[Yoshiko]

First Exam: Maze Four Into the Stone Maze A slide which once was a standing stage would eject it's chosen participant into a dark room. At first both the slide end trip and the room would be quite dark, it'd be almost to the point of sightless vision. A mere shimmer of the arena they'd once stand in beckoning light from above, but the slide continued to steepen it'd angle until it'd eventually seal the path it'd given shut. A moment would pass and Ouritsu would be in a room of total darkness, a moment more than long enough to let fear and uncertainty settle. The room however as time grew disturbingly still would finally begin to light up, as torches upon the sides of the walls and before an estrange doorway would light up. The doorway appeared to be the only way out of the room, it however lead to another abyss of darkness. Could this of been the start to the maze? It had to be surely, but there was always room to doubt. Especially those lacking allegiance to that of Takigakure. If one didn't just sprint for the maze and hopefully escaping the creepy maze they'd entered, then they'd realize the room wasn't empty. A table would stick out first and foremost in the room, as it'd be mere feet from the place the contestant was ejected. This table seemed to be like a gaming table, as it'd have a square grid designed in it's center, as well as symbols drawn to each side of the grid. It was hard to make out anything from a glance, but that'd all be clear from that glance. In each corner of the room appeared to be pedestals, about chest high with a bust of someone's head. Each appeared a little different, but none were easy to make out from a distance or a glance. It'd appear the trim of the room, as well as the top trim to the doorway would all have images upon them, but nothing that stuck out with a glance.

[Nōhime Ouritsu]

i think you're slipping

i bring you pain, the kind you can't suffer quietly

There was an increasing darkness as the platform he had once been standing on closed above him. In time it would just be Ouritsu and the lack of light, with only a small rumbling from the crowd above keeping the boy from being totally isolated; but they would be of no use to him. So was this to be the maze? Was he to somehow find his way out in complete darkness? Surely the proctors of the exams weren't this cruel, right?

A flurry of flames would thankfully ease his worries and torches would begin to light up around the room illuminating at least some of the area. It was a pretty decent sized room so there was still a good bit of darkness, but thankfully the most important part could be seen: a door. That surely had to be the means of getting out of this room and into the maze, and since finishing the quickest was of the utmost importance --according to the announcer at least-- then there was little time to stand idly by. However, just as the boy would begin to move towards the exit something else would catch his eye. The great thing about light was that even if it didn't show everything then all it took was reaching an object to create a shadow, which was the case now.

The Nohime would see it flickering on the floor and follow it up to a table that was standing only a few feet from him. He sighed thankfully as the thought of missing something like this would have probably eaten away at him had he not passed the exams. Inspecting the item revealed a grid like structure on its surface with a bunch of symbols around it. Ouritsu would look intensely at the object for a few moments trying to think of what exactly the table and symbols could represent, but he was drawing blanks. If anything, however, this was a sign that brazenly rushing out of the door might not have been his best move at the moment and that the room warranted a once-over.

So that was what he would do, leaving the table and slowly making his way to one of the corners of the room. He figured just hugging the wall from one end to the next would give him the best chance to see something, and upon reaching the first corner Ouritsu's hunch proved to be true. There was a pedestal with a statue of someone's head sitting on it, yet the boy didn't recognize who it was. "Probably some old fuddy-duddy from forever ago." The genin mused to himself as he made his way along the wall to the next corner where another bust would be sitting. Two more corners would produce two more statues --all a little different but none recognizable-- and now the boy had found himself standing a couple feet away from the door. So there was a weird looking table with equally weird symbols sitting in the middle of the room while statues of someone he didn't recognize were at every corner, and on top of the door were the symbols once more.

It was clear that they meant something, but for the life of him Ouritsu couldn't think of what. Maybe it was some elaborate trick to make him waste time instead of going through the door and starting the maze? That was definitely possible, but the instructions to use their wit to pass this part of the exam made it seem like it would be more than just running around until the exit was found. The boy would continue to think for a bit longer to see if he could come up with anything. It had been a few good moments of darkness before the torches lit up so maybe something else would happen if he just waited it out...

notes go here • tagged/open • word count

PYXIS ★

[Yoshiko]

