Drowning his Sorrows

Standing in front of his father's grave, Typhon wished it would just for once rain on the star village. He couldn't control the tears that streamed from his eyes and he didn't even have his mask on to cover his face. It was always the old man's wish to be buried with the rest of our people in the Byoki district. There weren't a ton of people in attendance for the funeral,Ty was his father's only living relative, but some of the district residents that knew him came to give condolences. Most of them had known both his mother and father. Ty remembered a few of them from her funeral all those years ago. He was just a teenager then with no idea the type of life he was going to live. They all called his father “kind” which of course he was, and also said that he left “too soon”, but Ty couldn't really agree with that second part. He had spent the last several months caring for the man. He knew better than anyone that this was better than the suffering he was going through.

That knowledge didn't make the loss any easier on the young medic. Since around the time he was 18 years old it had just been him and his father. The same mission that took his mom had crippled his dad and changed life for their family forever. From the time he enlisted as a shinobi himself, Ty's biggest fear had been dying on a mission and leaving his father alone. On his last trip he had thought there was a chance his fears were going to come true. The attack on the Jaws of Grima base ended up without a hitch, zero casualties on the friendly side, but Ty's return ended up being not so pleasant.

He had come home to find his father's condition getting worse by the day. His injuries had left him severely weakened and over the years the “gift” that all Canopic carry had worn away at him. It was something that was inevitable. The virus was still deadly even to members of the clan. They needed to remain as healthy, relatively speaking of course, as possible so that they would not succumb to the rot. “The gift” what a ridiculous name. It was a ticking clock that Ty tried his best to ignore, but time always finds a way to catch up to people.

The past few months had been spent giving nearly round the clock care to the old man. Ty took an extended leave of absence from his shinobi duties and was grateful to the village for allowing him to do so. In that time his combat skills had gotten incredibly rusty and he was certainly no longer fit for field missions. He wasn't sure he was ready to start working again anyways. He pushed the thoughts out of his head and tried to focus on the funeral proceedings. Canopic clan burials require a special process so as not to allow infection in the groundwater. A contained cremation is necessary so the gases don't spread and then the ashes can be safely buried.

Ty had to give a speech before the fire was lit and he had been dreading it this entire time. When his mom had passed this role went to dad, but now the young man was the only member of the Sepsus family left. He wiped away the tears in his eyes the best he could and stepped in front of the metal container where his father's body rested upright with arms crossed over his chest.

He began, “My father was a gentle person. The type who never would have enlisted as a shinobi had he not been following a girl.” There were some chuckles from the crowd. Those who knew his mother surely would remember the timid young man who hung on her every word from the time they were teenahers. “He joined up to make sure he was there to protect the love of his life. To the very end he did his best to keep her safe. As we all know, one fateful day he just wasn't strong enough to protect her and my mother was tragically killed. The injuries he sustained on that mission left him in a state I wouldn't wish on anyone, but he remained undaunted.” He had to try not to choke on his words and his eyes were filling with mist faster than he could blink the tears away.

Continuing he would say, “I remember so vividly when he was standing where I am now giving a similar speech. He didn't look like a man who'd simultaneously lost his greatest love and his own mobility. He looked to me like the strongest man in the world. Standing in his place I now know I was right. He never once cried in front of me. He never cursed the world for what happened to him. My only hope for him now is that he's reunited with Mom and he can finally stop pretending to be strong for me.”

Ty couldn't help but let his emotions take over and as he began to cry he knew he was done talking. He stepped away from his father's corpse and nodded to Krueger, the blacksmith who had been charged with the fire lighting process for as long as Typhon could remember. The stout man looked solemnly at the ground before walking behind the container and performing a couple hand seals. Another district member closed the seal and gave a final prayer for everyone to hear. Krueger then pressed his palm against the rear of the container and embers began to pour in from a hole on the back. Very quickly the embers started to fill the entire container and Typhon's father would be no longer visible.

