The Matriarch smirked. Then, she began to laugh. Her laughter stretched on for several long seconds, making Kotetsu doubly worried about his situation. She was much crazier than he suspected.
"No."
Suddenly, her laughter had cut off all at once, and she answered in a flat tone.
Kotetsu felt sweat pouring down his back.
"Your grandmother was neither kind, nor merciful. She is the reason for our clan's miserable state. It is her fault that we have resorted to such a weak way of life." The Matriarch spoke with clipped words.
The Matriarch held a smile that did not reach her eyes as she spoke. Kotetsu felt like retreating into the vines still holding him hostage. The old woman seemed to notice his hesitation, and her smile appeared to grow genuine, much to Kotetsu's internal fear.
"Where are my manners? You are pinned to a wall while I am free to speak. Allow me to even the odds…" The Matriarch spoke cryptically. Before Kotetsu fully understood what was happening, the vines restricting him suddenly loosened before vanishing completely. Kotetsu fell to his knees in a thump.
Suddenly free, Kotetsu wasted no time in shooting straight to his feet. He didn't question why they had let him loose, but he was not one to miss an opportunity. He brought his hands up in one smooth motion and moved through the set of hand signs he had practiced for well over a year. He didn't want to burn down the nice little room, but he needed to escape. His plan was simple as he sucked in a breath.
Kotetsu glanced up before executing his plan to see everyone's reactions. To his surprise, no one moved, not even Taisei. The Matriarch still held her creepy smile. Forcing his head back down, Kotetsu prepared to blast a stream of pure fire right below his feet, intending on burning a hole through the wooden panel. In the back of his head, a single errant thought floated through his focus.
"Don't take your eyes off…"
Something blurred just under Kotetsu's chin, and before he knew it, he felt it hit and snap in place around his neck. Kotetsu felt the immediate disruption to his Chakra which made him lose focus of his mental image. That left the fire Chakra in his lungs to prematurely come up his throat, ravaging everything in its path as it escaped out of his mouth and nose in a puff of smoke. Kotetsu closed his airway, forcing the remaining elemental Chakra to stay trapped in his lungs. He did everything in his power to keep it from exploding out of his chest.
"...Weak. Your control is weak."
While Kotetsu attempted to keep the fire in his body from killing him, he simultaneously reached up to his neck and found a rough wooden collar around it. Before Kotetsu could think to pull at it, two more wooden things snapped shut over each of his wrists. Kotetsu's eyes bulged open as he looked into the malevolent face of the old woman. She held two more small things in each hand. Kotetsu had lost all sense of how to react.
"You were seriously expecting any of that to work? Your skills in Chakra are shameful. Your grandmother would be disappointed."
Kotetsu's back found the wall and he slid down to roughly land on his butt. He vaguely noted the old woman leaning down to toss the things in her hands over his ankles, where he felt them snap into place just like the other three restraints. The effect of the restraints were immediate as Kotetsu could no longer feel any sort of Chakra flow past those points. This was also the case for his head, though less so. His head felt stuffy, like it was wrapped in cloth.
Before Kotetsu completely lost control of the fire Chakra, he felt a click at the back of his neck and something fell down his chest and onto his lap. He looked down to find the collar that had just been wrapped around his neck. Slowly, his focus returned, and he barely managed to restrain the fire in his lungs. The horrible thoughts clawed their way to the front of his mind while he struggled internally.
"Fail."
"Lacking…"
"Unfortunate."
In the effort of quieting his thoughts, Kotetsu studied the collar in his lap. He spotted intricate patterns carved along the inner and outer edges of the trinket. They were similar to the carvings he first saw carved into the vines that had held him before. Whatever the carvings were, he was almost sure that they somehow contributed to the disruption of his Chakra.
A sudden presence loomed over Kotetsu. Looking up, he found the Matriarch once again.
"Done playing, brat?"
Her smile was gone. The hunger in her eyes was not. Remembering her earlier statement, Kotetsu made the executive decision that this was the time for diplomacy.
"You… You said you had some questions for me?" Kotetsu tried to suppress his reflexive gulp.
The Matriarch bored down on him with her gaze.
"In due time. I have some preparations to make. First, I need to make sure you're in… the right headspace."