First Exam: Maze Four Into the Stone Maze Upon further examination of the table Ouritsu would be able to notice that the grid was twenty-three high, by twenty-three wide. Lightly carved onto the sides were the alphabet minus x, y and z as to give each point on the grid. However at the top and bottom of the grid would be numbers 1 to 25. It'd appear coming from the trap shoot that the numbers went up left to right, while the alphabet went up as one went up on the grid. At the walls of the grid there'd be an opening in one square per side. At T on the right side and L on the left side of the grid pattern, as well as at 11 on the bottom and 16 at the top. Closer examination of the images at each side of the grid seems to provide little information. The top image appearing to be a tiger face, the left side image a bird, the right side image a fish and the bottom image a snake. Investigating around the whole table, it'd also come clear the table had one drawer on it. A normalcy on a gaming table as to store game pieces and other accessories or utensils with the table. The pedestals had busts of individuals Ouritsu didn't know, but thankfully they'd be labelled. It'd seem two bust were past leaders of Takigakure and two were past Daiymo of the land, a fact little plaques on each bust would reveal. The latest before the present sitting leader at the front right of the room, as the latest before the present daiymo was in the front left. The leader prior to them in the back left and the Daiymo prior to that one being in the back right. It'd be easy to look at the images on the walls as trim and at the top of the doorway. Not because they were large and easily noted, nor due to them being incredibly simple. Instead it'd be hard to look deeply at the images, as there'd actually only be two images. One image was a monkey facing right, with it's tail curled up like a question mark and it's posture sitting as it eats a banana. The second image would be that of a coiled dragon facing left, it's mouth gaping baring fangs and breathing fire. The images might be the only ones, but there appears to be no pattern from one image to the next.

[Nōhime Ouritsu]

i think you're slipping

i bring you pain, the kind you can't suffer quietly

Ouritsu stood in front of the door contemplating his next move. He'd noticed the two symbols above the door: a monkey facing to the right and a dragon to the left, but that hadn't matched up with anything else the boy had seen. There was some interesting stuff in the room with him but he had a nagging feeling that it was just there to make him waste time. He wondered for a moment if the other entrants had already opened their doors and started making their way through the maze, or if they --too-- were stumped. "One last look then I'm outta here." The boy would say to himself before turning his attention back to the table. There was a bunch of funky stuff on it which had to mean something so it was worth going over, which couldn't be said for the statues as they seemed all but useful.

Looking back over the table would reveal more than just a square pattern, but numbers and letters to match! It almost looked like a map but just missing all of the fun looking stuff. Most of the grid spaces were nothing special, but two in particular had openings in them: "L" and "T" and were sitting on opposite sides of the grid. 'Think... think...' He'd rack his brain trying to make heads or tails of it, but without some sort of key it was going to be nigh impossible to figure out what any of this meant. Maybe it had something to do with the maze? Ouritsu didn't really think of mazes to be grid like in structure, more like long hallways that either led to something or didn't, but he needed to find an answer and soon. Maybe there was indeed a guide on how to read the thing somewhere and it just needed to be found. There wasn't anything sitting on the table but perhaps a compartment held a clue.

The boy would move his hands around the table until he came upon a drawer --eureka-- and would hastily pull it open hoping to find something that would aid him in reading this thing; or a sign to let him know that this was all a waste of time and he needed to get moving.

notes go here • tagged/open • word count

PYXIS ★

[Yoshiko]

First Exam: Maze Four Into the Stone Maze Looking back to the doorway would be a reminder that the path still appeared to be pitch black. There wasn't a door blocking the path nor a key needed to take the path, but there was a looming darkness likely forgoing a cowards will to proceed. Though pitch black wasn't something to inherently fear, it definitely would make a maze all that much harder to navigate. Though that didn't seem to change it was the only presented path. Despite their only being two variations of image on the walls trim and top of the doorway, it'd be these two images repeated twenty times across each wall. They'd not be in a pattern of any sort, but this didn't mean they did or didn't have a purpose. Instead it just meant one pattern couldn't be particularly noticed. Not trying to be overwhelmed with the thoughts of silly monkey's and mean dragons the boy explored the table more. He'd be quite proud of his finding as he'd show no hesitation in opening a drawer he finds on the table. Inside would be a few things and none more clearly than another as important. A deck of cards would be in one corned of the drawer, a fortune cookie in another, two bags of tiles one circular shape and one triangular both small enough to fit in the grid on the table. There'd be a small bag of 'player' pieces. Little trinkets, four shaped like people and four shaped like varying pigs. The deck of cards looked like it'd been opened / used a lot. The fortune cookie looked fresh possibly appetizing to a hungrier person.