The whole process would last a couple of minutes and in the end when the embers faded there would only be ash that remained in the bottom of the box. Ty would then scoop out said ashes and contain them in a metal urn. He held the round receptacle to his chest tightly before placing it gently into the hole that was dug right beside his mother's grave. Ty spent the extra money for a real headstone with both of his parent's names carved into it. He couldn't accept them being given simple plaques in the dirt. They deserved more respect than that.

After the funeral there was no reception, and Ty wasn't feeling up to one anyways. In this moment he simply wanted to get away from the sadness and emptiness he was feeling and there was one place he knew that was great for that, a bar Sebastian had taken him to almost a year ago. Ty wasn't much of a drinker. With his liver being rotted by the virus alcohol tended to affect him very easily and stay in his system for longer than most. For today at least he was going to ignore all that and try to drown his troubles in ale.

He affixed his mask as he left Byoki and made his way towards the center of town. The bar had outdoor seating and so he ordered a couple beers and plopped down at one of those tables. He downed his first drink as quick as he could and then began to slowly nurse his second glass.

(WC 1240)

Dante hadn't been able to sleep lately, he had a lot of things bothering him and it was causing him to be very restless! He had been helping Tori set up her medical office in the house and at the hospital. He had found all the medical files on Team Fuku, and as he looked through the one that had belonged to his mother Mitzukai, he had so many memories come flooding back! Yet, he refused to show it! He kept his face as emotionless as always. Another paper slipped out behind Mitzs, it had so many scribbles on it it was hard to read! It was from the hospital the day they were born, the handwriting wasn't very legible but he made it out to be some paperwork from the day they were born. The doctor who had been there that day…was…Stein! Stein had delivered Dante and Sephora! Frank N. Stein. Or at least that's the alias he had used. The odd thing, the day they were born marked the destruction of Kiri, which their father had been involved in, yet it was their father who had organized the procedure for them to have their mothers DNA transplanted so they could use Kaguya bloodline. Meaning one thing…their father had planned this with Stein! Stein had done the procedure on them as infants! So many questions! And sure enough, the illegible handwriting in the birth certificate under the doctor's signature, Stein. Wow, not only had he experimented with Talon and Kurai, he was involved in creating Sephora and Dante as well! This doctor is practically part of the Fuku Family!

As he kept looking, he found a file for Saya Kaguya and found her death certificate. This was the Aunt that took in Dante when their parents requested they temporarily separate the twins! It was rough to see this and Dante still had to keep his face as emotionless as possible! The final nail on the coffin for Dante before he finally lost it, the paperwork showing his father was in fact missing and possibly dead. He closed the file and left the room and finally had tears streaming down his cheeks! Yeah, Dante doesn't cry. EVER. So for him to finally cry, this meant he hit a breaking point. His family means a lot to him.

Dante decided to do something out of the ordinary, go down the street to one of the open late bars and have a drink. May as well. Maybe it would relax his nerves a little and he could finally sleep! As he entered the bar he sat down and ordered a drink. Then he lit a cigarette. Something else he hadn't done in ages, he had quit smoking a while back! He noticed a gentleman across from him and decided to join the guy and have some conversation with locals. Dante wasn't one to have casual conversation but, it would at least give him something to do. He picked up his glass and walked over to the table with the gentleman.

“Looks like you could use some company.” He said. “Hope you don't mind me just sitting here but I figured you could use someone to talk to as you drink.” Was this polite? He hoped so considering his people skills probably suck. “The name is Dante.” Horrible greeting yes, but pleasantries lie under people skills!

563

Youta would be at the funeral to try to support his good friend Typhon. He would head to try to find him but would ask around and find out that he had left for the evening and no one was quite sure where he had gone. He wanted to try to support his friend as much as possible. He wanted to check in on him in order to try to help him. He knew that this could be a really tough time and that he could definitely use a friend right now. He never knew his birth parents but he could not imagine losing his parents.

He would head to Typhon’s apartment to see if he had gone back home. “Hey buddy are you here? I Just wanted to check in on you.” he would walk around the side he did not want to cause too much commotion because he was still in his fancy clothes. Wearing traditional funeral garb and looking for his friend. When a very sweet old lady from across the way would yell “He has not come home yet today can I take a message for you?” Youta would turn around and say [color=green] “No thank you, I’ll see if I can find him. Thanks for the help though.” [/green] he would call horus and then send him to find him.

