Kazui strolled down the road with idle curiosity. She was away from her savior, the man who had saved her from the bandits, and it wore heavily on her heart. She had been through so much during the past week. Her family had been ambushed on the road to Konoha, and she had been separated. The next day, she had been kidnapped and nearly forced into sex slavery in all likeliness. She would have been raped repeatedly. The slimy grin on the bandit leaders face had told her that much. The only reason she was here was because a masked man had showed up and massacred the entire encampment. She had talked with him and he had taken her in. She had heard of a dojo in this village, and had come in the hopes of finding someone to further her training. She had always been fascinated by bladed weapons, swords most particularly. She had always wanted to become a world renowned swordsman. Her desire had become a burning passion since the ambush, tempered by her failure to protect herself and her family. Even knowing jutsu, she had been unable to save them. They had been saved at best by a bolt of lightning, startling the horses into a stampede. She had been left behind as her caravan was pulled down the road by the horses.

She had even failed to save herself from the bandits. Nothing made her need for power greater than her drive to be able to protect herself and others now. And she most needed to work on her swordsmanship. She had been inspired To say the least by the way the swordsman who had saved her had taken down all those bandits, seemingly with little effort. She yearned to be so skilled with a blade. But first she needed a blade in the first place. She had ideas, but she lacked the funds to get one. However she had heard of a dojo where swordsman trained. Hopefully they would allow her to borrow a bokken or a shinai while she trained there. Assuming they would even permit someone who wasn't aligned with the village to train there. But, nothing ventured, nothing gained. She half regretted having not taken any weapons from the bandit encampment, but they had all been in poor shape, not fit for fighting with. She remembered the pitiful excuse for a dagger one of her kidnappers had used.

Kazui's odd bright peachy-amber colored hair moved in a slight breeze, swaying gently down her back. She wore a fairly simple shirt, white with red accents, and a red skirt with white accents, which reached down to her knees. She would normally wear a cloak as well, but she had only this single set of clothing to her name, and no cloak. She defied her clans typical dress, favoring semi normal clothes and keeping the thousands of bugs inside her, not permitting them to climb around on or over her skin and clothing. One might not guess that she was an aburame. She approached the dojo she had heard about with caution and hesitated before opening the door. With a sigh, she opened the door and looked in, hoping someone could confirm that she was in the right place. "Um...is this the dojo I heard about? I have been looking for somewhere to train as a swordsman." Kazui had taken barely a step inside, looking around to see if anyone was there.


Word Count: [582]
Total Word Count: [582]

As she opened the door she would be able to hear the sounds of dozens of wooden swords clashing. The ring of wood smacking against wood so potent it rang out each time like it was actual steel. No one there was taking any half measures as sparring matches, training dummies, and other practices were going full pace. A dozen men were slashing at one another off to the side. Their stances sliding across the open yard as they moved in several different styles. A man with a huge wooden sword was busy deflecting someone attempting to hit him with a wood dull tipped spear. Another was using a single Katana versus a man using twin long swords. His focus seemed to be keeping up with the rapid assault of his opponent nicely. Off to the other side of the yard were people using weighted stone weapons. Increasing their power by hitting shifting stick dummies. Each time they hit one of the sticks it would spin the other way forcing them to defend rapidly. A group of men standing in lines could be seen standing in one of the buildings with the doors open practicing in unison a Kenjutsu sword stance. Everyone was taking training very seriously.

Rippa on the other hand was wearing a traditional red training robe. In his hands was a set of wooden Katana. Each hand gripped a hilt tightly as he focused on his twin sword style. His feet were spread out on the wooden platform suspended over a log. Each shift of the body swaying the platform a little. On the opposite end of the platform stood a motionless man wearing a strange hat (brown cowboy hat) as well as leather armor and holding a pair of twin repeating crossbows. The bolt tips removed to prevent any accidents. A second passed before suddenly the man in the hat suddenly slammed his right foot back and shifted the platform roughly to try and ruin Rippa's footing as he lifted both cross bows and opened fire. However Rippa only shifted fluidly into the platforms movement. As he moved the bolts sailed passed him as he danced back and forth like to a ball room song. It looked for a second like he might get hit when suddenly he flicked his wrist and one of his Katana moved in a blur and sent three bolts flying off in random directions. With a smile Rippa lifted into the air suddenly changing the weight distribution and letting the plat form slam backwards knocking his opponent off balance. When Rippa landed again it lurched the platform once more and sent his opponent stumbling forward. Rippa didn't hesitate to lunge forward with that slamming both Katana into his opponents stomach hard enough to send him flying back and off the platform. Having won he let out a breath and hopped off himself.

Still even as she could witness all that a shadow suddenly seemed to envelop her. A huge man with twin hammers almost as big as her hanging from his belt loomed over her. His silver eyes looking at her as he leaned down slowly. A gruff voice came out of him like a rough growl as he spoke. "Are ye now lass? Ye dun even have a weapon on ye." still he studied her for a moment before letting out a barking laughter before patting her on the back hard enough to shove her inside and closing the door behind her. "Ahahaha I'm just messin with yer head miss. See the man in red over there? Dat Scrawny lad be the capn. You go on over there and see if he might be able to teach ya somethin aye?" He said pointing towards Rippa while smiling broadly, which was almost a sneer with the kind of face he had.

