Najiko was glad her Adoptive Father was finally coming back after his long absence upon learning of Jess's death... She ran up quick as a bullet and jumped to give him as bone-crushing a hug as a little 5-year-old ninja could give. "Daddy!!!!!" She shouted happily, clearly wishing he'd never leave her like that again.

"D-Dad...!?" William looks around thinking she had mistaken him for someone else. He had heard of Jess died in battle, there was no way to save her or anything, but even so, William had to continue her will. Even though he never felt any romantic affection to her, she was an amazing person, one of his dearest friends. "U-Uhm... N-Nejiko, right?" He asks, he had heard Jess adopted this poor girl who was now delusional that William was her father.

"I'm back..." He smiles, patting her head. He in fact had been in Bosporus the entire time, but he never had the guts to go to Jess's shrine she made. He'd like to take her and this girl, Jess's adopted daughter to the shrine.

"Najiko. Najiko. Say it right!" Najiko said, forgetting the loudness of her own voice proximity-wise to William's ear... She let herself silp down so that she was standing on her feet, holding onto William's legs maybe half a moment before she started to cry... "I miss Mother..." She muttered, William's presense only reminding her even more how much she missed her adoptive Mother. She could see why Jess liked this guy. Kind, caring...

[You know how some people can make their voices carry when they want? Well... Najiko did it unintentionally there.]

"S-Sorry! My god, loud!" William who was patting her head, quickly held his hands over his ear at her constant screaming. He-- in normal cases would have jumped back from the loud noise since he did have sensitive hearing, but that'd be rude, since he had now seen Jess's daughter, who strangely was calling him father.

"I miss her too, but... I'll protect you, alright? But Jess did teach you how to use magic or ki, right? She was a teacher after all." He asks her, walking across the beach with the little kid. Jess's shrine was quite a bit away.

"... A bit. Really she encouraged me to invent my own techniques... Want to see one?" Najiko hadn't gotten the chance to use any of her techniques today and so was quite eager to do that as she wiped away her tears and followed William.

"Oh! I'd definitely like to see you do it, haha!" William nonchalantly smiles, eager to see what Najiko had developed after learning directly from Jess. In a way, Najiko is living proof that Jess had an affect to the world, that what Jess done gave another person life, prosperity and all...

Najiko smiled as she spotted a large peice of driftwood which was the perfect target. she spread out her hands, fingers pointed at the driftwood... And did her Bone Needler of hundreds, hundreds of bone needles spraying out of each fingertip at bullet-like speeds and the majority of them puncturing the wood. Accurate, painful, and quite deadly would have been the best words to describe it...

"Whoa, what the hell...!? What has Jess been teaching you? That's dangerous! Especially for a kid!" William literally leaped backwards from the bone stabbing technique-- literally. Her magic had a reminiscing vibe about it, it was odd. Definitely odd. Either way the speed, power and accuracy from this little child was amazing, he could also compliment her endurance to use such a technique.

"You're a pretty amazing kid, you know." William smiles.

Najiko couldn't help but to laugh at William's surprise... "Uh-huh... Jess told me you know fire magic. I wanna see..." She loved watching things burn, and this was the perfect chance to see if William lived up to everything Jess had told about him and his fire magic...

Hey! What's going on there?!?! Darren emerged as he looked to see what caused Najiko to let out a volley.

He ran up near to where they were before they he stopped. He say the stranger and Najiko manipulating with fire attacks near her.

Stop right there! He said producing a piece of paper and spoon from his bag. He stared down the intruder with a death gaze.

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/hajime_no_ippo/v40/c359/19.html

"Simple or for fighting?" William inquires, lifting his index finger and creating a small ball of fire to spin around himself, as well as Najiko. "Well I guess you want to see something 'cooler', Omne Flammans Flamma Purgatus, Domine Extinctionis et Signum Regenerationis, in Mea Manu Ens Inimicum Edat! Flagrantia Rubicans!" He chants, as he closes his eyes, concentrating his magic and then with a single swoop of his arm, a massive column of fire extends into the ocean, causing a massive explosion in the water and even steam rising from the water. The power of the flames was enough to cause a small wave to elongate over the beach.

Grabbing Najiko, "Shundo." He smiles and at a split second, it seemed like they were teleporting but instead, watching from a distance as the wave crashes into the ground.

