guardian of the storm | ✓

Chapter Fifty-Five ~ Morning and Night

literal realtionship goals right there ^^

~Chapter Fifty-Five~

She awoke with a pounding headache and a sour taste in her mouth. The room spun on a peculiar axis, around and around, the cream ceiling whirling and twirling, hints of the gray walls twisting in with the overall picture. Her stomach clenched painfully as she pushed herself up, her teeth gritting against each other, her tongue feeling thick and heavy in her mouth. Her eyes wandered slowly over the minimalistic designed room, the soft light held captive behind tightly closed blinds making her mind ache.

Her gaze finally rested on a glass of water on the bedside table, beads of condensation sliding down only to pool on top of the black wood. She moved mechanically, every muscle and cell in her body sore as if they'd been lit on fire and then left to reduce to ash. She sipped at the cool water, the mist rolling around in her mind starting to softly disperse.

The memories of last night crowded her conscious, a sigh escaping her lips as she sets the glass back down on the table. She rubbed her temples harshly, wincing as a soft knock emits on the closed door.

"Winter, are you awake?"

"Mm." Her strangled grunt was the only answer Minato got. Taking it as a yes, the blond man entered the room. Instantly, Winter could feel the gentleness of the great shinobi fill the room, and briefly, she wondered how one so kind managed to become one so feared. He held a mug in his hands, a little pillar of steam rising from the hot liquid within.

"I figured you'd feel really rough this morning, so I brought you a drink. It's Kushina's specialty."

"Thank you." Her voice was rough and she took the drink from Minato, sipping the tea.

"Of course, what kind of godfather would I be if I let you suffer through a hangover?"

"A responsible one, that's what." The words are softened by the joking tone of the red haired woman that leans in the doorway. Kushina Uzumaki-Namikaze was even more stunning in person then from the few photos she'd seen of the woman. "It's nice to finally meet you, it's been kinda weird creeping on you from up here, ya know?"

As the jutsu in the tea worked its magic, Winter offered a slight smile at the red haired woman, "It's nice to meet the famous duo that saved the Leaf Village."

***

Silver and blue threads drifted in the space between worlds, some intertwining to create bridges and crossroads, endless paths for the dead to take swirling around. Eien stood at the edge of once such pathways, his eyes closed and his mind searching for a faded red and gold thread that always seemed to drift out of sight as soon as he saw it in his peripheral.

He took a deep breath, inhaling misery and wordless prayers and soft goodbyes, he reached out with invisible hands, closing his eyes and gently willing the thread to come closer. Instead of focusing directly on that familiar thread, he focused on one right next to it, this one the soft silvery-blue of one close to death, tinged with the searing heat of fire.

No wonder the two threads drifted so close together, both were clinging onto life and filled with fire and passion.

Winter's thread came closer and closer, and he let his hand slowly come up and he felt her essence— snow and lightning and loyalty that had been stretched too far. His fingertips brushed against the thread and white hot fire crawled into his veins making his soul erupt with lava.

"I wouldn't grab that if I were you," the female voice was colored with amusement, "unless you'd like to be burnt into ash and drift amongst the spirit realm forever."

His concentration snapped with the force of a minor earthquake and the thread vanished between one second and the next, folding neatly into a pocket of space and winking out of existence for the time being. A scowl easily slide onto his face— as a matter of fact, all Eien had been doing as of late was scowling —and he whirled around, sparks flying around his feet.

"You ruined it!" He hissed, fury crackling through his veins as swift as lightning running across the sky. "Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting here for her? Do you have any idea how much longer it will take to contact her?"

With a sigh, the black haired deity looked at her nails, "Hmm, do you think I should paint my nails your eye color or your sisters? There's just the slightest difference between the two colors," she held her hand out and showed him the pristinely painted nails that were the exact same shade as his eyes. Sen blew on them and they shifted to a slightly darker hue. "See?"

"You... you knew my sister?"

She rolled her stormy eyes and placed her hand on her hip, "Yes, I know your sister. Quite the pain in my ass, to be frank, she's just so slow. Emotions get in the way of everything, and right now she's experiencing quite a lot." He blinked, and Sen's eyes shifted to a vibrant gold that pierced the air, "Anyways, I just stopped by to save your life. Your sister would throw a riot in heaven if she knew that you'd died... and possibly your older brother too. And I can't have that, now can I?"

Something in her voice made him shake his head in agreement, confusion coating his thoughts.

"Excellent, then we're in agreement. Now hurry back to your body little world walker, it's been a few weeks since you've been here and your friends are starting to grow concerned. Don't worry either, I'll take very good care of Winter Ookami... after all the shinobi world isn't finished with her yet."

Her eyes shifted once more, and just before Eien woke, Winter's eyes stared back at him, flickering in the dark.

***

"I still can't believe you got drunk, and with Hidan no less!"

Winter rolled her eyes, twirling her chopsticks in the sea of noodles Kushina had provided her, "Consider it a... rebellious act and get over it."

Aiden frowned at her, sitting across from the young kunoichi. Kushina sat next to the brooding male, a good natured smile pulling her lips up, "I don't see how it's any different from when you get trashed and come here to sleep it off. At least Winter is courteous enough to not throw up in my nice rose bushes." A dark aura spread out from the woman, contradicting the happy-go-lucky expression on her face and making Aiden slowly scoot his chair away from her.

"Now, love, he doesn't always throw up in the roses, sometimes he misses and gets the doorstep." Minato laughs happily as Kushina turns to a shrinking Aiden and gives him a death glare.

"As much as I'd love to stay and chat about that, Winter and I need to leave, I have to take her somewhere.."

"Take me where?"

Her older brother looked at her and smiled with a hint of pity, "To the final names on your list."

sorry for the long wait! last week ended up being really hectic; i took the ACT again and had a small relapse health wise so i had to go to the hospital and get some tests done.

i'm really excited that it's summer though! also THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH FOR ALL THE VOTES!!!! you guys are amazing and i love you <3

QotC: any fun summer plans? or if you're in school, any fun plans you're looking forward to?