Toward the Summit [Travel, Kurayami --> Mori]

A Kage summit... Alec remembered what happened at the last one of these he was involved with. It didn't end well for Korigakure. Maybe it wouldn't turn out the same for one of these other villages this time, as long as folk were smart. With maniacs like Ranmaru out there, it would be better to have some kind of an alliance and help each other. This would probably be the opportunity to see who was in charge of the water village, Umigakure.

Alec stepped outside onto his front porch, a green colored smoke trailing behind him from a hit of his portable pipe. It was about time to head to this meeting of the leads. He already had in mind the 2 people he wanted to come with him. "There's going to be a Kage summit soon in Mori," Alec said into the party line. "With some of the words and actions that could go down there, it could start a situation. Everybody keep your eyes open."

Alec took another large hit of the green substance in his portable pipe. "Jr, Shizuka... I want you two to go with me. Let's meet at the docks..." Alec was still shaking off the rest of his sleep as he stepped down off of the mansion porch and began walking down the road toward the village. Like usual when villagers saw him, they waved at Alec, and somehow the blind man waved back. The reactions were always priceless.

The crew was already up and running around, preparing The Mossberg. Alec stood on the docks watching, smoking, waiting for his wild son and silent assassin to join him.

Shizuka, like usual, was in her new favorite perch: the tower to the left of the Kane mansion. Through the wireless communicator she heard Alec announce that there was going to be something called a Kage Summit: from what Shizuka had read that was a meeting between the heads of the villages, and they didn't happen very often. The Kage's all brought bodyguards with them when they went, and Shizuka was quite curious as to who Alec was going to choose to bring with him: there were many people to choose from in the village after all, many strong individuals.

Shizuka was a bit confused when Alec mentioned that it was her and Junior he wanted to accompany him. She knew Junior to be his son, something one of the other Kane's had explained to her, so she figured he had to be pretty powerful in his own right. Curiosity burning she jumped from the tower, using several other points on her way down to keep herself from getting hurt as she jumped from one to another until her feet hit the ground.

She took off like a shot through the village, easily maneuvering and dodging around people until she got to the docks and to Alec's ship. She boarded, still curios as ever as to why she was chosen to go, and took up her usual place nearby Alec: where she would be able to see everything that was going on but not be in the way. She was no longer hesitant about sailing across the ocean thanks to th Symbiot which still covered her like a hooded bodysuit: if she happened to fall in she wouldn't have to worry about suffering any ill effects. Like usual her weapon was folded up and hanging from her hip. Shizuka began to hum contently as she folded her arms across her chest. She might not have known why Alec had chosen her, but she was glad he had: she had got a chance to see the desert the last time they went on a journey and now she'd get a chance to see the forest too.

Something bright orange flew upwards into the clouds. It illuminated the entire village as if it were a sun, brightening the darkness. It looked like Kurayamikagure's first daytime with how bright this thing got. The orange thing looked like a large glowing bird. It gave off a warmth that could be felt on the breezes and gusts of wind that passed through the village.

The big bird flew down into the village toward the marketplace and the docks, the bright glow dying out, allowing those looking closely to look and see that inside of the glowing bird was a little boy. This boy looked like a miniature version of Alec, with a mop of white hair and red eyes that glowed when he got angry. He was wearing a white and black shirt, with loose, baggy white pants and black sandals. Special fingerless gloves were on both hands. He didn't look to have any visible weapons.

A natural light and warmth came off of the child, gaining the attention of onlookers where ever he went. He was used to it by now, but sometimes it still got irritating. "Another one of these, then," Jr said, wiping the stuff out of his eyes. "You think this one will end up like the last one? Wait, my mistake, the one before that. The last one, everyone was too scared to show up to, because of you. Right around the time you and Art went to... what was that, Kumogakure, it was called? And killed that Raikage guy."

There was a girl. He was told her name was Shizuka, "Quiet." Supposedly she never spoke; she only communicated in hums and whistles. Jr was used to Kuro not talking, so if they had another mute on the team, that was fine with him...

"No," Alec responded to Jr, walking over onto the Mossberg and behind the ivory wheel. "We're not The Dark anymore, we're running a legit operation now. All that "villain" stuff is behind is now. We have to set an example because innocent people are watching and counting on us. So i'm gonna ask that you be on your best behavior while we're doing this, alright? Keep that temper of yours down. It's why I asked Quiet alone with us, maybe she can help me keep you calm."

The crew began to load in the last of the supplies and things they would need for the trip to Mori. Alec took one more hit of his pipe and put it away in one of his cloak pockets. "Shizuka, this is my son, Alec Kane Jr. You can probably be able to tell that by just looking at him. Jr has anger problems, and somehow he links them with his ability. You see, he has the spirit of an ancient phoenix sealed in him from a couple of continents back, and it lets him make fire and heat that gets hotter than ordinary fire. So, when he gets mad, it tends to get really hot..."

