She plants her finger down, with a firm [NO] that shakes the desk. She's not leaving without getting answers. She's waited far too long, but her moment's come. A decisive moment, on the day of decisive battle...

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tsurugi[break]
Bushido Bitch [break]
Honedge[break]

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PURCHASING/REDEEMING

welcome to the poké mart!

1X Shadow Move, teaching Shadow End to Honedge (Redeeming from DDD)
1X Ability Capsule, changing Starly's ability to Reckless (Redeeming from DDD)
1X TM, teaching Take Down to Zoroark (Redeeming from DDD)
1X TM, teaching Will-O-Wisp to Zoroark (Redeeming from DDD)
1X TM, teaching Endure to Veluza (Redeeming from DDD)

1X Premium Gacha (Redeeming from DDD)
1X Tera Shard (Redeeming from DDD)
1X Salac Berry (Redeeming from DDD)
3X Pokeball (Redeeming from DDD)
1X Incense (Redeeming from DDD)
1X Level Tutor (Redeeming from DDD)
1X Pokemon Egg (Ralts) (Redeeming from DDD)

HARVESTING

be sure to visit the pretty petal flower shop near rustboro!

1X berry

TOTAL

do come again!

00 PD ty for all your hard work :]

Corviknight scatter on the wind, black metal lost to the dark of the night.

They flee from the sight of the sword, a blade they coveted and lost their lives to. Now mere spirits, reincarnated in the bodies of knights, they lay no claim to this weapon. Lingering here for reasons they do not remember, they are here for one thing and one thing alone.

This sword, a prize to be won.

They remember ancient curses it would whisper night after night, longing for the blood they were too afraid to give. And yet, they were never able to claim it.

"Cowardice!"

Your voice is haggard uttering bitter condemnation. The pain is evident from the brusque tone alone.

The blade sucks greedily, stealing your life with every moment you hold it. It is agonizing, like the hilt itself is made of molten steel.

You dare not drop it.

"Yes... Feast all your like, Onimaru, but know this! More souls await you still if you should only wait, for I intend to cut a swathe through these lands with you as my weapon! Be patient, trust in my victory, and you shall have more blood than you could ever ask!"

The sword shimmers in the moonlight, humming with delight at the prospect.

None have been able to wield it for an age as it lie here, embedded in the armor of its former master. All who have grasped its hilt, cowards, looters, have sought it as a prize to be won. They have touched the blade and been added to this mass grave, or fled from the pain alone. None worthy to take hold of it.

But this thirst for conquest intrigues the blade, and it stops short of killing the girl.

"Only when the rightful heir of the Kuroha clan arrives to take Onimaru in hand, that demonic blade, should a new age of prosperity dawn over the clan. And by the very hand that shall slaughter their enemies, they too shall fall, by the sword that brought them victory."

Those were the words passed down from your father, though he spoke them in jest.

But now there is one heir remaining to take up that cause. The last ronin of an age long past, rising to the occasion.

Pink skies in the distance begin to fade to orange and yellows, as the dawn comes...

Blade black as midnight.

It glimmers like obsidian, holds all the malice of a bloodline unfulfilled.

Once it was the sword of a great warrior, a mighty beast among men who tore through his foes with unrelenting ferocity, hacking and slashing til they had all but disappeared. This man, the last great man of the Kuroha clan, was esteemed as more than man. He had a wild air about him, like a beast. There were those that thought he was more like a pokemon than a man, so skilled was he with his swordsmanship that he could contest them with sword alone.

And yet, he was as mortal as any other human.

On this great mound of bodies, he was slain as well. It was as quick as any of his quarry, neither suffering nor lingering, taken to the underworld with a swift plunge of steel. In his wake came none who could stand up to his strength, and the clan declined.

Many attribute it to the changing of the times. Only this period of warfare could have made such a beast of a man to begin with, a man who craves battle above all else, a man who lives and dies by the sword.

But you know, soon as you take hold of it.

The darkness of this blade is more than meets the eye. It is demonic, evil to its core. Just as the man who once held it before you, you can feel the power rushing through you in that moment you pull it free of the mound and hold it aloft, towards heaven.

At the center of the waste lies a hill made of broken swords and bodies.

Light pours from the heavens above to illuminate that broken battlefield, and even the corviknight dare not intrude upon it.

You walk, and with every step, rotten meat squelches beneath your boots, jagged edges cut apart your feet. But no matter the pain, you continue onward.

The birds caw frantically as you intrude upon their sacred ground, the last unspoiled heap of treasure they covet. They are too cowardly to set foot there, but you are not. You are more than a scavenger. Not to pillage, or plunder, nor to reclaim. You face the light of heaven and do not flinch away from your calling, pushing onward, onward toward the apex of the hill.

Only at last do you arrive, baleful gazes of your scorned ancestors looking up at you through corvid masks, black, beady eyes of judgement.