643

As she opened the door she could hear it. The sounds of training. Wood rang on wood, and bokken and shinai struck one another, mixing with the soft rustle of feet moving on the floor, sometimes in unison like some great snake slithering across the floor. Harsher steps broke of this rhythm as sparring partners stepped and dodged what blows they could. There was the occasional outcry and the sound of wood cutting through the air. There was beauty to it, a sweet music that filled the air. It was both random and rhythmic at the same time. With a wood-on-stone clatter and a whirring sound, training dummies retaliated towards their attackers. A man spoke then, looking at her. "Man" was an understatement, with the size of him, he wore large hammers that were downright huge. She wondered idly if he was half giant or something. She felt horribly intimidated just looking at him. "Are ye now lass? Ye dun even have a weapon on ye." He was right, she didn't. She lacked anything to train with, or any money to purchase something. The gear she had trained with before was long gone, broken in stolen by bandits or thieves. Possibly the same ones that had attempted to take her prisoner, and nearly succeeded.  He patted her on the back forcefully, and She stagger slightly into the room, the door closing behind her.

"Ahahaha I'm just messin with yer head miss. See the man in red over there? Dat Scrawny lad be the capn. You go on over there and see if he might be able to teach ya somethin aye?"  Kazui almost giggled as She looked over towards the man in red. Anyone was scrawny compared to this giant. She was comparable to a toothpick when she stood near the giant man. He did seem friendly enough though, despite his size. And that was good to know. She watched as the man in red hopped down and she approached the red man slowly, not looking too directly at him. Kazui, being a modest, slightly shy girl, wasn't one to walk boldly into such a busy place. She kept to herself and looked around slightly, not too much though, in an effort to keep to herself a bit. Her encounter with the giant hadn't helped. She sighed softly to herself and approached the captain, looking upward and forcing herself to look at him directly.

"Um...I was told this was a good place to seek swordsmanship training? And... I was told to talk to you." Kazui looked back, etoward the large man who had told her to talk to this man. "I was hoping to be able to train here. I know some things but...I am only a novice at best. He said maybe someone here could teach me a few things?" Kazui felt reluctant to say the giant had half volunteered him. Still she hoped someone here could teach her. "I don't have any equipment though... My things were stolen on the road to the village." Kazui was debating attempting to do some missions for the village to make money. She could use a sword, the only tools at her disposal was a kunai and a few shuriken she had managed to scrounge up. She could create fake ones with bugs, but this was a swordsmanship training dojo. She doubted she would need such weapons.

Word Count: [523]
Total Word Count: 1182+523=1,105]

Rippa moved over to a water trough while Kazui was being directed to him, hopping off the platform and slipping both wooden swords into his belt.. The water within the trough was crystal clear. Over the opposite edge of it was several small towels. Quietly Rippa grabbed a fresh towel and dipped it in the water before picking it up in both hands. The towel having soaked in a great deal of water several strands of excess trickled off shining in the reflected sunlight. It was getting closer to the warmer months so at least they didn't have to break any ice in the water anymore. Still he rung it out over the trough before unfolding it and with it covering both hands he brought it up to his face and wiped away the few beads of sweat there allowing himself to cool off. It was a pattern with him to train and then cleanse. It allowed for him to take a break before taking on the next opponent as well. Still that wasn't something he told others. Each one of these men were on a level with him and he struggled to win every match. He just needed to appear to be stronger then he was. Quietly he guiltily picked one of the wooden bolts he hadn't dodged out of his robes and as he lowered the towel he dropped the wooden bolt beneath the trough and kicked it away. Setting the towel to dry on the edge once more.

So he was slightly startled when Kazui spoke right next to him. His head turned to show bright blue eyes and a face for a brief moment that looked like he thought he had been caught. Still when he heard what she was saying he visibly relaxed and slipped into a warm smile She was certainly not from around here. No head band to show and to top it off she didn't follow any customs of being in a dojo. Still it was no reason for Rippa not to. Still he listened as she spoke of losing her things on the road to the village and let it for the most part confirm his theory. He probably would of tweaked the ear of any Konoha nin that asked him such things without following traditions but he couldn't expect outsiders to know much of it. Still he turned to her and placed his right fist into his open left palm with his fingers pointed straight and bowed his head. It was an ancient tradition to show he those who were trained to fight with the right hand in a fist and those who chose peace with the open left palm. The bow kept his eyes on her respectfully. As he was bowed he spoke. "It is customary when approaching another in a dojo in the hopes to train you introduce yourself. I am Chi Rippa, captain of the sword saints. as for your request..." He would give her a chance to follow suit and introduce herself. Whether she did or not he would straighten with a smile and release his hands. Indicating with his right hand that he should follow him before continuing to speak. "Swordsmanship is an interesting style. Not many use it as it is more popular in the west they say. Still I have seen it before. A couple of sword saints that spend most of their time on patrol have sparred with me using it. The Raw power and different stances of it make it formidable."

As they reached the end of the yard and stood outside another building in the sword saint compound he stopped and stepped out of his sandals. Another tradition of not wearing shoes indoors. Still once he was out of his sandals he stepped up onto the wooden walkway and waited for her before opening the sliding paper door. Stepping within he revealed this one had multiple weapons of every style on racks on the walls. The storage locker of sorts. One might even call it an armory. He turned towards her and tilted his head. When he spoke he sounded curious. "Most novice choose to only use one type of sword stance to grow comfortable with at first. Tell me, What type of weapon did you practice with? The larger swords like the flamberge? Or the smaller swords like the cutlass? Or perhaps you mimic the shield maidens of old?"

