Return of the Sand Fiend[Closed]

[AleenaGrey]

Outside it was sunny, warm, and an overall beautiful day. It was a perfect day to go outside and play. Which Zenka was taking full advantage of. The little girl was having a grand ol’ time in the yard. Taking pales of water and dumping them into her sand box Rin had made for her a long time ago. A sand box of specially collected sand Rin had shunshined from Rikuhi.

She was building up her little village of pale-shaped buildings. Masami sat on the edge of the box and supervised the mischief maker. Though she wasn’t all that pleased at having a stuffed version of herself sitting beside her. The armadillo found it somewhat creepy, but the little girl adored the plush armadillo.

While Zenka was in full play outside, Rin was up to her eyeballs papers inside. Maps, reports, plans, bills, missions, all sorts of things. Some part of the demon’s little missions and others for the village. Sometimes she wished she was a kid again.

[Zaulyl]

A sparrow would fly in through the window, dropping another piece of paper in front of Rin. The note would be simple and sweet.

I'm back. 3 Miles North, then 1 West, then 1 North. Come at nighttime.
-Smoker

The sparrow wouldn't wait for any kind of answer-his orders were to deliver and vanish. Which he did. He'd explode into a poof of white smoke as he was unsummoned and would leave Rin there, to sit among her papers.

~~~

Zau stood on top of a rock overlooking much of the surrounding forest. A small bird flew by, delivering news that the letter had been successfully delivered.

The jounin turned on his heel and retreated back to the rock wall, where he could hopefully remain until nightfall. He was confident that Rin would show up-he had made it pretty obvious who left the note.

Until then...there was nothing to do but wait.

[AleenaGrey]

Rin nearly let her head hit her desk when a bird flew in and dropped ANOTHER piece of paper. “Not anooother!” She groaned. Expecting it to be a mission, or any other thing she didn’t want to deal with right then. That was until the bird exploded in smoke. That wasn’t normal. She read the note and paused.

It couldn’t be who she thought it was… could it. Her nerves made her stomach tighten at the unexpectedness of it all. There was only one way to find out.

As soon as it was night.The jonin stepped outside and made sure Masami was still watching Zenka. “I’ll be back soon.” Then she formed the seals and shunshined to the coordinates.

As soon as she saw him. Rin remained quite silent. Frankly she didn’t know what to say and half believed that this wasn’t real. What did one say to someone you hadn’t seen in five years after everything they’d gone through. ‘Hey, how ya doing? Good to see your alive. You heard the world’s ending? Oh and Surprise you’re a father’?

[Zaulyl]

Zau looked up from his rest as Rin appeared. She had done what he asked; only shown up at nighttime. He looked down again, then rose to his feet, taking in Rin's new image. Truthfully, she hadn't changed too much, though she now carried a sword, much to Zau's delight. She had seen the light.

Much to his confusion, however, the sword lacked a blade. Maybe Rin was a little confused.

Zau put his hands behind his back-this was more awkward than he had envisioned.

"You uh...look like you've seen a ghost."

[AleenaGrey]

The changed Zau seemed to have physically taken weren’t all that much different. He looked older, that was for sure. Course she probably was the same there. His eyes had changed. The blue was new. Even in the dark she could see it in the brown. It was strange, not seeing the gray she was so accustomed too. It was familiar and a tad bit comforting.

Rin blinked and smiled a bit awkwardly. “I suppose… I kinda have.” She scratched the back of her neck as she tried not to let her nerves get away with her. “Its been a long time since I last saw you.”

So many thoughts were running through her head that she almost didn’t notice he spoke in her native language. Slipping into it naturally before she even realized it. “I see you’ve picked up a few things.”

[Zaulyl]

Zau laughed, not moving from his spot. He spoke up again, this time using a strange mix of...well, everything he knew.

"Yea, I suppose you could say that I've learned some stuff. I've gotten pretty Good at expressing myself."

Of course, Rin couldn't possibly hope to understand all of that-hell, at the end there, he was tweeting like a bird. Zau had picked up many tricks-his languages, his summonings, Ryuumei, his bloodline...most of which remained unknown to Rin. It really HAD been a long time.

"So...I hear we're stopping an apocalypse or two."

[AleenaGrey]

Rin had to admit she was impressed as he shifted through several languages. Then just plain confused when he was chirping like a bird. She raised at that one.

“I guess so. What the heck was that last part?” She asked, puzzled.

She sobered a bit as he brought up the apocalypse. “Yeah. Hopefully just the one. Its been a royal pain in the ass trying to get a handle on the situation.” Rin admitted. It wouldn’t be long before she was going to the exams herself, as a proctor. Though she had other intentions than running the exam. Like destroying it. “It was a shock when your demon contacted us.” As shocking as it had been, and with such horrible news, Rin had been secretly glad to hear Zau was okay.

[Zaulyl]

"Trust me, that was a pain for me too...my seal's not meant to do that.

He's on a pretty short leash these days though."

Zau let out a few tweets and leaned against the wall. Three birds, all called by Zau to come over to him, landed in front of him.

"And to answer your question...they understood me."

Zau knelt down-it was obvious that there was something he wanted to say. That girl, the one he "saw" 5 years ago when finding the gem, and then again during his meditations...it was the same girl that was living with Rin. And Zau had noticed a few interesting details about her-namely, her eyes.

"Umm...that girl. The one living with you...she's about 5, right?...umm...when's her birthday?"

