Fortunatley, he had not lost the light. Tarayua now sat staring intently at his map of the surrounding Islands of Mizu no Kuni, on his small fishing boat he had commandeered from the travelling merchants caravan he had traveled with for most of his life, and back up again at the approaching island coming into view. It was just about noon now, and fortune had been favoring him with pleasant weather, the sun shined bright and according to the map Tarayua had received the island dead ahead of his location was uncharted & unmapped.

Uncharted doesn't necessarily mean uninhabited, it's about noon now and the island isn't overly large but still. With only one man completely scouting the entire island I'm bound to eat up a good portion of my daylight, leaving me hardly no time at all to forage for more supplies and finding shelter before nightfall

With nowhere to harbor he simply had to beach the fishing ship in a small cove on the Island that was blocked on virtually all sides by Mountainous terrain and would give him the advantage of concealing presence and drawing unwanted attention to the Island he intended to call home.

He spent the next five hours traveling it and exploring it for any possible signs of human life, and he found none. Only beautiful views and thick forestry nestled up next to a large mountainous region near the west side of the Island. He made sure to draw up a cartographic representation of it down to the smallest detail for later consultation, all accomplished while searching for other signs of life.

Though now the sun was beginning to slowly descend, and he needed a place to sleep if nothing else if he could not forage. He could survive off the rations he still had for the night, but that would make hunting tomorrow imperative.

I can hunt in the morning, but one thing is for sure, fortune can only favor me for so long and I can feel the moisture in the air around me starting to rise. I must find shelter, and all the better if it can be something permanant

Quickly, Tarayua consulted back to the map he had created of the island and tried to recall some of the locations that looked promising. There were many coves and majestic waterfalls throughout, even some hot springs near the center of the mountain, many small caves throughout the entirety of the island, but he needed to decide where to start. Then a certain spot nestled in a cove near the base of the mountains, surrounded by cliffs and waterfalls, drifted into his head.

He remembered there being the looks of a small cave mouth hidden behind the flowing water of the waterfall, but in a crunch for time he hadn't fully investigated it. Now the answer was staring him in the face, he knew there had to be something there, he watched as the waterfall crashed down that some of the water was actually travelling backwards towards the cliffside rather than flowing down stream.

With sunset upon him he rushed forward towards the center of the Island, and hopefully his new home.

[539]

It took the better part of an hour to finally arrive at the location he'd been seeking, the cove with the 30ft tall waterfall curtain adorning the rim spilling into a deep pool of clear water. It was obvious that the water level had risen in the last few hours as well making the waterfall to be even more thick, completely concealing the entrance he had spotted.

Now, with the moonlights gaze the waterfall glistened and shined, there was no trace whatsoever of the entrance he had seen, however he knew it was there.

Its perfect, completely defensible and inline with my Suiton based Jutsus, If this cave is large enough it would be the perfect place to set up. Hell, even if it's not, It can be renovated, surely there is a jutsu he could learn to help him clear it out.

The truth was he had only minimal training thus far, traveling with a merchant caravan did comes with perks when you travel from village to village. He picked up everything he knows aside from the talent of his kekkei genkai from shinobi on the road, this helped him learn more about his chakra control and advanced survival skills, along with his strategic mind. Though his actual knowledge of vast ninjutsu is a bit lacking, but that too was going to change. That was the whole purpose of coming out here in the first place, he knew he had the potential, he just needed to unleash it.

He focused his chakra at the bottom of his feet and began to walk very carefully across the surface of the water and began searching for that entrance he had seen earlier, it took him a minute but he was finally able to locate it and he stepped through the waterfall thankfully was able to step inside. Though he could not see through the blanketed darkness of the cave, but it gave the impression of large open area, and the slight sound of bubbling water towards the back of the cavern. He knew it was a strategic error to get your hopes up, but he was starting to have a real good feeling about this.