The Matriarch was clearly done with him. She walked out of the room, speaking orders that Kotetsu didn't bother paying attention to. Kotetsu did pay attention when she leaned over and plucked his sword from where it leaned against the wall. He was busy trying to unravel the meaning behind her last statement to him. Before he could figure anything out, he was pulled up and laid flat by familiar vines. The collar in his lap fell to the ground in the process.
"Cra-"
He didn't get the curse out before his mouth and eyes vanished beneath a flow of rough vines. Kotetsu attempted to bite at the vine covering his mouth out of panic. He chomped down, managing to sever the vine, which left a rather bitter aftertaste. His vision was completely obscured, but that didn't matter as he could now speak properly once more.
"Crazy hag!"
Multiple vines wrapped around his mouth to cut off further protests. That was fine to Kotetsu, since he got out the one phrase he wanted to use anyway. The rest of his body had already been completely encapsulated by vines.
"Stop struggling." The old man, Touma, ordered.
Now that Kotetsu knew he was in deep trouble, he figured that telling him to not struggle was kind of pointless.
"Taisei. Take him to the cages."
"Yes, father."
"Mf, Mmnh."
Kotetsu figured he would struggle in every way he could. Just because he couldn't form words didn't mean he wouldn't try to speak. He wondered what kind of expression the two Senju wore at his obvious mockery of their efforts.
Before Kotetsu could find another way to struggle, he found himself being towed by his feet again. He chuckled to himself as he thought of the prison's rather simple name of 'the cages'. He could totally do better than that. So, he amused himself by coming up with much better names, all while being carried along.
Wooden death cage. Final rest of the brat. Entrapment of wood. Wood prison. Tree jail. Forest coffin. The prison of eternal torture and death specifically built for Kotetsu Hoku.
Kotetsu managed to successfully distract himself with this for several minutes. He was pulled along, thrown, bumped against stuff, before finally coming to a stop. He heard the vague click of wood, then the vines retracted from his head and body. They slithered away from his body with disturbing motions, letting Kotetsu open his eyes slowly.
The first thing he noticed was his new living space. He was surrounded by the same nice looking panels that made up Touma's hut, with one side being made of evenly spaced solid vertical bars, forming the cage to his tree jail. Actually, maybe a forest coffin. He would workshop it more later. Beneath him was packed dirt, as interesting as dirt could be. Outside of his cage stood Taisei, standing in place with his hands clasped together in a handsign and his eyes closed. Kotetsu recognised the sign, which wasn't at all useful.
The last of the vines slithered from between the thick wooden bars, and Taisei unclasped his hands and opened his eyes.
"Uh… thanks." Kotetsu muttered.
"Don't." Taisei flatly stated.
The two stared at each other. Despite the earlier nerve-wracking situation with the Matriarch and the tension with Touma before that, Kotetsu felt the least tension with Taisei. He couldn't quite place the feeling. Taisei simply looked irritated. Kotetsu also had no idea where his sword was anymore, which made him feel somewhat defenceless.
"So, when's lunch?" Kotetsu eagerly asked, getting to his first most important topic. His mind refused to properly acknowledge the situation.
Taisei stood and looked at Kotetsu with raised eyebrows.
"What?" Kotetsu asked. He didn't think anything was wrong with his question.
Shaking his head, Taisei responded. "Nothing. I don't know when they'll let you eat. And, I don't really care…"
Taisei began to walk away, but Kotetsu scrambled to the wooden bars at a speed that surprised Taisei. Reaching one arm through the bars, Kotetsu grabbed Taisei's shirt. Taisei's eyes widened when he looked down into Kotetsu's face.
"Wait! Uh…" Kotetsu suddenly let go of the shirt just before Taisei pulled his body away.
"Thanks." Kotetsu muttered once again, this time looking directly at Taisei. He pulled his arms toward him in a huddle, crouching down on the ground. He was unable to stand up fully in the wooden box, so he shuffled to his knees.
"...I just said to not thank me." Taisei responded, genuinely confused.
"I mean, thanks for not killing me."
Taisei stared blankly at Kotetsu for several seconds, then turned. He didn't move or walk away however. After another moment of standing still, he pulled a tiny pouch from the belt of his pants. He turned and gently placed it down just in front of the caged wall. Then, without any further words, he walked off.