1388

Kazui felt somewhat awkward at first, surrounded by many people training and working on their skills. She didn't spend much time around so many others at once. In fact, this was Kazui's first time in a dojo. Her entire training was done on the road, there was no real formal training. She had learned the basics most would learn at the academy from her father, there was no official ninja teacher. She leaned Her scant few jutsu from her father, and had created one herself. She was taught what scant swordsmanship she had by a warrior traveling with her caravan. What skills she had were largely developed for entertainment purposes. That said knowing how to juggle knives was a handy thing for a warrior to know. Her entertainment and stage training made her a good actor, as well as keeping her agile and flexible. So all in all she wasn't worse off for her lack of official training in one of the ninja villages.

"It is customary when approaching another in a dojo in the hopes to train you introduce yourself. I am Chi Rippa, captain of the sword saints. as for your request..." Kazui immediately looked down for a moment and lightly blushed. Of course, she hadn't been very mannerly. "Oh! I am Kessho Kazui, of the Aburame clan. Sorry I have never been to a dojo before. All my training was done on the road. It's nice to meet you captain Rippa!" Kazui smiled and tilted her head slightly sideways, a friendly expression on her face.  Rippa motioned for her to follow, so she did, watching the others train was she followed and listened. Spotting a bokken on the ground, she walked around it rather than step over it. Bokken were to be treated like true swords, she knew that much. It seemed disrespectful to simply step over it. Swords were not simply tools to be treated lightly. They were deadly weapons that should be respected.

"Swordsmanship is an interesting style. Not many use it as it is more popular in the west they say. Still I have seen it before. A couple of sword saints that spend most of their time on patrol have sparred with me using it. The Raw power and different stances of it make it formidable." Kazui nodded as he spoke. Traditional Kenjutsu did seem to be the favored style, and perhaps most commonly, with a katana. She wasn't truly sure why she had chosen to train with western styles of swords before, perhaps because they were more unusual and less commonly seen. Kazui listened happily and nodded her understanding as he spoke and led her to wherever he was taking her. She noticed him step out of his scandals, and she look off her shoes. She hadn't known better and had worn her shoes into the main dojo, but felt that if he was going barefoot, she probably should as well.

He slid the paper door open and she smiled as he did so. Those doors were beautiful, she had always loved that type of door, though she didn't see them much. Mostly when they entertained more wealthy patrons. Sometimes her traveling caravan of entertainers did special events. Wealthy merchants or nobles would pay for performances and music at say, weddings. Sometimes it was just for special events of other sorts, and celebrations. Kazui hadn't grown up among raggamuffin mummers, but professional performers and actors. Her jaw practically hit the floor as they went in. Weapons of every type. Large swords such as flamberges, down to kukri and daggers. Every style of blade she had heard of practically, and more. "Most novice choose to only use one type of sword stance to grow comfortable with at first. Tell me, What type of weapon did you practice with? The larger swords like the flamberge? Or the smaller swords like the cutlass? Or perhaps you mimic the shield maidens of old?" Kazui paused for a moment, before answering bis question, Awe clearly written across her face. "I trained with a wooden gladius during what training it had. Mostly because there was not a great selection when we were looking at getting a training weapon. Still, I grew fond of it. I plan to learn to use a shield at some point...Is it proper to ask what weapon you first trained with?"

Word Count: [618]
Total Word Count: [1,105+618=1,722]

Rippa tilted his head as they walked to look back at her. He noted how she stepped around the sword instead of over it. In a way showing it the same respect she should show a person. Most people thought of weapons as just another tool to be used in either the defense or killing of others. Typically those who used it in the defense of others also understood this. But those who used it just to slay and murder enemies and innocents, they let it wear down and did not care for it. Eventually it was weaker for it. His blue gaze studied her as he was satisfied she was not like one of them. Even they could act civil and respectful or even meek to get close to a target. Yet it was the little things like stepping around a simple practice sword that set the true masters of weapons out. She certainly had the potential to become great. He was actually eager to see what kind of warrior she would choose to be. As well as relieved this wasn't yet another attempt on his life. He had to be so harsh to those people regardless of their youth.

Still the mention of the Aburame clan caught him by surprise. He had read about their anatomy being difficult to work with for some reason. It was a long time ago but something about the name put the memory just out of reach. Even as they stepped into the dojo he could not tell just from looking at her. It took him a couple of minutes of trying hard to recall. Then his memory of his history kicked in. The Aburame clan had at one point been one of the most prominent clans in Konoha before they spread out and populated in other countries. He knew they still had a compound in Konoha with a large plot of land dedicated to their clan. Most of all however he recalled why they were so difficult to work with during surgery. Their bodies were living hives to some type of insect, of what kind he knew not. But if you had to preform surgery on one who wasn't conscious then chances were you were likely to come across the bugs in their body. It made it a challenge to say the least. Still he was glad there was another clan outside of his own that people were either grossed out or afraid of their clans abilities.