[Nōhime Ouritsu]

i think you're slipping

i bring you pain, the kind you can't suffer quietly

As the drawer opened Ouritsu wasn't quite sure of what was going to be inside, but he hoped that it would help give him some direction. There two bags of differently shaped pieces that looked just the right size to fit in the squares on the game board, a worn deck of cards, four people looking pieces, four pig looking pieces and... a fortune cookie. The boy would take everything from the drawer and place it on top of the table so he could better go through the items. He'd look through the deck of cards confirming that they had indeed seen better days; guess they couldn't splurge for a new deck.

Given that this was a game board it was clear that the pieces were used for it, but how? What was the game? Without that knowledge they were essentially useless to the genin, as were the player and pig pieces. Ouritsu was beginning to come to the realization that maybe all of ths was just a huge waste of time and that he should of just ventured into the dark abyss that was the maze. However, the boy would hardly be able to forgive himself if there was some kind of clue here and he missed it, though with each dead end it was becoming less and less likely for that to be the case.

The young Nohime would look over the contents spilled across the table once more, everything looking useless. His eyes would focus on the fortune cookie for a few moments, maybe that would be his saving grace. Perhaps the small slip of paper that had some kind of corny, uplifting phrase would contain a clue for him. With minimal effort the boy would crack open the tiny desert hoping to find the small slip of paper that they were known to have, and if it were there something of use printed on it. If not... at least he'd have a small snack before venturing into the maze.

notes go here • tagged/open • word count

PYXIS ★

[Yoshiko]

First Exam: Maze Four Into the Stone Maze The contents of the drawer wouldn't speak soundly to Ouritsu, but he'd still explore each and every of the five items. The pieces didn't do anything on their own, nor did any of them seem to be labeled. Their was some variation in the player pieces, but merely a change in color and slight posture to make them distinguishable from themselves. It'd probably seem like a dire situation, but things lightened up with the deck of cards. It'd seem them being handled more than once was more than just for fun and shuffling. Within the deck would be the cards in their natural order and not shuffled, but atop of the cards like many good deck was a rule card. A means to explain to anyone the simple games one could attempt with the deck. It'd however not be the rules of any game of cards, instead it'd be quite clear this card was added. It's rules would read as follows: You're being timed as a measure of skill, but you're also limited on time. You're beginning at the snake of this maze. You're in one of four rooms attached to the maze. You're the controller of the light, but little else. You're not alone, BEWARE. You're provided everything you need. You're limited to one escape route. You're allowed to cause harm to living objects. This list of rules didn't really tell the tale of what to do, but it would make it clear this wasn't a safe exam. There were both things to beware as well as the potential need to cause harm to another living creature and somehow time was limited. A mention to a start was made, it'd even seem to correspond to the grid upon the table. At least the image at the bottom side of it. Upon opening the fortune cookie Ouritsu would be in fact greeted to a fortune. "Your entrance way is also your best guide." Whether this would mean anything to Ouritsu was uncertain. It was also just a fortune, so maybe it was meaning nothing but to cause more confusion. Even if the fortune failed Ouritsu the delicious fortune cookie would at least perk the boys taste and tell him the maze wasn't all that bad so far, right?

[Nōhime Ouritsu]

i think you're slipping

i bring you pain, the kind you can't suffer quietly

Out of all the items in the drawer the cards seemed to be the most important thing followed by the fortune cookie mostly due to its delicious nature and not the lackluster fortune held within. On the rule card at the front of the deck were a set of statements that seemed to finally give some sort of aid to the boy. There was indeed a timing component to the maze, but not the one they had been told at the outset. This was a time limit to finish in general which made the boy even more eager to get out of this room. Continuing to read the card would show that there were other dangers present within the maze, and they had full authorization to protect themselves from said dangers.

It was clear that he was at the beginning of the maze, and the cheeky use of the term 'snake' made the boy glance back to the grid where that same symbol lay. So this grid did have something to do with the maze, but there wasn't really much else to go off of. "Alright, spent enough time in here." Ouritsu would speak aloud as he tucked the rule card into his pocket, it'd surely come in handy later. Slowly the boy would walk towards the entrance to the maze, a dark abyss staring back at him. With a small sigh the genin would take his first steps into the maze, not sure what to expect but knowing that he would never make it past this round by staying in the room.

notes go here • tagged/open • word count

PYXIS ★

[Yoshiko]