Kotetsu watched the retreating form of Taisei, until he rounded a corner and vanished behind what looked like a structure. He couldn't quite make out what lay beyond the bars of his one-sided cage, as a few huge trees and a wall of what he thought might be another cage blocked his view. Looking down at the small pouch, Kotetsu plucked it from the ground and pulled the tiny draw string, revealing several handfuls of dried nuts.
Pulling one out and inspecting it, Kotetsu popped the nut into his mouth. He chewed twice and swallowed with a practiced motion. It brought a tear to his eye as he reminisced all the times he had been stuck eating dried food.
"Yep, I still hate it."
—
Taisei walked without paying attention to where he was going. His thoughts were stuck on the strange boy and his rather psychotic mentality. From the first moment he first met the kid, to his last encounter just seconds ago, the boy had come off as utterly deranged. Taisei didn't expect much out of today when he was woken at the crack of dawn to catch some damned boar, and he wished it had stayed that way.
His first view of the boy, hanging upside down in his snare, was wholly unexpected. It was obvious how he had been caught, what with the red and black liquid staining his chin and face from the blackberries Taisei had left to trap the boar. The boy was beyond filthy, and he smelled worse than the boar pits.
When the vines covering his body were released, he was surprised even further by his clothing. They were just as dirty and smelly as Taisei expected, but what he didn't expect was their appearance. The kid had the robes of a Hyuuga, and shoulder pads that clearly belonged to the Uchiha clan. Though the robes were on the small side and the shoulder pads had some slight tearing, that only added to the boy's strange nature.
What had perhaps been the final nail in the coffin for Taisei was the fact that the Matriarch apparently knew the boy. Or at least, his family. Touma didn't look at all surprised either. Their little walk to the cages had not alleviated Taisei's worries, as the boy hummed discordantly to himself the entire time.
Yet, strange enough, Taisei could not help but feel that the boy had not once lied or faked his reactions. From his genuineness while hanging upside down, to his clear panic while in the presence of two overwhelming forces. It had made Taisei feel like he didn't have to hide anything from the boy, if only a little. The last expression the boy had made when he grabbed Taisei's shirt was burned into his mind. It was the face of someone completely and utterly terrified.
Taisei suddenly froze his foot mid air to prevent himself from crashing into someone else. He looked up to find the haughty face of Jumaru, his senior by a few years. The older boy had dark brown hair and brown eyes on top of a freckled face.
"Taisei. What are you doing back so early? I thought you would be spending more time with your girlfriend." Jumaru looked down with a sneer.
Taisei took a practiced step back, maintaining a measured distance.
"Hello, senior Jumaru. I was carrying out another task as requested by th-"
"I don't give a shit, pig baby. You almost ran into me, which could have rubbed off your boar smell onto me. Watch where you're going." Jumaru jeered. He finished his marvelous statement by spitting at Taisei's feet. The spit barely grazed one of Taisei's sandals.
"Get out of my way…" Jumaru pushed past Taisei, continuing along his path. Taisei continued to stand completely still until he could no longer hear the older boy's footsteps.
Taisei used his time while standing still to think about what to do next. The Matriarch had permitted him a break, but he wanted to go out and kill something. After some deliberation, he took several calming breaths and decided to return to his original task for the day.
He would catch that stupid boar before the sun went down. Then, he would take a long bath.
—
The rustling of trees gently awoke Aina from slumber, and a breeze rolled over her through an open window. She pulled the soft covers up over her head and tried to get back to sleep. However, a gust of wind blew through the window, accompanied by several twigs and other tree clutter from the redwoods outside, completely blowing the blanket off of her body.
Aina stood with anger at the interruption. She had the single day all to herself, and her plans included sleeping, relaxing and more sleeping. The last few weeks had been nothing but problems for Aina, what with her mother ramping up the clan's activities. She calmed herself as the source of the intrusive wind became apparent.
"Fine, mother…"
Pulling off her sleep clothing and slipping into yesterday's robes, Aina exited her spacious room onto a covered balcony. She leaned over the wooden rail where she could look down onto the sprawling landscape of treehouses and bridges extending beyond her view into the trees. Her own treehouse was located high above most of the others, a privilege granted by position and the ability to literally make her own living quarters.
There was no bridge connecting her own treehouse to the rest of the clan. She didn't like visitors all that much. Hopping over the railing, Aina swiftly made her way down to an empty platform. She had also placed her treehouse furthest away from the Matriarch's, purely out of coincidence. Aina began her long, scenic walk across bridges and platforms to get to her mother.