Still as they stood in the dojo she mentioned her fighting style with a gladius. It was a very short sword he had noticed of the western swords it was the most basic. Yet at the same time the history behind it was immense. Still the end of her response made him smile and reach down to his belt to touch one of his two wooden practice bouken. He turned to her and spoke warmly. "I began with a wooden bouken a Senju made for the occassion in the shape of a katana. He was a good teacher but I have not spoken with him in many months. I still practice the Katana the most. Though I have branched out into mastering archery as well as using a chinese dao. I am always practicing." Still he turned back and moved to one corner. He ran his fingers along the edge of a round object before wrapping his fingers around it and hoisting it up before turning around. In his hands was a shield with a gladius sheathed into it. The hilt revealed out the top of the shield. He held it out to her and let her take it before releasing it. When he held it the sword and shield may have well have been weightless. Yet as soon as he let go the combo was very heavy indeed. The shield more so then the sword. It would undoubtedly slow her just a little. "That will take some practice to get used to. You must be able to hold that shield above your head and still deflect a blow countless times. However from the historic tales of the west I have studied it appears this was the chosen fighting style of a couple of armies. Legionnaires of rank and file would march in lines wielding sword and shield, Spartans and greeks would form shield walls and armies would bash against them only to face defeat. There was even the tales of the Northmen who called their female warriors shield maidens and fought along side them. If you wish to use a gladius you should learn to use a shield as well. Its power through out history is incredibly difficult to debate. I am sure that given time and practice your name might become famous as well. Kazui the shield maiden perhaps?"

2196

Kazui gazed around the armory still, looking at the variety of weapons, from claymore to misericord daggers, from axes to Kami and tanto. This was a swordsmans dream room. If there had been panels and signs with historical facts about each weapon, it would have been a miniature swordsman's museum. She was excited just to be in the presence of them all. Perhaps he had taken her here because he had thought She would enjoy seeing this room? If so, she did indeed. It wasn't quite like being a kid in a candy store, As these were not things she could buy. Still, she had never seen so many weapons in one place. He smiled warmly and touched a bokken on his side as she asked. "I began with a wooden bouken a Senju made for the occassion in the shape of a katana. He was a good teacher but I have not spoken with him in many months. I still practice the Katana the most. Though I have branched out into mastering archery as well as using a chinese dao. I am always practicing." he truly did sound like he was a great swordsman. Kazui had hopes of learning archery as well, though for now she was planning to work on her swordsmanship exclusively in till she had grown a bit. "Archery huh? It strikes me that learning a ranged combat style could be incredibly useful. I hope to learn some at a future time. I might be more skilled in ninjutsu, But I consider myself a swordsman more than a ninja." it was true, she had had to learn ninjutsu first to utilize her clans unique anatomy properly. She was a complete novice at swordsmanship. Yet it was her passion more than ninjutsu. She would use ninjutsu to augment her swordsmanship, not swordsmanship to provide close range potential when her ninjutsu tactics failed.

He turned from her there, and walked away towards a corner of the room, and seemed to caress a circular object of some sort before hoisting it up. He turned and approached her before holding it out. Kazui exclaimed as he did so. It was beautiful. The shield didn't look like it was overly grand or like an elite shield. And what what She could see nor did the gladius. But...she wasn't ready for truly deadly weapons yet anyway. Kazui had no desire to cleanly chop her foot off the first time she stumbled. That said, she wasn't expecting anything here. He held it out, and sensing it was expected of her, she took the shield and gladius. The shield was heavy, carrying it and effectively using such a shield would slow her down. However it was almost a piece of heavy armor, one expected such a shield to be heavy. She held the shield for a moment, before withdrawing the shielded gladius, and wearing the shield on her arm, feeling the weight of it. She managed to hold onto the sheath with her hand, and she pulled the blade slightly from the sheath. The blade was speckled with black spots, not if ones, and just a few. She could tell from the color that it wasn't rust. It had been smithed by a rather bad blacksmith. But she could see It was sharp. They were not, perhaps, the most well crafted shield and sword, but they were her speed. She almost felt herself growing affection for them. She smiled wistfully.

That will take some practice to get used to. You must be able to hold that shield above your head and still deflect a blow countless times. However from the historic tales of the west I have studied it appears this was the chosen fighting style of a couple of armies. Legionnaires of rank and file would march in lines wielding sword and shield, Spartans and greeks would form shield walls and armies would bash against them only to face defeat. There was even the tales of the Northmen who called their female warriors shield maidens and fought along side them. If you wish to use a gladius you should learn to use a shield as well. Its power through out history is incredibly difficult to debate. I am sure that given time and practice your name might become famous as well. Kazui the shield maiden perhaps? Kazui smiled. She would love to get used to such a set. But, They also made her wish to have such ones for herself. She removed the shield from her arm and replaced the gladius, holding it back for him to put away if he planned to do so. "They are fine. A fine shield and a fine blade. They may not be the best crafted or well treated equipment, but such weapons are great for a novice. I know it is a lot to ask...but I would like to train with these here in your dojo. I hope  can get ones such as these when I am able to get some money together." After all, he was probably just showing them to because he thought she would like to see him. She half fantasized about actually having them as truly hers, but she pushed the thought away. These no doubt belonged to the dojo. But maybe they would let her buy them when She could? Kazui smiled half longingly, and suppressed it right away. He had said she would have to get used to it. Maybe he was going to let  train with them! She was excited at the very idea. "Thank you! I dream of becoming a wh swordsman. I would loved to be a renowned shield maiden someday!" Kazui was thrilled about the history of this combo.  She loved weapon history.

Word Count: [759]
Total Word Count: [1,722+759=2,481]

(Kazui has never been given such a generous gift, I don't imagine she would know they were a gift unless it was actually stated. She doesn't expect such things.)

