His pride itself was starting to question him, what was the worth of it? In the grand scheme of things, he alongside everyone else were a servant to some professed deity. Seeing the testament to his ego destroyed was strangely soothing, not only because it represented the destruction of his overbearing, snarling pride.. but, ironically, also because it was merely destroyed because he allowed it to be. Throughout his time as the Kage, not a scratch had been laid on the statue.. yet some man who had become warped through momentary hatred had destroyed it. It was rather fitting in hindsight, that the man who's grandparents were taken away by him, had in turn stripped Xyxer of his bloated ego.

As the monologue played through his head, he started to catch sight of a girl with flowing, white hair. A brief flashback to Youta rolled through his system, and then a further remembrance of his encounter with Yozora. It was as if he was seeing a ghost at this moment in time, it was.. curious, to say the least. Moving towards  the figure as Xyxer had little fear in the dead, he lifted his hand up the same way he had many times prior, speaking openly to the figure that stood vulnerably in the pouring rain, "Hail."

Ren was shaken out of his reverie by a voice in the night... Strange, he hadn't heard them approach, even with the sound of the rain falling around him Ren's trained ears would normally pick out the sound of someone's approach well before they were within sight. Turning to face the stranger Ren squinted through the darkness for a moment, a questioning "Hail, who goes there" coming from his mouth before he recognized the shape of the massive sword on the figures back. Thinking quickly Ren dropped to a knee, although his eyes still followed the figure and his legs were ready to spring up if a threat showed itself; It wouldn't do to anger the Mizukage, but nor would it do to leave himself too open to an attack. "Lord Xyxer, my apologies I didn't recognize  you for a moment. What brings you out here at this hour?" Ren would say, waiting for the figure to either make a move or acknowledge him before standing up.

Externally Ren would be doing his best to remain the picture of loyalty and calm, Internally however a malestrom of emotions had made themselves known; Anger at the man who forced his students to fight and die for his amusement; Hatred for the man who drove off the only good kage Ren had ever known; Gratitude for the safety that this man provided him and the village as a whole, and a strange sense of kinship for perhaps the only person who had lived through the battle of old Kiri as he had. But overshadowing all that was the fear over what the wild beast before him would do next, Ren could feel it something about the way he carried himself that screamed this man is unpredictable and incredibly dangerous.

Listening to the words that came from the solitary figure, he chuckled faintly before Ren recognized the person before him. Of course, now it came to the assessment of the male's kneel, you could tell quite a lot about the person depending on how they went about this act. As he had done to many before the one before him, he looked down towards his leg to assure the knee was planted firmly, which it was, but the most glaringly obvious problem.. There was no bow of the head. His eyes remained firmly on Xyxer so that he could watch him, as if he'd have time to react if Xyxer sought to end his life at this very moment. "I take it as you're no longer used to kneeling, Ren?" He tilted his head for a moment, his arms folding over his torso, "You're supposed to bow your head when you kneel, it's only right to go all the way if you're going to follow the custom. Aren't you one of the teachers at the academy? You should know better." Of course, it was largely to make the male feel uncomfortable in the presence of Xyxer, and it was only fitting his words accommodated that atmosphere.

Shrugging his shoulders in retaliation to the question, Xyxer spoke once more, "I like to wander at this time, never know what kind of activities you may wander across; what kind of oni you may stumble upon." For a moment, his mind flashed back to his old friend Kenchi, perhaps the word Oni had set him off as that had been one of his summons.. a constant demon that followed the male around. Perhaps he had been the cause of his disappearance.. Shaking his head of the thought before any true emotion could be shown, he decided to speak once more, "This is a curious place for you to be at this time of night, Ren. For what purpose?"

Ren shifted uncomfortably at the man's words. "Apologies my lord, considering the time of night and the area I thought it pertinent to remain on guard." Ren said, the colour draining ever so slightly from his face. Ren paused for a moment, hoping to notice some slight indication of agreement from the man; If there was none Ren would reluctantly bow his head, although his ears would remain sharp as ever, searching for sounds of threats, both from the man in front of him and from the dark of night.

'He wanders the streets in the middle of the night, just to see what he finds?' Ren thought questioningly he wasn't sure if the man was telling the truth or just covering up his real reasons for being here this night, nor was Ren sure of the man's motives... all the same he took those words at face value for now, filing the information away in the back of his head for later. Ren paused for a moment before realising he'd been asked a question. "I... Officially I'm checking up on the work of some of the newest graduates... but I could send someone else to do that. In truth I like coming here at night, even destroyed the statue still reminds me of the past, and its a good place to practice when I get the time for it. Lately I've spent most of my time running the accademy and far too little time keeping myself ready battle." Ren paused again, his hand clenching into a fist "I cannot let this village fall like the last time we found a place to call our own." he whispered quietly, more to himself than to the man who stood across from him, a man who he both hated for his brutality, yet admired for what that brutality meant a village that was safe from attack.

The words of Ren surprised the Mizukage somewhat, after all, crime was at an all time low given the extreme punishments for minor crimes. What was he to fret about in this city, other than the demon that stood before him? Instead of justifying his statement with a reply, he simply sneered in response.