Birds flitted above and below the gently swaying bridges as Aina made sure to avoid any contact with others. Even if that meant taking a roundabout path just to avoid a group of kids walking along, staying quiet after spotting her in the distance. Luckily, they didn't try to approach her. She was in no mood to talk with anyone that day.
Somehow, Aina's sporadic walking had brought her to stand before her mother's lodge. She could have sworn that her path would take at least ten or fifteen more minutes. Sighing in defeat, Aina parted the beads covering the doorway and made her way within. The inside of the cabin was cluttered with random artistic pieces, from nonsensical sculptures, giant pottery, strips of canvas splattered with paint, and a single cube with familiar etchings carved into it.
The cube was the most interesting thing, so she moved to inspect it further. It sat atop a rather plain table, though the cube would be just as plain if it weren't for the carvings. She stood completely still while reading through the symbols.
"A non-elemental sealing technique… that won't even suppress the target? What's the point? And I've never seen these symbols before…" Aina muttered to herself.
"It is simply my latest failure, child. The target of the seal is non-standard. Pay it no mind, for I have a task for you." A creaking voice no different than that of a tree came from somewhere behind Aina.
Aina flipped around to find her mother, the Matriarch, standing hunched over and staring at her. She carried a peculiar sword in both hands. Aina had not detected any presence at all until the old woman spoke. Neither bothered to offer any greetings.
"The task better be quick. Today is my only free day. You and I made a promise." Aina declared.
The old Senju smiled in return.
"It is simple by my standards."
Aina inwardly groaned.
—
Kotetsu had been busy inspecting his new living space. He had so much to do, like sitting, standing– albeit hunched, picking his nose, eating nuts, and digging in the dirt. The first thing he had done was attempt to tunnel himself beneath the walls or the cage entrance, but he discovered thick wood just underneath the dirt, essentially trapping him in a sandbox. Sadly, the dirt was free of rocks.
"What should I do about my problem…?" Kotetsu muttered to himself.
It had been well over an hour since he was brought to the cage of doom. He didn't bother trying to escape after the first few attempts. No one even came to check on him when he began banging on the walls, so he was truly by himself. The problem Kotetsu now worried about, was one of time. Or rather, the inevitable conclusion at the end of every day, the consequence of his actions.
He needed to poop.
"Do I just dig a hole…? But what about the smell? I suppose I could bury it, but I don't have that much dirt…"
He discovered that the dirt only went down about a hand's length before hitting wood. The cage itself was barely large enough for Kotetsu to lay down in. The ceiling was the real problem, being just a foot shorter than Kotetsu was tall, forcing him to hunch over while standing. No jumping for him anytime soon.
"Maybe I can squish it between the bars…"
Kotetsu had truly sunk to a new level of disgusting. He wondered what Emilia would think if she saw him now. The thought of his sister brought him to thinking of the rest of his family. Faces flashed through his mind, until he stopped on one he had pushed to the back of his thoughts for the last week of his life. Kotetsu didn't want to think about him. He didn't even want to remember his name. He couldn't believe that he had once considered that man to be his father.
The mere thought of what he had done brought Kotetsu to a state of immediate anger. So, he wanted nothing to do with those memories, with that face. But no matter what he tried, his mind somehow wound back to thinking about him. Kotetsu felt a pit of swirling emotions burning somewhere in his chest.
Footsteps from outside brought Kotetsu out of his spiral. Raising his face out from behind his hands, he peered between the wooden bars making up his ultimate prison of wooden solitude. Two figures appeared to stand before the cage.
The first form to appear was the old scary woman who put the cuffs on him before. She stood back from the cage as the second person stepped forward. It was a girl. Then, Kotetsu amended his thoughts, seeing that she was likely older than Atsuo or Keina.
Kotetsu did not recognise the young woman. She had white hair and tanned skin, and her clothes were a series of tightly wrapped robes that looked flexible enough. The robes ranged in colour from dark greens to light blues, with splotches of yellow tossed in here and there. The most obvious thing that stood out to Kotetsu was the fact that this woman carried his sword over her shoulder, one hand loosely grabbing its strap. The two stared at each other for several long seconds. Kotetsu caught the look of shock on her face, though she was quick to hide it.
"What's with the look, lady?" Kotetsu asked.
The lady only stared back with wide eyes.