Rippa watched quietly as she attempted to return the items he had handed her. His smile marked his amusement at the action. He had basically given her a pair of weapons but it appeared she was not from the same culture as him after all. To him when things were presented to him as a youth it was almost always a gift. But coming from a prestigious family, that was to be expected. Many people had wanted to gain favor with the future head of the medical branch of the chi family. Their resources and connections were usually considerable. So he hadn't noticed that typically people were just handed things to look them over and give them back. One might even have been insulted in his world had a gift not been accepted but he understood. He had a keen enough mind to notice different types of culture and didn't jump to conclusions. That said in a world were gifts were not typically just handed out it might be rude to give one. Such individuals might take it as a symbol the person giving them the gift thought they couldn't earn it on their own. He would have to be cautious around this prospect. He wasn't sure he understood her personality yet so he would need to come up with a way to possibly give her the gift that appeared to be earned but was at little to no cost to her. He contemplated it for only a moment before he smiled a big smile with white teeth. A glint in his blue eyes as he shook his head. When he spoke he did so with a warm tone that matched his eyes and smile.

"Now now, if you are to train today you will need to hold onto those, no need to hand them back yet. Although it is your first day, perhaps some incentive? Come, follow me to todays training area."

He smiled and without reclaiming the items from her he turned and walked out of the weapons shed. Stepping off of the walkway he stepped into his sandals smoothly. Each sandal sliding over his socked feet before he waited for her. Once she was back into her own footwear he would grin and continue over to the training dummies with the multiple stick arms. He would stop there momentarily and turn to her before speaking a single word. "Observe." He then moved over to the training dummies and drew both his wooden katana. He moved into position in front of the dummy between its long arms. He shifted into a stance half crouched with both Katana held right side up one in each hand. He suddenly shifted at a speed that kicked up some dust from his footwork as he slammed his right katana into a post. just as fast as he had moved the dummy spun as a stick arm from his left swung towards his head. However suddenly his left Katana was between the two and it struck with a loud wood on wood clack! However this didn't stop it, instead it sent it spinning the other way with a stick coming at Rippa's right waist only to be stopped by a shift of his wrist. As it spun back around he stepped back out of it, letting it spin as he placed his practice swords into his belt. Then his left hand shot out and with a smack caught the post nearest him at shoulder level and stopped the spinning. Then he spoke once more. Watching her. His voice still soft but unbroken as if he hadn't strained at all during the exercise.

"This is a training device that matches the power and speed of your strike to force you to dodge or defend. It helps you keep your reflexes up while increasing your stance practices and strikes. You must react quickly or risk getting struck by the wooden arms, which I assure you will leave a bruise. Here is the incentive though. If you can strike and block ten times in a row you may keep the sword and shield. You may continue to attempt this as many times as you wish. It takes many people a while to be able to do so when competing with themselves."

2918

Asura walked through the forest in his dream, scanning the Trees and bushes for any signs. He had no idea where he was, or even why he was there, the moment he looked dead ahead of his path, he noticed a glowing pair of red eyes creep out of the darkness and shadows. Asura remained in place as he watched a man, quite like himself wandering out of the darkness, approaching Asura, repeating a single verse over and over again, "Voices twist and turn the mind, changing the way we hear the vines, looking upon the earth below, where our empty beds will grow." The stranger kept repeating it in a sadistic voice, sending chills throughout Asura's body. Asura looked at the man, staring him dead in the eyes, "Let the voices be silent, let them be still, let the hordes of the lost sound their ill will." Asura spoke in a low tone.

Asura awoke, breathing heavily as he looked around in a panic, looking for those hellish red eyes that haunted his dream. Asura placed his hands on his forehead, "Gods, that was... I don't even know what that was..." He shook his head from side to side, trying to get the thoughts out of his mind, the image of that man. He looked almost the exact same as Asura; such a thought scared this once fearless giant. He sighed, looking to his left, at the dark grey training Gi he hanged on the cupboard the night before, knowing that today he would be making his way to the Dojo and his first steps to becoming a real Shinobi, one of true power, just like Rippa, the man Asura met the day before. Asura hung his legs off the side of his bed, stepping off and getting up from his bed. He looked around, the room seeming dizzy at first due to him getting up too fast, "Wha..." He spoke quietly to himself before tapping his forehead lightly with the palm of his hand.

Asura shook his head and made his way over to the training Gi he left hung up, taking it off the cupboard, staring at it, "Today will be fun." He placed it on his bed and made his way to the bathroom. He cleaned himself and shaved the stubble that had already began to grow, leaving a light cut on the upper right side of his cheek. Asura cleaned the cut and let it dry before making his way back to his room, getting dressed in the Gi he laid out on his bed. It was a loose fitting Gi, dark grey with the Kanji 武 for 'Martial Artist' on the back of his Gi. Asura tied his headband around his waist and made his way out of the house, closing the wooden door behind him as he left without knowing the time. Asura wandered through the town, passing by his younger brother in his shop and his younger sister out with her friends. He continued on his path, following the note that Rippa left him yesterday, the directions written neatly in blood as if it were perfect penmanship. It didn't take long for Asura to find his way to the Dojo, he smiled as he looked upon it. As Asura made his way to the door he brushed the fallen leaves off of his shoulders and checked his hair, to make sure it was perfect before he finally knocked on the door three times.

