The Temple of Artemis(Pre-Event/Intro Thread)

[Kakashi Hatake]

“That’s a weird ride, bruddah,” Wakka laughed, quickly inspecting Fenrir. The worg glared at the bronzed athlete as his rider steadied himself.

“He’s not as bad as he looks,” Kakashi explained, patting the beast’s head as he fixed his gaze on the horizon. He suspected dusk was not far off, the pink and orange hues of sunset beginning to darken in the sky. They would indeed need to be on their way fairly soon.

“Whatever you say,” the baller replied, still smirking. “Maybe I can summon up a chocobo or somethi…” he said, his voice trailing off.

“Hmm?” Kakashi inquired, still staring thoughtfully down the dusty road. The ninja thought that he could just barely see a settlement in the distance, though the gathering dusk was making it quite a bit harder to parse. In a few moments, the sun’s light had left the sky altogether as night enveloped the duo. “Does it seem strange to you how fast the sun set?”

A familiar feeling of unrest settled over the silver-haired shinobi as he awaited the response, though he got none. Though he could not place where he had last felt this feeling, his body was clearly reacting to it. The darkness crept in more quickly now, obscuring nearly everything from Kakashi’s keen eyes. Something was definitely wrong.

“Wakka?” The copy ninja paused briefly, though again was met with silence. “We should probably head back inside. I think something’s wrong out here.”

Before his ears could yet again be met with silence, the scarecrow felt himself slip backward. His thighs tightened reflexively in an attempt to slow his fall, though it made no difference. It felt as if the enormous hound on which he sat was evaporating beneath him, his stomach lurching as he began to fall. It was at this moment that realization mingled with sensation of falling.

The Nexus… He was being summoned.

The scarecrow could ponder this for only a brief moment before the darkness swelled and swallowed him completely. For the second time in the Omniverse, Kakashi was enveloped in a smothering umbra as he fell. Thankfully, this particular instance of interdimensional plucking was a good deal shorter than the last. Before he could attempt to acclimate to his descent, his body suddenly came to a stop. All at once the darkness lifted, his vision returning.

“Ugh…” The sharingan-wielder groaned, running a gloved hand behind his head. He’d never get used to this form of travel.

Kakashi had found himself in some sort of-if he were to guess-temple, along with a handful of other individuals who looked to be as jarred as he was. The shinobi quickly assessed himself and, finding no damage, got to his feet upon the rough-hewn marble floor. He blinked slowly and intentionally, turning his head to take in the full panorama of ancient stone columns that stood around the periphery, as well as the enormous ornate statue and equally large blessing pool.

Is Omni behind this?

As if in response to his query, a translucent figure glided into view and stopped before him. The average person would likely have reacted with shock or revulsion upon sighting what was clearly a bona fide apparition, but at this point Kakashi was more annoyed than impressed. The spirit, taking the form of an aged warrior, smiled warmly at the shinobi before telling his tale.

The ANBU captain remained silent through the specter’s tale, doing his best to keep his composure. He was not normally one to let things get to him, but being pulled across dimensions so frequently was wearing on his nerves. As the apparition (Teucer, he was called) finished, Kakashi pondered his options.

“Well,” the shinobi replied, “As I can’t leave here willingly, I suppose I don’t have a choice, do I?”

The spirit made no reply, only smiling before drifting off to meet the next guest.

Interesting place, Kakashi mused, taking in the scenery. The temple was quite beautiful, carved from rich marble with true skill. The divining pool bubbled placidly, watched over by the angelic archer. Though he had never considered himself a connoisseur of the arts, he was struck by how picturesque the temple was. Despite his predicament, the sharingan-wielder had to admit, it could be much worse.

The peacefulness of the temple had begun to diminish as more guest began to arrive, the collective conversations smearing into an indecipherable commotion. Kakashi scanned the entrants quizzically, sizing up those with whom he’d be participating. As he glanced past what looked to be an elf with a gun in a heated discussion with a tall blonde warrior, his heart stopped.

“M-Minato-sensei?”