"YEEAAAHHH THAT WAS AWESOME!!!!!!~" Najiko screamed, clearly having loved that as she once again jumped up onto William and hugged him... But suddenly she could sense Darren's ever-familiar foolishness. She turned to him to see him giving William the death glare, spoon in one hand and paper in the other. "Darren, I don't think that's a good idea... Damn fool."

"What do you want-- punk?" William sighs, staring at Darren. Great, when he was making his way calmly to the shrine, they just HAD to get interrupted. He wasn't sure whether this guy was strong or not, but Najiko knew him. "Who is this guy, Najiko? Darren, you called him...?" William questions.

What do you mean? He said confused that Najiko is cautioning him about the man.

This is the same piece of paper and spoon I once conquered a bandit camp with you know he said with a face of stupid pride. Meh either... way who is this? he tensed up he was still ready to attack him with the paper and spoon.

Najiko hated that she was having to do introductions like this...

"William this is Darren, Dragon-slayer... And theif. Darren this is William, Fire Mage and Jess's best friend..." She felt one last tear run down her face before she pressed her cheek up against William, clearly seeking for someone to comfort her. She'd never been so emotionally attached to someone...

"Dragon slayer...? Really? What kind of title is that? Ahaha, nice, nice." William laughs lightly, letting Najiko cling to his leg. Seems a lot of people had been around Bosporus making a name for themselves while William had been training. "Well, it's nice to meet you, but Najiko, I still want to show you that special place." He begins to take her to Jess's shrine again. He wasn't sure if she had already been shown it or not, but it was worth a try and this is in Jess's memory after all.

"You mean Mother's shrine don't you?" She smiled, knowing the little trinkets and stuff would still be there. "Me, Marie, and her other students... We've dedicated ourselves to maintaining the place."

Darren was tense at the introduction but dropped his guard after he heard him laugh.

Meh this guy seems pretty normal he thought as he put away the spoon. Well not just a trainee really... he muttered as he then perked up at listening to the special place.

Hmm? Special Place? he said walking over to see what was this special place was.

"So you do know about it, yeah. It's where I first met Jess you know." He pats Najiko's head once again, leading her to the shrine. He knew the general direction, so that was good. He was also glad to see her able to maintain the shrine even with help from Jess's students.

Mortimer was already kneeling before Jess's shrine. He had come early to burn incense for her and had been praying and waiting fo Najikoand william ever since. Hearing William and Najiko laughing and approaching he got ready.

Compossing himself Mortimer plastered on his best sleepy smile (even if it was fake) before turning to face Najiko and William. "It's good to see you again Will... so are you enjoying a bit of quality time with my niece?" He had been careful to word it that way. Although Jess may have held a candle for Will Mortimer never knew him to do the same and so had not accepted William as Najiko's adoptive father.

He looked at Darren. "Just some place, it's a pretty nice place for relaxing." William says to him, "Well you have a long way to go before taking down some bandits with a spoon, but good luck and all." William nods confidently thinking that whatever Darren said about taking down anything-- he wouldn't believe. He didn't seem like the type to be strong either. Maybe it was his lack of conviction, at least that's what it was to Will.

[William, might want to edit that post... XD]

Darren saw the figure of Mortimer before either of them saw each other.

He hid behind a rock avoiding Mortimer's sight. He turned to Will. Well yea it was a historical battle!!! he stammered from behind the rock. I incapacitated the other bandits with the paper and spoon while the others stabbed them. I'm a real tactical guy. he grinned.

He looked over the rock.

Hey dere Morti...he said with a scared tone.

(OOC: My thing doesn't tell me when a new post happens anymore, I think I accidentally turned it off, lol).

"Ah Mortimer! How've you been since the whole attacking the school incident? Man, I haven't seen you in ages." He jokes around, then he realized the levity of what Mortimer had just said. "Wait... niece...?" William stares at Mortimer, then Najiko, then Mortimer again. Then he literally seemed to go into a day dream, just standing there doing nothing but breathe.

Najiko laughed. "Uncle Mortimer actually introduced me to Jess... Let's just say I was kinda hired to kill him but thinsg didn't go that way." She laughed, seeing it all as quite funny.