First Exam: Maze Four Into the Stone Maze Ouritsu would maybe not find the answers he wanted, nor the ones he needed, but within the rule card he'd strike confidence in himself. The maze was the challenge of this whole ordeal after all, as far as any contestant could be concerned this could of all been a distraction to slow them. It might of been a challenge of wits, but maybe the smart decision was the simple one. A task was given and the fastest to complete it was likely the one to hit the floor first. Whether he was first would be totally unknown to him, but he'd surely revoke that right if he remained in this starting room. A treat received and a rule card in pocket the boy steeled would enter the darkness of the maze. It'd be shortly after stepping into the void, that the void would in fact light up. A torch at either side of the boy revealing walls to either side of him, it'd not light far in the hall, but it'd give way to the silhouette of more torches. The walls continued and there'd be a line in the floor, as though the floor were massive stone tiles or blocks. Proceeding forward Ouritsu would activate the next set of torches, but in doing so the room with the table would suddenly go pitch black. Only the last set of torches staying lit, as each tile lit a new set of torches. Until the stone shinobi would reach a single torch. It'd give the decision to proceed forward or to take a right.

[Nōhime Ouritsu]

i think you're slipping

i bring you pain, the kind you can't suffer quietly

The boy had made his decision to enter the maze and forgo looking around the room any longer. While a bit more skulking may have produced an additional clue or two, unless it was groundbreaking in nature the time spent would not have been worth it. As he stepped into the darkness Ouritsu wondered if the entirety of the puzzle would be encased in darkness or if like the room there would be some source of light. The boy didn't have much in the way of producing light or being able to see in the dark and if push came to shove he supposed spamming solar flare was an option; though using such a technique in total darkness probably wasn't good for his eyes.

Thankfully that would not have to be the case as a row of torches on each side of the wall would light up revealing the path ahead. It seemed the entire maze was made out of stone but it didn't look too out of the ordinary in the sense that it had properties that would prevent damage; but Ouritsu didn't want to take the chance or waste the energy to see if the announcers comments were true. The genin would walk with a bit of pace --considering this was a race to the finish and all-- but not too fast; didn't want to fly by anything of interest or run head first into a trap. The rules on the card stated that force could be used against living obstacles, so it was clear that the boy wouldn't just be trying to find his way out of the maze.

After a bit of walking the dual torches would converge to one and with it a decision. The path continued forward and had a split to the right, with no clear indication of which was the correct direction to go. Ouritsu thought back to the starting room for anything that could have been of use right now, and if he knew anything of grid based board games then that might've given him an answer, but alas he didn't. His instincts were telling him to continue forward but something nagging at him wanted to switch things up and take the right path, and neither were helping. "Hmm... oh, I got it! Eenie, meenie, minie, moe. Catch a rock frog by its toe, if it croaks let 'em go. My Kage told me to pick the best one and you... are... not.... it!" The boy would sing aloud as his index finger would sway between the two options finally landing on... the right path!

With a nod the young Nohime would turn his attention towards his new path and continue his escape from the maze.

notes go here • tagged/open • word count

PYXIS ★

[Yoshiko]

First Exam: Maze Four Into the Stone Maze Ouritsu would use clearly the wisest of wits, as he'd choose to use total random chance to guide his path. A quick little song to make the decision and he'd be right on his way again. Surely those watching would be quite entertained by the song, as the camera would share more than video to the viewers. Granted he'd not found anything in the room earlier of use, it'd matter little what drove him to a decision. A path was the right path and not taking either would never lead to anything. The right path chosen, it'd be a phrasing to bring false confidence. Or maybe it was in fact the direction the Iwagakure genin needed to proceed. He'd actually travel about as far into the maze to make a decision, as he'd now travel to reach not a dead end, but a complete split in the road. He'd hit a wall, but at it was now a path right or left. More decisions meant the right decision surely? So now Ouritsu could go left or right again. Would he follow the right path further or was it already time to switch it up and go left? Only the boy could decide the best path and manner to proceed down it.

[Nōhime Ouritsu]

i think you're slipping

i bring you pain, the kind you can't suffer quietly

Chance had taken the boy right, or at least mostly chance. He had honestly grown bored of moving in a single direction and was looking for a reason, any reason, to switch things up, and it just so happened that the first fork in the road gave him that opportunity. However, the novelty of the path chosen was wearing quickly as it looked identical to the one had been traveling prior. No excitement, no clues on how to get out, no nothing; and it didn't help that Ouritsu was being more careful than usual considering the rule card's warning. If the boy were to be unlucky enough he'd run into opposition of some sort, be it living or... otherwise.