Looking here down at them all, you realize that this grand hill of blood and rust is barely a hill at all. So worshiped, the last mass grave these scavengers hated to spoil because it was their last victory, the last of their name, they hardly realized just how little it was in the end.

So much more could be done. Must be done.

This will not be the last stand of the Kuroha clan.

Blackened blade is stuck into the earth beside you, and you grasp its hilt. It is the sword of the last warrior of Kuroha, before the times changed and the clan was left to decay. It feels right in your hand.

"Come, then, and take it if you dare."

Blue eyes relay the message to the corviknight who caw incessantly, spirits cursing you for spoiling the last black mark on their legacy. They have despoiled everything else, and this grave cannot last forever.

More must be made, lest this clan forget its purpose entirely.

A wasteland is strewn with corpses and broken steel, carrion picked over by corviknight who squabble fruitlessly over remains.

The birds stare in indignation as you approach, but when they meet your gaze with pitch black eyes they balk and take to the air several paces away. They are merely scavengers, and carry neither the honor nor the bravery of their supposed names.

What does a warrior leave behind?

Nothing but graves, and the spoils of war.
That which is stolen by right, whether it be wealth or lives.

And what is left for the rest?
Enough, for the scavengers who came after to survive.

The birds gorge themselves on rotten meat, collect shining scraps of weapons, but this is mere survival. It is nothing to commend or aspire to. They are alive, but they are no longer living, not like the warriors who came before.

Their souls who haunt these hallowed grounds remind you of the inheritance they left: nothing, save that dug from shallow earth, opportunists who haunt the graves killed by others. Mere gravediggers, who play at being knights.

Cowards, who cannot look the living in the eyes.

They are a disgrace, the rot and decay that runs deep and disgraced your birthright: an honorable warrior clan, reduced to this. They have forgotten how to wage war, and in this time of relative peace there are no battles left to scavenge anymore.

Kuro watches the exchange, scowl on her face growing more severe with each word.

Hitoshi walks away and she shuts her eyes, taking a deep breath.

Anger wells up inside her.

Not for the fact that another might claim her reward. She cares not for material things.

No, rather, it is the principle. Others pursue the same quarry as an esteemed she-wolf, and she must make claim upon it. She must assert her superiority over the uncouth who dare trespass! After all, she is the matriarch of her clan, the only one left able to claw back its legacy!

But, she must have patience. All in due time.

She turns to follow the dog, stopping to eye the bartender on her way out the door. The man cowers for a moment at her intense look, raising his hands to start talking her down before she speaks calmly.

"I believe you forgot my associate's grape soda. Pour it, and I shall bring it to him."

Kuro's sword remains trained on the bar's patrons, threatening violence if they do not comply with the dog's questions.

"A rancher with a fair complexion such as that would stand out indeed."

The man in the photo not yet worn by the damage of sun or time. He might have already begun his journey on that weathered look, but it takes a lifetime of toil for the harshness of the sun to change a man. If he was indeed a rancher now, it was only an attempt to strike a new life on the frontier. He couldn't blend in with the lifetime ranchers around Agate.

Kuro's eyes watch the man with the cowardice to spill his guts. She examines him closely, searching for tells of a lie. A bead of sweat. Flaring nostrils. Dilated eyes. How much do these tells differ from the fear of being bitten by a rabid mutt?

A moment's pause, and Kuro sheathes her sword.

It is again denied its purpose, denied taking another's life.

"There are few watering holes in the desert. Pray we need not return to this one, if the information you have provided turns out to be false."

PURCHASING/REDEEMING

welcome to the poké mart!

1X SHINY SWAP on Pawniard (5th Anniversary)

TOTAL

do come again!

00 PD thanks <3

"Worry not. When the time comes I shall do what is necessary."

She returns an answer to his questions with a fierce look.

Sheer willpower, that's all it would take. His questions do not disrupt the resolve in her eyes.

Still, the notion that she's been understood by this man with a single swing of her blade puts a bitter taste in her mouth. His criticism, patronizing tone, it all congeals into a barely contained rage boiling just under the surface.

If it came to it, she would do anything to preserve her honor.

"Killing unnecessary targets is not within our purview, Inoue."

The she-wolf scans the bar, eyeing the men who are reaching for their hips. They wait, wondering whether to open themselves to her reproach, for she is the only one among them willing to exercise restraint. The dog hungers for the taste of blood.

• player/ooc name: Nagatocchi
• character tags: Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki Kuroha Kazumi
• dropped characters' tags (if applicable): N/A
• ic posts for characters:Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki : pkmn-hoenn.boards.net/post/468441/thread | Kuroha Kazumi : pkmn-hoenn.boards.net/post/470925/thread
• are characters in directories?: Yes
• any notes/comments: thank you 🙏