Walking through the ravaged forest, Shoko spotted Remi and Yakoul in the midst of a conversation. Though considering these two's personalities, it was a stretch to call it a normal dialogue. Creating a shadow clone, Ryuza was handed off to be carried back to the castle, while Shoko's real body stayed. She approached the two Empire soldiers, her eyes on the woman bound by Yakoul's tail. Maybe she should just cut that thing off after all, though she knew that wouldn't solve the root issue. She noticed that her bodyguard was smaller, looking more like a child at the moment. Shoko glanced at the castle ramparts. For such a self proclaimed idiot it was quick to think of a loophole to circumvent her order to stay put. Shoko recognized the emblem etched into her headband, it was the mark of a small group of mercenaries that had devolved to blood thirsty bandits when she had begun her campaign. the Empress didn't feel the need to attempt to spare the life of such a person. "Another toy, Yakoul? I suggest you savor it, as you will soon find there to be a scarcity of sinners to punish." She said. Yakoul's orange and apple morality would need to be dealt with later.

As things were, her plans were coming to fruition. The world was in her grasp, and with the last of the mercenaries annihilated, she could move on to the next step. That is what she wished to discuss with her soldiers today in the castle. "Yakoul, do what you wish with that woman and reform your body, I have much to discuss with you all." She looked to Remi, paying mind to the fact that the young woman would have trouble keeping eye contact with her. "Remi, come with me." She said, intending to walk back to the castle at a slower pace with her. "You wish to keep a woman as a pet?" Shoko was surprised to hear such a thing from Remi, though the girl was odd this bordered on a few troubling lines. "Remi, people are not dolls, you know this I am sure. What is it you wish to get out of keeping a woman captive?"

[center]~~~[/center]

Natsumi had been careless. While fighting, she had chanced upon a group of enemy ninja attempting to provide backup to their comrades near the entrance of the village. She chased them down, and had let them lead her far out of sight of Kaede. Now, she found herself behind enemy lines, with the group she had been chasing supported by at least seven more ninja. Her back was against the wall of the village, she had no choice but to fight her way out. Katana in hand, she blocked a fuma shuriken, glancing it off the edge of her katana and letting it spin into the wall at her back. A split second later, she found herself facing a torrent of water. She jumped backwards, landing on top of the shuriken in the wall to escape the flood of water. The water was hardly lethal, the most it could do was wash away an unsuspecting foe. However, Natsumi's lips quivered like a caterpillar at the mercy of a hawk. She hated water with a passion that burned hotter than any of her jutsu. For starters, she couldn't swim very well, any large body of water with even a hint of a current was like the River Styx. Another ninja sent an arc of lighting towards her, it was easily avoided with a jump, but the axe of another foe was waiting for her above. Most other ninja would be helpless in midair, but not her. Igniting the flames around her body, Natsumi curved like a crescent moon above her attacker, and drove her blade through his chest. He didn't die right away as she hoped he would, instead he grabbed a hold of her blade and forced her to follow him to the ground, where the body of water was waiting. Natsumi manged to yank the blade free, but it was too late. The Phoenix splashed into the water, sizzling like a pot ready to boil over. The water had turned to steam, and Natsumi's body looked as if she were a steamwork machination on the fritz.

Her flames had gone out, and like a soaked lighter it would take some effort to ignite her body once more. A single soldier ran towards her, primed to strike as she sat on her hands and knees panting. He was but a meter away when Natsumi lunged upwards, and lit him aflame with a deadly baptism of fire from her mouth. No hand signs were needed, as she had kept a small chakra wrapped ember of fire in her mouth to use for such an occasion. The man screamed as he burned, helplessly rolling about the ground until he died. Natsumi wanted to vomit, she could taste it in the back of her mouth. The smell of burning flesh was starting to get to her, she wondered if anyone would laugh, knowing that the girl known as the Phoenix was sickened by her own handiwork. 

She forced the nausea away, and focused on the remaining ninja around her. Sweat rolled off her cheeks, she had really screwed up this time.

"MOTHERLY RESCUE JUTSU!"

An excited voiced came from above, causing Natsumi to form a relived but embarrassed smile. Her mother Chizuma had arrived. The woman with long dark green hair and matching attire landed beside her daughter. "Get down, I'm going to use... it." Her mother said, in her best 'cool' voice.

"It? What is it? You always say that but that doesn't mean anything! Every time you say that 'it' could be anything." Natsumi responded like a by the books straightman. 

"You'll see~" Chizuma said, holding out her arms horizontally as if she were holding something. In a puff of smoke a massive blade appeared, at least thirty feet long and a foot wide. Natsumi's eyes widened as she recognized the blade. She ducked for cover right away, it was too late for the stunned group of ninja around them however. The blade was far too heavy for any sane person to even attempt to wield, however Chizuma did not simply wield this sword. On the back side of the butcher knife like blade were holes of some kind, and as soon as it was summoned they were put to use and emitted flames as it exploded. The force caused the blade to rotate counter clockwise rapidly, turning it into an unstoppable slab of death traveling at the speed of sound. Chizuma's body rotated along with the blade once, and the hunk of metal was unsummoned, Chizuma spun at least five more times from the inertia, though Natsumi knew she could have counteracted the inertia if she wanted to. The enemy ninja had been torn apart, and blown about like rag dolls in a hurricane. "Nice save, eh?" The woman smirked, feeling proud of herself. 

"P-perfect score, mother."