The Final Stand

Approved

In the distant sky, the sun set red. As the star faded across the dunes, little fingers of red light danced across the horizon. Every day, the sun rises and falls. It was symbolic- yesterday was Sunagakure, Kumogakure- the whole world. And the next day? It would be her turn. Her chakra burned in her veins, and she flexed her fingers. She wanted to burn so badly- sometimes, if she hadn't used her fire nature in a while, it would burn HER instead. She held her left palm out, far away from her body. Flames slowly licked up and down her fingers. At first, they were a dark red, before brightening to a fierce orange, yellow, and then blue. Where most skin would've cracked, bled, and been burned alive, hers appeared merely sunburned. Inhale. Exhale. She couldn't afford afford to burn the village to the ground now- not with Kenshin claiming the title of ruler.

But maybe...

The discarded bodies of many shinobi and civilian alike lay on the ground. She never understood the comfort, but apparently, when people died, some preferred to have their ashes scattered to the winds. She couldn't claim to comprehend anything along those lines. After you were dead, it wasn't like you'd notice anyway. But perhaps she could cremate the fallen here and now? It would be more of a mercy than letting their rotting corpses be claimed by maggots and other creatures of the desert, after all. She walked over to the nearest one she could find- a child, no older than her. A small headband was wrapped across his bicep. He was a genin- likely freshly graduated. Why was he here? Was he cannon fodder? Did he come back to defend his comrades? Her brows furrowed. The battlefield was no place for a child, she thought hypocritically. She crouched down and lifted firmly, carrying his small body with all the force her back and legs could provide.

And then smoke began to drift from her arms, her fingers, her hands. They caught on fire in a brilliant display of blue light. First, his clothes caught, and then the sickly smell of cooking meat filled the air. The wind seemed to distort and bend around her frame from the intense heat, but she stood still. When her palms began to burn, when her face began to sweat, even then she stood still. She wasn't aware if she was there for seconds, minutes, or hours- but when the body was completely gone, and a pile of ash sat in front of her... She inhaled. Exhaled. And walked away.

The sun had set on Sunagakure. On the boy. But it didn't need to set for her.

WC: 450
Total WC: 1,004

464 words to Heir of Ash http://naruto-role-play-rpg.forumotion.com/t40546-heir-of-ash#323851
540 words to Breath of the Cinder http://naruto-role-play-rpg.forumotion.com/t37357-breath-of-the-cinder
5 stats

(exit)

Approved