Kazui noticed that Rippa had smiled and refused to taken them back from her. He seemed to be in a good mood. Only then did she seriously consider the idea that they a gift. Having grown up entirely in a traveling caravan, where she wasn't poor by any means due to her parents, and the rest of her family being well respected entertainers, who had noble patrons. But this type of sword and shield would likely cost a thousand ryo. And That was, to her, a pretty substantial gift. So it wasn't so much any worries of her being insulted by such a gift, as disbelief that such a thing could simply been given. Regardless, She was thrilled just to feel their pleasant weight. The shield more than the sword of course. She slipped her arm into the shield with no small degree of relish, glad to get to feel what wearing one was like. She was very grateful for the chance. He began to lead her out, where he quickly slipped his socked feet back into his scandals. Kazui took a moment and slipped her shoes on as quickly as possible considering she was still carrying the shield and gladius. With her shoes on, she proceeded to follow Rippa quite excitedly. Soon they were back to a training area, and Rippa explained the training posts. Really, it was all quite clever. She watched him draw his bokken and strike. The dummy rotated and soon there was an arm heading toward a his head. But then his other bokken was in the way, and the dummy was rotating the opposite direction, going for him again. It was cleverly made. Clearly it was designed to rotate without much friction, so that it could nearly mimic the force with which it was struck with. This mean if a genin level warrior like her hit it, it would rotate with matching speed. But a faster warrior could make it go faster. In essence, this allowed one to train with them no matter their skill level, as the dummy would always use the force put into it.

Kazui listened and opened her mouth as he explained his incentive. It was an amazing offer! If he wanted to motivate Her he had picked a good way to do it. She half dreamed of having good weapons, especially after her run in with the bandits. They had shown her how weak she truly was, and she desired to improve herself. If she could do this, not only would she get better, she would get weapons out of it! Good ones at that. Well as good as She was ready for. She didn't want a blade so sharp that if She tripped She would cleanly lop her own foot off. No, such weapons were far out of her league. But if she could learn to use these, and earn them, She would be set up. Kazui stepped up to the dummy as indicated. Was she to attack using this gladius? It made sense if she was to adjust to these items.... But these were sharper than any bokken... He hadn't indicated any nearby bokken, so she struck. The dummy rotated towards her, not quite as fast as could be, but She had been hesitant, worried about damaging it. However the blade hadn't left a mark, and as she raised the shield, she blocked with more force. The dummy spun and sent an arm at her abdomen, and she struck again With the blade. However, he misjudged and felt an arm slam into her shoulder on the other side. It would definitely cause a bruise s he had indicated. She had also underestimated the tardiness of the dummy. The blade hardly left a Mark on it. Then again she should have expected as much. If it wasn't strong people like rippa might destroy it even using a bokken. Kazui grunted, and whacked the dummy again, sending it rotating, and she blocked it with heher gladius, the force of her block sending it around again. She raised her shield and parried, sending it once again spinning the other way. With another block she completed 4 successful blocks. However am knock on the door distracted her, and an arm collided painfully with her stomach. "Ow!" She said, then letting out a slightly dark laugh. "That shows me not to be So distractible I suppose." She said with a slightly pained smile and another pained giggle.


Word Count: [751]
Total Word Count: [2,481+751=3,232]

[I realized I have been including others talking in my wc. Fortunately... With no completed topics yet... I can easily remedy this. I am calculating and fixing all WC totals.

Rippa could only move over to the wall and rest his back against it as he crossed his arms. After all, for now all he could do was sit back and observe. If anything she had a keen sense of what to do with her weapons. Truthfully the only thing that concerned him was her stance. There were several stances one could slip between with a sword and shield. All of which fell into four categories. Speed, the most commonly used category was for quick movements and hardly utilized the shield for blocking but rather utilized it to glance blows off in a different direction and countering with the blade. The second stance on the other hand was more of a centered one. A sort of hold the line stance which set the feet in and one would not budge. Typically working well with a shield wall. The third was an all out defense where both sword and shield acted as a guard while the person observed their opponent and moved minimally in order to defend properly. The last one was an all out offense. The shield was less of a guard and more of a blunt weapon. With that stance the point was to charge your opponent and break through their defense with relentless attacks.

Still he winced as the knock distracted her and she took yet another blow to her gut. Such distractions were common place in a battle and a gut wound would likely be the end of the fight for her. Had she been training at his level that would of been a mark as wounded. Which meant some sort of punishment like running laps or doing pull ups. However she was a beginner so he had no intentions of demanding any such thing. Not yet anyway. Still he patter her on the back and gave her a warm smile before he spoke. "I am going to go and check the door. I want you to examine your footing when next to it. Start slow, examine where each arm is and learn to predict its probable movements. Know where it will strike and be prepared for it. A great deal of fighting with a shield only does you any good if you can predict the movements of your opponent. Try again."

With that he turned as he nodded to the guard by the door to open it from across the yard. The guard was a massive man, huge in stature and with two giant hammers on his belt. With one massive hand the man pulled open the door to for once be eye to eye with someone. Silver eyes gazed at Asura before the guard spoke up in a growl like voice. "Ah, You must be that lad the captain been expectin. Austin or Andrew or somethin. Well stop waiting for the tree's to grow and get in here then!" The man knew of Asura by description. Not many people were so large with silver features after all. Still the dark haired giant semi patted semi shoved Asura on the back in the direction of Rippa with a grunt before returning to his duties. Still should Asura approach Rippa he would be greeted with a bowed head as was a formal greeting. Then Rippa stood tall and spoke up. "Welcome Asura. Allow me to introduce you, this is Kessho Kazui of the Aburame clan. Kazui, this is Asura of the Senju clan. You both have some clan history here, a lot of which intertwines I think. Oh your presence here reminds me!" He then turned and walked away leaving them alone a moment. He walked into a small hut that smelled like fire and metal. He was gone for several moments allowing them a moment to talk before he emerged with a wooden box, thick enough to hold something of some size but longer then that still. The redwood box he tucked under his arm and returned with a smile. Awaiting them to finish whatever they had decided to speak of.

