A Statue? Or a Bunny? Or... what the fuck is that? [Open. No Kill]

Center of the village; an open space styled like a cobblestone square; a meeting place for markets and people and performers and everyone in the village, when the weather is nice. It was a nasty day; a cold dreary rain, mid-winter at it's worst, before the few days of snow and ice that would send the people entirely inside. Few moved, fewer bothered to leave the covered areas on the far edge of the square.

In the center? At the very heart of the village?

A single being, a person that looked frozen in stone; or rather, frozen in ice. Icy in all ways, washed of color and pale like the sky before a snowstorm; gray and white and pale blues. Seemingly immobile; like a statue, like art given form.

Only... a movement, the barest hint of a twitch. Ears, strange and inhuman; rising and falling in rhythm; breathing, life. Whoever, whatever it was... it was alive. It was unknown to the people; but they did notice a shadow on the roof; or rather, several shadows on the roof. ANBU, clearly visible, or as clearly as they got. A sign to the people; beware the area. Move along, nothing to see here. Or was there?

What was the creature with the strange ears? A person? A beast?

What was Gen, after all? He was a weapon to the village; a weapon with no past, no future, and nothing but a present. That present was cold, gray, and wet.

Gen was smiling.

Strange things happened in the Hidden Mist village. Strange things, stranger people.

So what was he? The strangest of them all?

Or maybe, just maybe, nothing. He was Gen. He was weapon.

He was nothing.

And in the shadows, the ANBU watched.

[/entering]

Confidence, carelessness, and casualness. These were the three attributes that best described Yasu in a general manner, but for the sake of the setting, right now we refer only to his pace. Having just brought back the head of the creature he had been tasked with killing, and consequently showing it as proof of his success, his job was done. Now he had some time to kill... but how to, exactly? Not that it really mattered much to him, but it was still daytime, therefore relatively early to start drinking. Within his thoughts, an idea finally began to form itself. "Hmm... perhaps I should get back to that bar from the other night. Hopefully that gal's over there. What was she called... Tanya... Tonya? Uh?"

He changed his direction towards the mentioned bar, or at least where he thought he remembered it was, and quickly found himself passing through the center of the village. It was then that, as he was lost in his thoughts about who he was about to hit on was named, suddenly something seemed off for some reason. As Yasu looked around, the area seemed to be less populated than usual... but most importantly, there were actually people closer than one would think. He shifted his gaze up, inspecting the rooftops. ANBU. What were they doing here? For what purpose? And then, he saw it; the strange, pale man with rabbit ears. Almost motionless, with a barely visible, but surely real smile. It was obvious; that's what the ANBU were watching, guarding, making sure nobody else approached, and were doing so as boldly as Yasu had ever seen. "Hm..."

Yasu had heard of this strange person before, and in fact from some higher ranked Shinobis who swore it. Some claimed it was mere rumors, though he knew it had to be true now. A creature solely meant to be a weapon; the village's weapon. With no known identity or story, he was much like a bomb... to be thrown at the first incoming threat. Hopefully it would not explode in the Village's hands before that happened.

Nevertheless, rumor also told that this being was supposed to be kept somewhere, hidden and guarded. It'd make sense too; otherwise, the legend of a person with rabbit ears wouldn't be much of a legend as it would be a fact, if it was roaming freely around Kirigakure. So for this thing to be out in the open, guarded so heavily as if it were a dormant Chakra Beast... meant that something had to be wrong.

Yasu merely gave a brief glance at the ANBU, entirely ignoring their purpose with a smirk, before beginning to walk towards the man at a completely casual and fearless pace. Surely they knew who he was as well, and would not do anything to harshly intervene. "You seem to be in a good mood." He spoke, confidently but with a friendly enough tone. As he began to get closer, it was at this point that he grabbed the sword off his back, something that would definitely rise the hugest of suspicions and concerns, not only to the person, but to the nearby watchers. Further more, he would raise it slightly, only to bring it down towards the floor, cutting it and sticking it in in a solid and stable position, proving the act to be entirely harmless.

Then, with a smirk still in his face, he casually leaned back against the weapon, facing the man with his arms folded in order to address him with a cool mood. "So why would you just stand here like this? Why so lonely? Where's your... buddies?" Maybe not the best way to start up the conversation, but he wanted to make sure it was true. What he had heard about him. Plus, further topics would surge up afterwards... should the man-rabbit not suddenly decide to take a strike at him.

No reaction; nothing beyond breathing; not for long moments. It would seem as if the male was in a trace of sorts; merely staring forward into nothingness as the cold rain soaked into his robes, sluiced over his skin almost as if he where taking a shower. If not for his breathing, he could have been sleeping; however, he was very much conscious. He was thinking; or rather, remembering; losing himself in his thoughts as a way to forget the present; a moment of peace found in the dreary day.

Eventually, long after time had stretched into awkward; a movement, purposeful and obvious. Attention was focused; a spark of life behind dead eyes; a turn so slow you would swear the muscles of his neck creaked and squeaked from the effort. Pupils constricting, the rise and fall of ears halting. Questions... he'd been spoken too... but this was someone new. Another ninja; that much was obvious; either a very brave, or very stupid one. Or maybe just friendly? He knew of the word; even had a slight bit of... experience? maybe, with it. Some of his handlers where... kind, to him. A bit of candy snuck into his daily meal, or even a book to read for a few hours. Words spoken to him. Kindness. Something he'd almost forgotten in the years he'd been in the village.