If that wasn't obvious, he didn't know what was. The question was out there-and Zau honestly wasn't sure which answer he wanted to hear most.

[AleenaGrey]

She wasn’t sure about the whole short leash thing. It was a demon after all. “That’s good.” Rin’s eyes followed the three birds shortly after he tweeted again. So now Zau can speak bird? Well there were weirder things in the world.

Rin’s heart nearly stopped when he asked about Zenka. He could only mean Zenka, seeing as Rin didn’t regularly hang out with any other five year old girls. She was so startled by the abruptness of his question that the shock showed briefly on her face. Rin coughed once as she tried to get her composure back.

"Um, yeah." She said. “September 27th.” Rin fiddled with her fingers nervously. “How… How did you know about her?” She asked. Did he know the truth? She wanted to die right there. Caught between not knowing and wishing.

[Zaulyl]

Zau managed to fake a small laugh as he did the calculations in his head. The days worked out. 9 months...he didn't have the information for certain...but it couldn't be anything else. He knew.

"You think this was just a spur of the moment kind of thing? I've been in the area for almost a week now. I wanted to fully recov-I mean, I had things to take care of before I could see you."

The truth, of course, was that using the final stage of his bloodline for the first time had taken so much out of him that he found movement became painful. He couldn't face Rin-or anyone, really-like that.

So...you've got yourself a daughter.

The demon was feeling brave, it seemed. He spoke up, directing his thoughts to Rin.

So, why didn't you tell me about the new Kemu- The demon wouldn't get to say much. Zau almost immediately cut his communication off-if that didn't demonstrate to Rin the control he had established, nothing would. I was JUST trying to talk. You're so rude.

[AleenaGrey]

He was around for over a week? And she’d never noticed it? That had her panicked a bit. Namely because she was insanely protective of Zenka, and ninja stalking around (Zau or not) had her concerned.

The demon was cut off, which startled her a bit as it was all too easy to figure out what word he was in the middle of saying. Just one look at Zenka, it was too clear to see her blood. It was why Rin had made her wear contacts so much. She was so afraid for her daughter.

Rin tried to speak, but found her voice wouldn’t work. She turned and began pacing a bit in pure nerves. It was an abrupt change from the Jonin Rin that she had become. All the confidence she had gained through the years seemed to vanish in an instant. “Zau…”

She fumbled again. Finally she just forced herself to say it. “She’s my daughter.” Rin was suddenly afraid now. It would be too clear on her face. She was afraid he’d vanish again and reject Zenka. “And yours.” Here it was, the time she’d been hoping for and dreading. Going through the demon apocalypse was more preferable than this moment.

[Zaulyl]

She didn't have to say it-he certainly already knew. What was so strange though was how little it phased him. Zau had already suspected it-and as such, had been subjected to a full week of torment by the demon-so hearing it now just confirmed what he had already really known.

"Does she have any idea?"

Of course not. That was the answer, obviously. Rin couldn't tell her daughter about her missing father-she just couldn't. It was like expecting her to show her a mutilated corpse...ok, maybe not that bad, but still.

Zau's mind was going a million directions at once-if she was his, then for five years, she remained fatherless while he played with birds. She had already been born before Zau's ship wrecked. He could have gone home when the ship wrecked and fixed a problem before it became one. He didn't.

It didn't help that the demon was speaking to him all the while either. And nothing he said was nice.

"She hasn't...had bad experiences with fire or heat or anything like that, has she?"

Of course his daughter possibly having the bloodline was a major concern of his. It's possible that the bloodline wasn't dominant, after all-Rin's blood was in there too. Maybe she hadn't received it?

Zau knew that to be false, however. He had already heard of the half-Kemuri running around with bloodlines active. His clan had grown a bit in his absence.

"Don't worry about me being around...it's kinda hard to keep secrets from someone who can turn birds into spies and can turn into smoke...not to mention the normal stuff we do."

[AleenaGrey]

Rin wrapped her arms around her a bit. It was out. The truth was out. It helped that he was interested in her instead of immediately vanishing. “She just knows her daddy was out on a big adventure.” She stared at the dirt as she spoke.[ “ I haven’t told her much. In case you never came back." Zenka was her joy and love. She couldn't bare to tell her her father had taken off and may never come back. "She asks of course. Too curious for her own good.”
For the longest time, Rin had started to wonder if he would. After a couple of years she was even dreading he had died somewhere.

She shook her head. “No. She’s reckless, but I manage to keep her out of most trouble.” Rin softened a bit. Zenka was so like him at times, it was funny in a painful way. Seeing that beautiful little girl grow up for five years. He really had missed out on some amazing, and not so amazing, things. “Her name is Zenka.” She said turning her gold eyes back on him.

"Before I forget, these are also for you. From Victor." Rin handed Zau his card and the prophasy scroll.

[Zaulyl]

Zau took his various items, making sure to remind himself to investigate them later.

For right now...well, it was a lot to think about. And Zau still wasn't completely feeling his best. He took a step towards Rin. And another. And another, until he was mere inches away. Zau leaned forward and kissed her-and then left her there, nothing but the remains of the smoke Zau employed during his Shunshin for company.