After a bit more traversing yet another fork would make its appearance, this time making the boy choose between going left or right. Hmm. Wanting to switch things up made going left the obvious choice, but perhaps consistency and perseverance were the key to this part of the exam meaning choosing right would be best; though with that option the chance of circling back on himself grew. The genin thought about using the song once more but he didn't want to use up all the magic so early on, ya know? He also couldn't stand around wasting time, especially if there were no possible hints to help him choose the correct path. With a small pivot Ouritsu would face to the left and start his way down that path. He hoped that would get him out of here sooner, or at the very least lead him to a clue or something.

notes go here • tagged/open • word count

PYXIS ★

[Yoshiko]

First Exam: Maze Four Into the Stone Maze Ouritsu would find himself suffering déjà vu, as the same number of tiles seemed to lead to another fork. A similar dead end with left and right open to take. Could this of been coincidence or a curse? Maybe more choices was the sign of the right direction, it was definitely better than finding a dead end. Or an end by death. What would the Iwagakure shinobi do now? Break the silence again and go for his songs magic? Tackle the choice with sound logic from the clues provided. Befriend a mouse to teach it to sniff out fortune cookies?! The options weren't limitless, they were basically right or left. There were certainly jutsu and bloodline that could more adeptly approach this situation, but little was inherently helping the Nohime.

[Nōhime Ouritsu]

i think you're slipping

i bring you pain, the kind you can't suffer quietly

Ouritsu wasn't necessarily confident in his choices when picking which direction to take, after all he had used a glorified children's game for his first selection, but considering there was virtually no help in figuring out the correct path to pick that had been his best option at the moment. The same could be more or less said for his second pick, though with that one there was a need to prevent circling back on himself by choosing the same direction twice in a row. He hoped that would be a smart decision, it seemed pretty well thought out.

Alas, his journey would come to yet another split, left and right again. Not good. Considering there were no tell tale signs to go off of Ouritsu could have very well just been walking the path he had come from a turn ago, but that didn't feel right. It was a maze, it was designed to confuse and disorient people, but in knowing that fact it didn't make the boy feel any better. The young Nohime didn't want to make another wild guess as standing in front of yet another left/right split would no doubt anger him, but what could he do? Whipping out the rule card from his pocket Ouritsu would read it over once more hoping for some kind of breakthrough. Most of it was unhelpful but one of the lines of text did catch his eye: specifically the one stating that the maze was snake like.

What did he know about the slithery creatures? They coiled around their prey, used their tongues for just about everything and... had bodies that twisted and turned. Ouritsu would trace his current path on his palm. He had gone straight for a bit before taking a right then taking a left; a pattern that looked awfully similar to that of a snake's body. Granted, it was a bit of a stretch but it was the best idea he had right now. "Ok, so to keep the pattern going I need to go..." The boy would spin on his heel turning his body to the right before starting to walk. The working theory was to keep snaking along until some kind of results happened, or if worse came to worse maybe the Nohime would try and see if the maze was truly indestructible.

notes go here • tagged/open • word count

PYXIS ★

[Yoshiko]

First Exam: Maze Four Into the Stone Maze Shortly into choosing right Ouritsu would be directed to make another right. It wasn't a choice matter simply the path taking a turn, but a turn near immediately followed by another turn now left. If snaking around was the male's intentions then this path seemed to provide it, as two more lefts would follow before two more rights. As far as changing up the scene this path surely had done that, but was that a sign of the correct path? It'd maybe kill the paranoia he was walking in a genjutsu or something. Unless it was an illusion constantly changed. Though looking for clues or destinations there'd be no more turns, but instead a doorway and another room to follow it. Upon coming to the room it'd already be lit, entering would reveal why to some degree. A person would be inside the room, it'd be a woman with a bright smile and a formal gown. Over her gown was a chunnin vest and her forehead bore a headband and sign of the hosts village. She didn't pounce the boy merely stood within the room smiling. Though investigating her closer would reveal a rather long katana at her hip, as well as plated gloves under the bell of her gowns sleeves. The room would be an octagon shape and it's appear to have a pool of shimmering water in the middle. There'd be a torch in each side of the room providing ample light, as the woman would soon greet the boy upon entering. "Ah, you've finally made it through the maze. It's good to see you weren't fooled by the tricks of the first room, I'm here to help you through the next part of the exam." She'd move close to the pool of water and gesture to it. "Below this water is a tunnel, it's closed off with a steel gate. The gate has a combination lock to open it. The combination numbers are also below the water. They're carved each under the glowing stones in the tunnel down to the tunnel out. It's the only way out so no need to dally." The woman would explain and gesture the boy to just go straight into the water. The pool was glowing as though lit and walking around it would reveal the glowing stones were lining down the tunnel. Though it looked like a somewhat deep dive. Who knew how long the tunnel underneath could be too.