Horus would find him rather easily and come and get Youta. Youta would go and find Typhon and would say as he walked in the bar “Hey buddy i should have figured i would find you here. And who is your friend here my name is YOuta shinkou.’

Ty was glad to have had his friend Youta in attendance at the funeral and he felt a little bad about leaving the district without saying goodbye. He hadn't really seen any of his comrades in a long time. The past few months had been spent with him practically chained to his father's side. Not that he thought about it that way. He was thankful for the time he had left with the man and they were able to still make some good memories before his passing. In this moment though, those memories just made him all the more sad that it was over. As his second mug had nothing buy foam left in it Ty would order a third. The drinks were certainly starting to effect him and he already had a strong buzz going.

As he waited for the waitress to return with his order Ty's attention would be pulled to a rather good looking young man approaching him. It seemed that despite his sour mood, he must have still looked relatively approachable. The youngster introduced himself as Dante and the tipsy medic tried to wrack his brain to remember if he knew anyone by that name. Nothing came to mind and so he let his guard down a little easier than a shinobi probably should. But he hadn't been an active duty ninja in a while anyways. 

Ordinarily a reserved person the medic wasnt typically the type for small talk with strangers, but right now this looked to be an easy distraction. Ty would extend a gloved hand and introduce himself with only a slight slurring of his words, "Nice to meetcha Dante. I'm Typhon!" He wondered if this stranger was looking for a way to take their mind off of something the same as him, but figured it was rude to ask. 

"Please do have a seat. Hopefully this comes across alright, but you don't give off the vibe of a civilian. Am I right to assume you're an enlisted shinobi as well?" As he spoke Ty would pull his headband out from his coat pocket and place it on the table. He still carried it with him everywhere he went despite being on extended leave. It typically helped a lot when it came to avoiding the discrimination his clan was used to. 

The barmaid returned with the drink he had ordered and during his first big gulp of it a familiar voice would cut through all the chatter. Youta had somehow found him after he disappeared from Byoki. The young man was still wearing the clothes from the funeral. Had he been searching for Ty since then?

"Youta! There you are! Come have a drink with me!" The alcohol was fully coursing through his system at this point and so he spoke much louder and more boistrously than he normally would. Ty would turn to his current drinking buddy in response to the Shinkou's question. "Oh this is Dante. Real swell guy I think." He would laugh at his own words and slug back another gulp of beer. 

"I am glad to see you though." He would wrap an arm around Youta's neck and loudly whisper, "Thank you for coming to the funeral. It means a lot!"


(WC 542)

Dante saw the new person arrive at the table. He nodded as he held up his glass as though to greet the newcomer, he took a sip of his adult beverage and then sat his glass down. Thunder seemed to roll in the distance, good thing Dante was off the next day!
“To answer your question, yes I am a Shinobi of Hoshi. Just recently moved here. I was a missing nin for a while because my village was destroyed, I was from Volcano Village!” Dante answered as he ordered another drink. “I'll have another round and of course whatever these gentlemen would like.” Dante said to the bartender.
“Nice to meet you Youta and Typhon, so what brings you two to the bar this late at night yo down your sorrows? Tell me your story andIl I'll tell you mine.” Dante said as he took a sip of his drink. Hopefully he would not scare these new people off with his story. Not only is it boring, it's very depressing!
A bright flash of lightning lit up the sky and area outside the bar! Quite the dramatic effect adding to the aesthetic air of the table! The thunder roared, vibrating the walls around them as Dante looked at the other two in the car with him. New friends, alcohol and a thunderstorm. Yeah this suited Dante perfectly.
(228)

“Of course buddy, except I am not old enough yet so it is just some water for me. We need to make sure that you get home alright. One of us should probably be responsible.” He would make his way through the bar to the area where Typhon and Dante. He would be walking trying to get as close as he can. It was not unusual for Youta to be a little serious but he would sit next to his friend and say“It's all good buddy you know I got your back for whatever you need buddy.” he would then turn to Dante and say “oh my story is boring and I am a shinobi also. Been here since birth, adopted by a blacksmith and started being a shinobi. Just been trying to move up the ladder you know? You Know we have this scouting base out in the borderlands. It would be a good job. Let me know if you are interested. But your story sounds way more interesting than mine. Tell me more about the volcano village. I have never really been outside of Haven country except once when I was little I went to the village in the abyss for my clan. Never been back.” he would look at Dante intently. He was truly curious . It was another reason he joined the Shinobi so he was trying to see the world.