Once the head of Ren was bowed, he started to explain to Xyxer his goal for being around the ruins. Xyxer grew ever more curious when he mentioned the statue reminding him of the past, which could, of course, be about a multitude of things. Perhaps he preferred Haru's reign over his own, perhaps he preferred wandering.. perhaps it reminds him of when his family was not dead. Whatever the situation, Xyxer had a desire to unwrap it, "Tell me, Ren, what does the past offer you? Comfort at night? Unease when awake?.. What does it remind you of?" He spoke this time of being unfit for battle. The girlboy in front of him was simply filled to the brim with curiosities, in fact, Xyxer was unsure on what to make of them all at this point. "You believe yourself inept at battle, yet you lead the academy? I fail to understand how this went through, Ren."

Glancing up at the man, Ren's looked the man in the eyes; searching for something there, before glancing off into the distance. When he eventually spoke it was quiet, not so quiet as to be indistinguishable, but all the same there was clearly pain and anguish coupled with a faint fondness in his voice. "My past is...." Ren paused, choosing his words carefully before he spoke "complicated, I guess everyones is though. I suppose its mostly painful memories for me, or rather good memories that have turned sour." Ren's eyes focused on the man again, still searching for something. "May I stand my lord?" he said eventually, waiting for an affirmative before standing and walking over to the base, that once held the great statue, and taking a seat. "I suppose you might understand at least a little, we were both there that day after all... When old kiri was attacked my master tried to help a few of us students escape." Ren faltered for a moment, the words catching in his throat. It wasn't easy for him, talking about this, even after such a long time he'd still scarcely ever thought about that day, let alone come to terms with it. Taking a deep breath Ren continued "I watched as everyone I'd even known kindness from died, as my home sunk beneath the waves, the few people still alive drowning as they tried to escape. I saw my master killed as she tried to hold off our attackers... In the end I was the only one who made it out alive." Ren felt a wetness on his cheek, a single tear running down his face; when had that happened? with one final ragged breath Ren looked up at the man again, hoping to see at least some sort of kinship in the enigma that stood before him.

Emotions were being conveyed through the gaze of the ladyboy before him, ones that hinted at vulnerability. It was clear that this male was a young student when he was at Old Kirigakure, the teachings foreign to him. Regardless, he nodded his head when he requested permission to stand, folding his arms over his torso as he continued to listen to the story of Ren. The words of the boy somewhat cut Xyxer, although it was not clearly visible on his features. He hadn't been there on that day. He'd been traveling with Sameonna. He left his homeland to travel with who he deemed to be the future of Kirigakure, and yet just as the village was crushed, she was dissected before him. It was quite funny, really, he'd been unable to defend the things most precious to him in their time of need. Xyxer was soon distracted by a stray tear running down the male's porcelain cheek, a jolted exhale.. The male was exposing his vulnerability to Xyxer, and it confused the creature.

Perhaps it wasn't that the creature didn't want to understand the emotions of Ren, to be able to empathize with him and relate to his ordeal, but perhaps it was that he simply couldn't. It was not in the nature of Xyxer to inherently care for others, it had been what made him ascend the ranks of Kirigakure's forces rapidly, it had been the infection within him that continued to engulf his being. Despite the situation being traumatic for himself, he couldn't identify with Ren's sorrow. His icy eyes simply dug into the boy, unable to reflect the same depth of emotion as his. However, he simply smiled towards Ren and placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it lightly much like a friend would do when cheering another up. "If you dwell on the past, you'll ignore the future, Ren. The more you think about the Kirigakure of Old, the more regressive New Kirigakure will become. Great villages start to die when their inhabitants reflect on the 'good old days'. Those ones are gone, all we can do is make more for the future." Although it was true that Xyxer couldn't properly empathize with the male, he could at least pretend he could.

Ren looked up at the man, it was strange to see such tenderness from the man, know throughout the village for his brutality. It took Ren a moment to reconcile this figure, looking almost uncomfortable in himself, with the man who sends countless children to their deaths every year, simply because he can. Eventualy however Ren replied to the man, although still troubled by what he had seen. "I realise that, and though it had its good times, old Kirigakure had just as many flaws." Ren resisted the urge to finish that sentence with 'as this village.' "All the same, I appreciate your words my lord. At any rate you asked how it was that I ended up as head of the accademy, and to tell you the truth I don't really know. The previous head master was even weaker than I am, and although I admit I can handle myself in a fight, when I compare myself with the likes of the village Anbu and Yourself, I still find myself lacking."

Xyxer's shoulders lifted for a moment before dropping back down, "That's to be expected, after all, the ANBU are specially selected for their talents and don't really have the time to be pulled down in.. the coordination of an academy." His words were rough, but true. He'd much rather his ANBU Operatives remained honing their techniques rather than teaching a kid not to picking his nose too hard lest his brain falls out. "The only way you'll improve your combative techniques is to engage in, of course, combat. Reading a book will only do so much for you if you don't put the words into practice."