"Air... a treat..." He was speaking slowly, obviouslly hunting for the words. He spoke so rarely anymore that he was forgetting how to. Oh, if he spent enough time speaking he would be fine; but there was no one to talk to; beyond Sui; and she was mad at him over the last time they'd been outside, so she hadn't spoken to him for days. He was forgetting again; losing touch with another facet of humanity.

"The handlers... they are in the shadows... they fear I will hurt someone... like last time... but no one approaches me... so I let the rain wash away my sins... at least, for a moment. Peace..."

Finally, a voice was heard. Reacting with far too much calm and softness than Yasu had anticipated, the person spoke, answering to the Jounin's initiation of a conversation. Mentioning how the air was precious, how the ANBU were his "handlers", and even how dangerous he could prove to be, Yasu was now entirely certain that the rumors he had heard were mostly true, at least so far.

While he did not have any changes in his laidback mood, he did notice how it was actually raining notably, something he had completely forgotten. As he rose his right hand and opened his palm in order to receive the falling drops of water, he sighed and spoke. "Yeah... the rain is pretty nice, isn't it? It provides very good company, and sometimes, even better advices. But your sins... that, it unfortunately cannot wash away. The only one that can do that... is yourself." The usual smirk on his face had disappeared as he said this; he was being as serious about what he was stating as he could.

But nevertheless, he soon formed that smirk again, before gently leaning off his sword and stepping forward. Then, he crouched slightly, as to look straight into the eyes of the man. "Anyway... I'm Yasu. What's your name?" He asked, attempting a friendly introduction.

'"Yeah... the rain is pretty nice, isn't it? It provides very good company, and sometimes, even better advices. But your sins... that, it unfortunately cannot wash away. The only one that can do that... is yourself.""

Gen actually acknowledged this, in his own way. A slow, deliberate nod of his head; one of the only human gestures he ever used anymore. "Yes... I hear it, sometimes... from my cage. The rain... the whispers of the rain on the ground above... soothing..." Longer sentences, more sense made. Seeming more... alive; in a way. Conversation was rare, after all. He wasn't a chatter bug, but he did enjoy some level of conversation. "Gen... I am... Gen. At least... I was, before. Long ago. I am just a weapon now, or so they tell me. I forget that I had a name, sometimes. I hear it so rarely."

A shift, a foot moved. The stone below bone dry; he'd been standing for so long. Turning, slowly, toward the other male; facing and focusing; a distraction. Shadow on the edge of vision moving; twitching in response to his movements; but the peaceful nature kept them at bay; he was not to be messed with unless he misbehaved; for now, he was calm, and he could be left alone. "Yasu... a Jounin? I have heard the name... I believe. Many Jounin, I hear of them when the ANBU speak... but I know so few. They speak of me... or so the new ones say. Awe... strange, to be in awe of a puppet... or maybe... they are in awe of the power they believe I hold... I do not know. I merely listen, the voices keep the Voices quiet." There was an inference there, the way he spoke changed for a moment; verbal cue that he was using a pronoun of sorts. The voices in his head; versus the voices of living beings. His insanity made clear, without showing it.

Yasu kept quiet but focused as he listened to all of the man's speeches, who seemed to go by as "Gen". As Gen revealed more and more about the conditions he lived in, the abomination that he called a life... it did make the swordsman slightly angry at the fact. He had always known that the Bloody Mist was not a fan of the nicest of practices... but to keep an inhabitant of the village, a Shinobi, a human being, locked away in the most atrocious of conditions, only to be let out when the village needs... that was something else.

With no hesitation, Yasu stood back up slowly but firmly, his smirk gone though not appearing to be even remotely angry, but having a very serious tone as he spoke, "The Village of Kirigakure has never been known for being nice... *sigh* regardless, I promise I will change words with whoever's responsible for your captivity."

At this point, the ANBU were beginning to slowly move down from the rooftops, though not with any hostile movements, but more as if they had a task to fulfill. Still, they were hesitant. Without even glancing back at them, Yasu mentioned this. "It seems the time has come for your... watchers to take you away again. He continued to speak, though while doing so turning around and grabbing his sword. "I hope we meet again, Gen... until then, try to look on the bright side, alright?" He formed a smile on his face, attempting to cast cheerful feelings on the victimized man. At the same time, however, he placed his sword on his back, and simultaneously formed a few, fast handseals with the hand that was hidden from Gen's sight. Within a matter of moments, both Gen and the approaching ANBU were cast under an illusion, during which Yasu quickly jumped away from the area. After a few seconds passed, the affected persons would perceive that time as if it had passed at an extremely fast pace, meaning that, to them, it would appear as if the swordsman has vanished from sight at an unbelievable speed.

Spoiler:

[/left]

Change... word? Why would anyone want to bother? It wasn't as if he was unhappy per say; he overall just didn't care. Strange...

But then the ANBU where moving, and he realized that he time was up. Well, better to have some than none. Overall, not a bad venture into the village.

"Bright side...? Alright..." That was a strange thing to say, but not bad advice. Hmmm...

He was about to inquire more, but the male was gone, and he was alone, save for the handlers. Okay, then. "I am ready..."

And then he was gone; whisked away by the ANBU and back to his solitary life for another stretch of nothingness.

-Exit-