WC=235

Ty found himself suddenly in a rather chipper group. It wasn't what he was expecting when he dragged himself over to the bar, but with the amount of liquor he had already drank, he wasn't going to complain. It was actually kind of nice to have others taking his mind off the loss of his dad. Youta was someone that the medic was already close with and one that he would call a friend. Dante however was a new face to him entirely.

The lad mentioned that he was new to Haven and that he hailed from the Volcano village. Typhon had heard of the place but never visited or anything like that. He admittedly wanted to know more but was a little afraid he would come across as rude for asking about one's recently destroyed homeland. Luckily Youta did not have the same hang-ups and asked Dante to elaborate about Volcano. Ty would listen as intently as a drunk person can and would interject little comparisons between volcano and Hoshi every so often.

When asked about what brought him to the bar he felt a flood of sadness, but quickly brushed it aside. He would explain, "We just came from my father's funeral. I needed a stiff drink and an old friend of mine used to bring me here after missions." He would finish his glass with a loud sigh and continue, "I'm going back to active duty soon and so it really feels like a lot is happening at once for me."

He would motion towards the bartender to send another drink his way and returned his attention to his companions. He would turn to Youta and ask, "Do you happen to know what ever became of the Wolf's Den after our mission? I've been away from the logistics stuff entirely. Hopefully that wasn't all for nothing." He was noticeably swaying back and forth in his seat and his face was flushed with redness. He rarely ever drank alcohol in general and so getting drunk was something he had little experience with. The warmth in his veins was soothing.

Thinking about going back into the field was scary for the young man. He was truly alone in the world now and so if he died there was nobody really waiting for him anymore. It was a weird thought. At first he figured it would be almost freeing, but in reality he found himself more afraid of death than ever. He had no legacy to leave behind. It wasn't even something he had thought about before but now his mind was occupied by "what ifs" and fears. He chose not to share these fears just yet, he had done enough to sour the mood by bringing up the funeral.

(WC 460)

“Yeah, I just recently joined the Shinobi forces here in Hoshigakure. I have connections here, so my twin sister and I traveled with a fellow team member here to Hoshi after our village was destroyed!” He said answering Typhon's question. He took a sip of his beer before telling them what Volcano Village was like.
“There was always a cloud over Volcano, at times the sun could break through but not very often. There was a river of lava that ran through the middle of the village and exited out to the water off of the edge of pirate beach, which was covered in black salt and sand. The smell of sulfur was always there and we had our own Ecosystem. Have you ever seen a two headed cat? Or a squirrel's body with a raccoon head? We had plenty of those. There was ALWAYS the smell of death. It was home even if it wasn't pleasant!” Dante reminisced. “This place is literally heaven compared to where I'm from.” Dante took a sip of his beer. “I honestly prefer being here to there. Although now it's just a giant crater.” He added looking up at everyone! He missed Volcano, but was thankful he found some place good to settle.
209

Youta would turn to Typhon and say “All I know is they are rebuilding it after our fight. Apparently we probably did more damage than good. I’m gunna blame Ryumi she did more damage than we did.” Youta would laugh at that then order a drink. He would just get a soda because he didn’t want to drink too much incase Typhon needed help getting home. He would then turn to Dante [color=green] “volcano country I heard rumors about what happened there. I did not realize what the place was actually like.” Then Dante would continue to describe volcano country and Youta would look at him with amazement, “that is weird and this place is not too bad to live at. Just have to watch out for some of the religious zealots they can be rude but that is usually the worst thing around here that can happen. It can also be a bit dry. But the animals all have the correct heads and the sky is varied.” he would laugh a little then continue to turn to Typhon “have you heard or talked to any of your team yet?”