3594

Kazui sighed and nodded towards Rippa. He patted her and gave some rather good advice. She looked down towards her feet and found them positioned not perhaps too badly, but not Well for using her shield. She had a stance that was rabbit from training with a bokken and shinai with her father. It wasn't well suited for the weight on one arm, it made using the shield just a little harder. Kazui nodded to herself and set her feet and legs in such a way as to better use a shield, to accommodate for the weight. "Yes sir, thank you" Suki looked over the training dummy again. She set her body weight, and struck. Without much force. Just to examine how it would turn. It rotated slowly, and Kazui brought up her shield, and parried, knocking the arm back. The dummy whirled around slightly faster, an arm spun near her shoulder, and she knocked it away with the side of the blade. It was something she had been thought by her father. "Never block one blade with another, edge to edge. It will dull your blade, and create nicks and dents. Block with the side if you need to. But blocking one blade with another, edge to edge, is a sign of inept swordsmanship.


Kazui saw an arm spin towards her shield arm, and she brought it up before she expected to need to, and blocked right on time. It reminded her that the weight shocked that arm down a little bit. She needed to predict it's move and move before the attack got too near. That was part of the reasons for her bruises, failing to account for that. She didn't need to just move faster, she needed to move smarter. Kazui nodded to herself. And parried with the gladius again, knocking the atm sideways instead of slicing. A blade could be a shield as well, used properly. "Four" Kazui said to herself. Kazui watched it's arm spin, and parried with her shield, with more force. The dummy spun faster, and nearly hit her, but the gladius was barely there in time. In a rush to block, she had instinctively used all her force to block. Her shield arm raised instantly, anxious she wasn't even going to watch it and wait for it to get her, she knew its position now and where it would aim, and her shield was already there. She slammed her shield into the dummy, more a shield bash than a parry. Completely ignoring whoever had knocked on the door, unaware if they had come in or left, she blocked a rotating arm with the gladius. If it hit, it was going to hurt, and likely hit exactly on a prior hit, deepening the inevitable bruise still more. She couldn't risk that.

The dummy spun, and she parried just in time. Her arm, unused to the weight, began aching. As the dummy spun, she knocked an arm back with the gladius. Her sword hand was hurting as well now.  She blocked with her shield, but slipped. An arm came whirling over her head, and a third arm, on the back side, came whirling. She put her sword in it's path, but she was off balance and falling. The dummies arm whacked the gladius to the ground. The arm didn't her hurt directly, but the force of it whacking the gladius to the ground hurt her hand. Kazui fell to the ground, and the gladius slid away and out of her hand. She could hear the dummy still whirling above her head and she dared not try to get up instill it stopped.  Kazui was too distracted to realize She had in fact gotten ten or more. In fact, with her fall, she had never even noticed Rippa enter the room. She could see his legs now though, from the ground. "Ouch..... Sorry Rippa...." Kazui as of yet, failed to remember her number of blocks due to the current events.

Word Count: [673]
Total Word Count: [3,232+673=3,905]

As Asura has poofed and my attempts to contact him via skype have failed, we are bring this topic back. I simply ignored his entry. Maybe someone got the wrong building?

Rippa sighed as whoever had come knocking was once more not there when he investigated. After all the times he had been called for a visitor there had been a couple of times the individual had not been patient enough to await someone in his position to have a moment to move to the door. It was a sad state of impatience or perhaps there were just other things not being factored in. Some sort of emergency perhaps. Either way he thanked the guard with a pat on his massive shoulder before turning back to the dojo. He had a promising student he needed to attend to. Still once he stepped back through the door after wiping his feet on the mat he paused. His blue eyes scanning her movements. He wouldn't call her a novice at the game of sword play. Though still at a level were it was a game. Her use of the flat of the blade for blocking showed some actual instruction or experience. Based on her innocence though he figured instruction. No one learned the art of the blade by experience and got out without some scars. If not physical then mental. The path was perilous in more then one way.

Still he watched it tessellate a moment as she gradually lost control. She hadn't learned how to pace her power just yet. She was letting herself advance in force to quickly and as a result losing control of the situation. A lot of people were of an opinion that he with the fastest blade wins. However Rippa disagreed. Someone who charged in with everything all in a burst usually had a very limited time to end a situation before they were tired out. Out smarting and out maneuvering your opponent let your stamina run longer. Still the Gladius slid across the floor as she fell and stayed below the rapidly spinning arms. With an idle puppet string Rippa snatched up the gladius and caught it in his hand before calmly stepping over her and using the blade to slam down into the top of the mechanism. The thud happened and he brought it to a stop with that. Then he pulled the weapon free and wiped it off on his sleeve before using his other hand to help her up. Placing the handle back into her hand. He smiled to her as he spoke warmly.

"Well done. Your form is getting better. The next lesson will be focusing on controlling your power. We will try and get it to the point where you can set the pace the doll attacks back as something steady rather then bursts of power. For now go home and polish your gear. Stretch and practice your forms before going to bed tonight. It will do you good to get used to the weight."

4077

Kazui sighed as she watched him retrieve her sword. He had had to retrieve her sword. She had failed so badly that her sword went skidding along the floor. She could have hurt someone.She had lost control, and she had bruises to show for it. Probably a bruise or two from her fall as well. She was clearly little more than a novice swordsman. But still, at least she could say she had made some progress. Looking back she could see the things that led to that embarrassing fiasco. She had lost some control near the beginning and middle perhaps, using too much force and making the dummy go faster and faster. Faster than she could have hoped to be ready for, that much was obvious. She sighed to herself remembering. She needed work, that was for sure.