The anchor was pulled in, and the Mossberg began to move. "I think this might be a learning experience for you too, Shizuka. To see the different leaders throughout the lands. There's the rare occasion that we get someone brave enough to try something at gatherings like this, so both of you keep your eyes open."

Junior cast a strange light on the area, much like the sun itself would, causing Kurayami to look as it likely would were the sun to ever shine on the village. This light, much like others, effected Shizuka, making her feel her power and ability increase - especially as Junior got closer. Much like before Shizuka gained a rather high look on her face, and smiled as she continued to hum.

It sounded like there had been quite a few Kage Summits that the Kane's had attended which had turned out violent from the gist of things, however Alec made it clear that that wasn't to be the case. He said that Shizuka was along to perhaps help Alec keep Junior calm. Shizuka didn't quite know how she'd do that, but given what she had just been told of Junior's temper she was willing to give it a shot.

Alec mentioned that there was a chance someone could get brave at the meeting and try something, to which Shizuka just patted her weapon and continued to hum: she trusted in her weapon to keep her safe: she wasn't going to miss this for anything.

Dad said they weren't The Dark anymore, and that their villain stuff was done. It didn't really matter much to Jr. Good guy or bad, he didn't have any issues with cooking someone alive. He was right though; almost everyone here spoke highly of his father and everyone else. Flying off the handle and just cooking someone wasn't going to fly anymore now that they were "legit."

He said he asked the girl along to help keep him calm. He was wondering how exactly someone a girl who couldn't talk was going to help keep him cool, until he got a good look at her. For someone who never spoke Jr found her pretty attractive. They were around the same age too, even though he was shorter than she was. His father told him that since he'd let her out of the cage she was living in, she'd given him no reason not to trust her.

He noticed her grinning too, probably from the light being given off by him. "Heh, so you want her to help keep me calm, then..." Jr said, a sarcastic grin on his lips that looked much like the one his father often wore. Jr took Shizuka's left arm - if she let him - and put it over his shoulders. He took his body temperature down so that neither she or his father would get too hot. "I'd say she's doing a good job!" Jr looked at her again while sliding his right arm around her hip. "So I heard Konran's been showing you some Light techniques. I heard you guys got rid of more of those Headband morons together too... If he's been trying to put the moves on ya, i'll have to apologize for coming on like this, but, can you blame me?..."

Jr hadn't looked at a female they way he looked at Quiet in quite a while. If this was his dad's idea, he'd have to thank him later, if she didn't blow him off, that is...

Alec spun the big ivory wheel to the left, steering the Mossberg down the canal towards open water. He noticed Jr attempting to become quite friendly with Shizuka. Alec didn't know how that was going to work, but she did seem to feed off of the light he was giving off. Whether or not she would respond to his advances, Alec would simply shake his head with his sarcastic grin.

Alec already knew what sort of play he was going to make at this summit. It wasn't about showing who was the strongest or trying to take over. With Ranmaru and that little girl out there, all of the villages needed to be on the same page. As Mori was looking to be the weakest of the villages, where the two of them were at the moment, something would have to be done about that.

Calm or violently, it didn't much matter, but Alec would make his point known at this summit...

/Exit/

Shizuka was still trying to figure out how she was supposed to help keep Junior calm if he flew into a rage when Junior moved closer to her. He took her arm, which she didn't mind, and put it over his shoulders before putting his own arm around her waist. Junior, much like she expected him to be, was a bit warmer than the average person, but it wasn't uncomfortable. In fact, she had assumed he'd feel much hotter; then again, perhaps he had done something to change that before touching her, she wasn't sure.

Junior said she was doing a great job in keeping him calm. He then mentioned that he knew Konran had been teaching her some Light Release techniques, and that he had heard they had got rid of some of the Headband people together too. While she listened to Junior speak she found herself playing with a bit of his hair almost absently: she had never actually let anyone get this close to her before - the people who kept her in that cage knew better than to allow her to get close enough to touch them - so it was surprisingly rather pleasant and nice and she was enjoying it: Junior was attractive to her, and seemed to be attracted to her.

When Junior finished speaking she thought about what he had said: in truth Konran hadn't tried anything like this. He had been nice, and cool to work with, but he hadn't tried anything as bold as what Junior just had. Since Shizuka didn't talk, and didn't exactly know if Junior could read her mind or anything such as that, she simply continued to hum in a very content sort of way while gently playing with his hair and grinning still from ear to ear: she'd remain just like this for the rest of the trip from the darkness and into the bright forests of Mori unless Junior happened to move away.

Well, she didn't blow him off. With the way one of her hands went into his mop of white hair, he took that as a no to there being something between she and Konran. She was no ordinary girl; there was a lot of mystery to her. Jr liked that. He wasn't going to try getting her to talk or anything since not speaking was her whole thing. Maybe she would keep him from speaking too, as well as occupied so that he didn't get into so much trouble as he often did.

Jr was going to ask his father how he came in possession of this ship and a whole crew to follow him, but for the moment he'd forgotten about that. As long as she was willing to stand there with him like she was, he wasn't going anywhere the whole ride.

[Exit]