 He created a torch and lit it to observe the full layout of the cavern, it was decently sized, about the size of a one bedroom apartment. It had tall ceilings and the sound of running water and steam we're coming from a small hotsprings located against the back wall that connected to a stream from the waterfall outside.

  With a few minor touches this place will be the most strategic place to live underneath the radar for a while in the process of discovering his true potential. Controlled solitude and peace, things were certainly starting to take off quickly, and he could only imagine what his destiny could be. He decided to start a fire in the cave and prepare the area for him to live in for a while.

Hell who knows, maybe I'll even decorate

He smiled a bit to himself and removed the mask on his face, he had a lot of work to do.
[531]

Tarayua arose the next morning and decided to bathe in the Hotspring in the back of his cavern, the night before he had gotten everything settled into  place and already his hideout was beginning to feel like a home. He had put a rather large fire pit in the center of the area for warmth and a place to prepare his meals. To one side of the cave he put his bedroll and luggage he had brought with him in an orderly fashion.

  Though eventually an actual bed and some chests and drawers would be a welcome sight, but priorities


  On the otherside he had put a place to store goods and food and anything needed to be kept cool had went into a waterproof bag that was tied off and sunk into the base of the waterfall by the entrance. He had literally everything he needed to sustain life for the foreseeable future while he began training before he was ready to reveal himself as a shinobi rather than an Orphan traveling with a merchant caravan.

  Tarayua sunk into the hotspring and let out a long sigh of relief, the water felt extraordinarly refreshing after the journey he took to come this far. He let his mind wander a bit, contemplating the path he had taken, and the path he would need to take to accomplish the things he had set out to do.

  It had all been clear after what he had done in defense of the caravan so many years back. They had attacked the caravan he was traveling with, and he could barely remember what actually had happened, but what he remembered quite vividly was the aftermath, all of the bodies piled together in a pool of blood. Some were missing appendages or eyes, others just completely debilitated and broken down strategically in all of their vital points.

 I had no remorse, the fact they even dared to try and take the ones I held dear from me was justification for my actions. Although.. what was even worse than that, was that staring at all of their lifeless corpses and feeling the bloodlust run through me.... I was enjoying myself. The sheer ability to disassemble them piece by piece and the look on the faces of those I struck down mercilessly with no thought of regret or hesitation, the pure destruction of it, gave me pleasure beyond comparison... possibly even overshadowing the relief I felt for saving my friends

  It had taken Tarayua a full year to finally come to terms with what he had done and felt, he knew now that somewhere deep inside himself was a monster... a blood lusting wrathful beast lurking in the back of his inner psyche that once awoken was insatiable. Capable of horrible things and shrouded in darkness it nested inside of him. At first, he had tried to escape it, pushing it back further and further into the depths, but he never could quite shake it. In actuality he was a kind and generous person, if a bit Isolated, and he always tried to help people who were less fortunate. He couldn't understand how he himself could be so dark, if he followed the light?

  It was then he had decided, He would no longer hide from his darkness, he would embrace it and bend it to his will. He would be the nightmare that haunts the dreams of the wicked and corrupt, a necessary evil to bring down those who would prey on the weak, with vengeance and without mercy. A dark harbinger, effective and lethal.

  That was when he began studying from passing shinobi on his travels, and that was why he was here. In order to get anywhere, he needed to train hard and make up for lost time. He was 23 now and elected to leave the caravan and set up a place of his own, as to not involve Jirobo and the other merchants in anything he may have to do to complete his journey to power, so he had decided to leave them on the road from The Land of Fire to The land of lightning In search of a place of solace, and he had found it. Here hidden in the listless Uncharted Islands in the Land of Water. This is where he would begin his journey.

 He let out yet another long sigh and sunk deeper into the spring letting the steam swirl around him.

  Soon, very soon, I will be ready. After all.... the beast grows hungry.


[Exit Thread]

[759]
Total [759+531+539=1829]

Training:
Perception E-0 --> D-0 750/750
Reaction E-0 -->D-0 750/750
Strength E-0 --> E-2 225/225


104 Left over