~~~

He sincerely hoped she wouldn't wake up. Zenka would have probably been very frightened of the floating cloud of shadow hovering over her in her bedroom. Then again, Zau made no noise in this form, so a mere civilian discovering him was unlikely at best.

She has your eyes. Smartass. Who would have thought you would be foolish enough to pass on your genetics to a new generation? Why are we even bothering to save the humans if you're just going to do that to them? I love you too, Skoll. Bastard. Mutt.

Despite the conflict in his head, no sound would be made, even as Zau floated closer to his daughter. She was perfect.

And then, as silently as he came, Zau left out a crack in the girl's window. Tamesis was waiting outside, and as Zau reformed, he climbed up Zau's leg and rested on his head. A kid, huh? Wow.

Zau said nothing-simply Shunshin'd away, armadillo in tow.

-EXIT-

[AleenaGrey]

Rin returned the kiss feeling comforted. Even if all that remained of him was wisps of smoke. She had a good idea where he was going next, but felt no need to rush after him. He had a right to be there and she trusted him not to scare their child.

------
Zenka was curled up in her bed with her faithful Ryuu tucked under her arm. She was sound asleep too. Zau’s presence didn’t even disturb her out of her dreams. Her breathing was even and deep as she snuggled into her pillow in such a child like fashion.

------

Arriving back home, Rin’s first stop was in her daughter’s room. She slowly slid the door open and peaked inside on the girl. Still curled up and dozing peacefully. She didn’t see him present, but Rin caught the faint whiff of smoke. ‘He’s seen her.’ She smiled again and closed the door quietly.

-EXIT/END THREAD-