But then another part of her spoke up. It wasn't fair to beat herself up over the mistake, It said. It was her first time holding a shield, let alone a real sword. She had never held more than shinai or bokken for longer than a few minutes. Her training was about to get there before she got separated from her family. So how could she possibly have done perfectly without working with these things before? Kazui didn't like to make excuses, but that was a good point. Still she needed to improve, and that was clear.

Rippa stopped the dummy easily, and that was good. With the arms no longer threatening to hurt her the second she tried to get up, she was able to take his offered hand and climb to her feet.... Kazui blushed with embarrassment. Kazui was not sure now she felt about his smile, was it amusing to him to watch her fail? Or was he merely being friendly. He ran this dojo, so she would imagine he saw such fiascos none too rarely....so perhaps This wasn't out of the ordinary for him and not a cause for great amusement? He had handed her the gladius back, so clearly he wasn't of the opinion that it was too dangerous to let her use It.

As he spoke he certainly wasn't sounding angry or like He was restraining laugher. Perhaps as though he wasn't surprised. He probably wasn't after all. Kazui was just glad he wasn't laughing, reprimanding her, or looking all disappointed. He spoke with all the warmth his smile implied, and Kazui was grateful for that. Something about the way he was talking reminded Kazui then of the gladius and shield. She had brought no fear with her, yet he said to polish her gear. He was sending her home, clearly. Yet he had just handed her the gladius after retrieving it. Kazui's face lit up as she went back to her training, counting her blocks and parries with the dummy. She had gotten 10 or more! And more impressively, he was standing by what he said earlier. Kazui wondered what Rippa was thinking, as the realization would show on her face quite clearly. "Okay, I will be sure to do that! Thank you so much..." No doubt he could hear the elation In her voice, and a bit of awe for what had happened, and what she would be taking...."home." Kazui wondered what Ni-sama would thing when she came back with a shield and sword. Rippa was clearly dismissing her, so Kazui bowed to him and uttered a last. "thank you...." before, after rippa said or did what he intended to do, she would leave.

[Exit*]

*Kazui will exit only if Rippa does not say or do something that merits a response. You seemed to have heavily implied this topic is coming to an end so I assume you wanted exit posts. If not I am fine with continuing.

Word Count: [603]
Total word Count: [3,905+603=4,508]

Rippa had watched as she rose to her feet and had taken his hand. After all without the threat looming over her of the spinning dummy out of control from her aggressive fighting style cracking her head open it seemed only natural to get up and review what just happened. He watched as the realization of her success hit her and she lit up with joy. It was always a calming effect when you watched someone else simply feel so much elation over anything to do with you. Truth was she had been catching on at a heightened pace that showed a great deal of promise. If she kept to it and practiced as he had suggested then the fact of the matter was she would be sword saint material them moment she met the rank requirements. That aside such talent with such and aggressive fighting style was almost alarming. He could hope she would work primarily for Konoha when she perfected her art but should he have to face a sword and shield, his twin sword style would be put to the test. Typically an individual wielded one weapon which created a great deal of openings to a twin sword master. However with a sword and shield the chances of landing a blow lowered drastically. The pure defense of it could prove indomitable. A great force to be reckoned with indeed

For the moment he simple bowed his head a little to acknowledge her respect before watching her leave with shield and gladius in hand. He knew she would do as promised and continue practicing. He crossed his arms as he watched her leave the compound and let out a sigh once she was out of sight. Truth was the dummy was a tool useful at any level. The fact that she had managed at least ten hits before losing control was proof of her natural talent. He hadn't informed her of just how difficult it truly was but facing your own strength was one of the most difficult tasks any swordsmen could face. With a stronger opponent it was difficult but the dummy did something they did not. The more power you used to counter the more it came at you with. Eventually it escalated to keeping up with you maximum potential. Facing your own limitations and striving to survive against them. A test worth anyone's merit. He looked with blue eyes upon the dummy. A great deal of marks covered its surface. Many people had improved via this test before. She was not the first nor was she the last. But he doubted she understood the full level of her success. Now would he inform her of it. After all confidence was key but cockiness got you killed.

Still with a sigh he moved from the dojo across the yard and found the blacksmith. The silver eyed man watched him and looked back the way the girl had come from before frowning. He didn't like his work being handed out much but he wasn't about to question the captain. After all within reason the captain had authority to hand out equipment as he had. Still he eyed the captain as Rippa filled out the form for a new set to be made and handed it to him before grunting. He wasn't an outspoken individual on any given occasion but he was certainly an interesting one. Still Rippa moved away from the blacksmiths shop and moved over to his own room in the barracks. It was time for the daily muscle training again. Each night before bed was the same. He would shed down to a pair of shorts and jump up to grab a bar across the higher part of his room. For an hour he would switch positions on the bar. Pull ups to getting his legs around it and sit ups upside down mid air. It was all simply routine to him. Physical ability was important both as a field medic and a swordsmen. Any given moment he would have to switch between them and be what was needed for Konoha. After that all that was left was bed.

699/4776
Exit thread
2000/2000 Armor of the Blood God (Ketsueki-shin no yoroi - 血液神の鎧) trained
2000/2000 Crimson Sword of the Blood God (ブラッド神の深紅の剣 - Buraddo-shin no shinku no ken) trained
750/750 Lightning Release: Lightning Rod (雷遁・避雷針 ~ Raiton: Hiraishin) trained
26 wc remaining