[attr="class","sun"]A Foreign Sun *

I never thought I'd see

"Where... am I? What's... happening?" Homura found herself hunched over, chest heaving while every molecule of her being was in the process of being burned to ash. At least, that's what it felt like. But there was another sensation, too. Something warm and sticky covering her entire body, her senses numbing to everything but the steady drip as the mystery liquid fell off of her and splattered against the floor. She brought her hands up towards her face in order to inspect them- only to find that she was gripping her family's nodachi, Engetsuka in her right. But moreover, both blade and flesh were stained crimson with freshly spilled blood. Her gaze rose to find the corpse of a man lying on the ground before her. At least, she thought it was a man. His body had been torn to shreds to the point that there was barely anything left, as if he'd been set upon by some horrid beast. And beside him lie the lifeless body of a woman with a hole torn through her abdomen, though she was relatively untouched compared to what fate befell the man.

"Tsumuji...?" As the name of the fallen woman left her lips, the memories came rushing back. Along with the realization that the room was on fire. The man was Dougen. He had gathered a large number of students in the auditorium outside of his office in order to sacrifice them as part of a forbidden ritual in his quest for power. The woman was Tsumuji, a student who tried to stop him. Homura had begged her to stand down, but Tsumuji was killed by Dougen, and then she in turn...

She was distracted from the carnage as her thoughts returned to the reason why she was here: the ritual. Had it been stopped in time? Homura kicked open the door to Dougen's office so that she could look into the auditorium... only for her fists to tighten until her knuckles turned white and started to pop. Hundreds of bodies lay scattered before her, most slumped over the seats of the room with the rest piled into the walkways. Dougen was dead, but she failed to stop him in time. Homura's arms went limp at her sides, a strange mixture of emotions bubbling up within her. Anger that she'd been betrayed by Dougen. Despair that she'd failed to save her friends. Fear that she would lose the rest of them. "HOMURA! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"

A woman dressed in a traditional, black shinobi garb seemed to materialize from the shadows, dropping down from the ceiling to land a few dozen feet away from Homura. She was followed a moment later by ten, twenty- Homura stopped counting as the legion of ninja stormed into the room, surrounding Homura in a loose semi-circle to trap her in, the wall behind her still ablaze from the aftermath of her battle with Dougen. The fire was still spreading. If nothing was done soon, the entire school would burn to the ground within the hour. "I... I didn't..." The words were quiet and uncharacteristically meek sounding. Her throat was so dry that even the failed attempt to speak was nothing less than a herculean effort. "After you were abandoned, we took you in. You murdered an innocent man, but we forgave. You were left with nothing and we gave you everything- and this is how you repay our kindness? Wanton slaughter? How many innocents have to stain your blade before your bloodlust is satisfied?!"

Homura tried to speak a second time, but again she lacked the ability. Instead, she simply rose her sword in front of her with both hands, pointing the tip of the blade at the woman's chest. The ninja surrounding Homura all tensed up at the same time, drawing their daggers and katanas in preparation for battle. "So, that's how this is going to be? I'm so disappointed in you. We saw great things in your future. But to think it would turn out like this... Homura. This is your final chance. Drop your weapon and come peacefully. Repent for your sins." Homura simply grit her teeth, arms shaking from how tightly she was gripping Engetsuka. "Get out of my way... OR I'LL KILL YOU TOO!"

The words came so easily now, hatred rising in the back of her throat like bile. "So be it. From this day forth, you are an enemy of Hebijo Academy. We will hunt you mercilessly until the day we claim your head. You will know not rest or safety for the rest of your miserable life. Students... it's time for you to avenge your fallen brothers and sisters. Eliminate the S-class Renegade Shinobi, Homura!" The throng of ninja dashed forward at the same time Homura started to move, the girl charging straight at the woman in front of her while flames swirled around her body. The woman pulled up her katana... but it was too slow. Homura's nodachi was already three inches away from her neck. Two... one... the moment steel bit into flesh, Homura's vision was engulfed in crimson, then darkness followed. Silent and still, she found herself trapped in a void...

And then, her eyes opened. The girl had to blink a few times to realize what she was looking at this time- and found herself surrounded by a thick semi-circle of ninja, with a crackling flame at her back. No... not ninja. People. Normal people. She wiped her eyes with the back of her sleeve to clear her vision before looking around. She wasn't in Hebijo Academy anymore... she was on a sidewalk surrounded by buildings at her back and a large lake on the other side of the crowd. She looked down at her right hand to find Engetsuka secured firmly in her grip. It all became clear at once. It had been a dream. Rather, a dream of a memory- but it hadn't been real nonetheless. Homura was back in reality.

From her recollection, she'd wandered into the Star Block late last night. With no money to pay for rent, she chose to sleep in one of the cleaner alleyways that she came across... but it seemed that she had been overcome by a nightmare, which prompted her to sleep-fight her way into setting a building on fire. All she could do was resheathe her sword, causing her hair to return to it's normal black before offering the crowd of people a dumb, lopsided grin along with an exaggerated shrug. "Uh... I know this looks bad, but I can fix this! I think."