No rest for the weary…


“Ha!” The word burst from his mouth as his right arm exploded outward. His fist cut through the air like a hot knife through butter. “Ha!” A second straight armed punch with his left hand, just as explosive as the first. “Styah!” The final strike of a three legged combination. He’d dropped his right shoulder slightly, and rocketed a well formed uppercut. He then dropped his left shoulder, and threw a hooking left. “Hunh!”


The young villageless warrior reset his stance to begin yet another sequence. However, already his muscles were burning with the fire of hours of training. Long ago the sun had gone down, so long ago that he had forgotten when it happened. His only indication was his exhaustion - something that brought forth memories he would have rather left in the abyss of his mind. His arms fell to his side. It was certainly time to take a break.


Kino pivoted on his heels and turned to the face of the cliff that stood watch behind him. He walked toward it and then sat down, pressing his back against it. For a moment his gaze wandered upward toward the cliffs peak. From the rocky face a root jutted outward, the only blemish the formation bore on it’s otherwise naturally jagged surface. Earlier in the day Kino had ascended the cliff and that root had been his target. The practice was meant to build up his strength. The task itself was something his older brother had done often. “Nature is the greatest master, it can push the body in ways nothing else can,” he would often say, usually followed by the admission that only actual combat could teach a stronger lesson.


The Shihana shinobi’s body relaxed, finally allowed to rest for a moment. Slowly his eyes closed, giving way to the exhaustion that engulfed him like a warm blanket. It wasn’t long before sleep had overtaken him and with it quickly came dreams colored by the thoughts he’d been unable to shake off prior.


No rest for the wicked…


“Focus Kitohara, shoulder width.” He added as he slid his right foot between his younger brothers and pushed his feet a little further apart.. He then grasped his brother’s right hand. “The knuckle of your index finger forward, curl your thumb and press it against the nail of your index finger. This way you’ll support it.” He said with a smirk. “Hold it tight, Kitohara, until it almost hurts. You’ll get used to it as your hands become accustomed to the position of the fist. As you throw the punch twist your wrist, keeping it straight, firm and strong.” As he continued to explain he followed his own instruction as he moved toward a nearby boulder. He’d positioned the boulder there himself sometime ago for use in his younger brothers training. As he’d finished the last bit of his final sentence he threw a punch at the boulder. When his knuckle hit it a large crack ran across the surface of the thing. He’d held back and still managed cause terrible damage. “It’s stronger than even Mom’s Tiger Tooth.” He finished with a smile. “Now, come. You try.”


The younger nodded; “Okay, Kino.” He said with a wide grin, happy to be learning. As he stepped closer to his older brother the ground beneath his feet began to rumble. “K-kino?” The youngster questioned shakily.


BAHROOOM! The ground roared violently and split just ahead of the youngsters feet. An inferno erupted from the rupture in the earth causing the boy to stumble back and fall on his ass. “Kinooo!” He called out to his brother frightened. It seemed the power of his voice calmed the blaze, shoving it back into the earth. When finally the boy could see beyond it his eyes fell upon horror. Gone was his the open field in which he and his brother trained. In its place a wasteland, bodies strewn about haphazardly. Among them stood a firey demon, the body of the boy’s elder brother in hand and at his feet faces all too familiar.


“K-kito… Kitohara… r-run…” The boy’s brother commanded of him as flame erupted from the demon to engulf him.


No rest at all…


“Ah!” Kino jumped from his sleep. “Kino…” His brothers name fell from his lips in a whisper. He sighed heavily as he rose to his feet. It was time to start training again, he owed it to his brother - to the name he’d claimed.

The sun was rising, the mountains giant silhouettes in the distance and nearby as shadows stretched across the land, almost like they were dancing, mingling. The sounds in the air nearly non-existent; merely filled with the odd birdsong or rustle of rocks or foliage. And in this very situation, as the sky was coated in a golden sheen, a man and his bear decided to go for a walk. The man in question, standing at a quite large height, was walking with a pride in his heavy steps, shoulders slumped in composure and dark jacket short. At his neck, he wore a chain like a scarf, and beneath this, his Iwagakure forehead protector like a collar. His hair, jet black, looked like someone had just electrocuted him, and the goatee at his chin seemed to object to his actual, young, age. The bear that walked aside him, a brown bear of caramel fur, also had an Iwagakure forehead protector around its neck. The duo of Oki and Debu, Iwagakure’s bear genin tag team.

So, as the duo walked, the large bulk of Oki grinned happily, Debu plodding at his side as if he had nothing better to do. Yet something caught the attention of the duo, Oki especially. A sound nearby, in the outskirts of Iwagakure, among a pile of boulders in a decline of a hill; or at least, it sounded like it was over there. Curiosity piqued, and an eyebrow cocked, the man began walking towards the source of the noise. What he saw, he didn’t expect to see in his morning. There stood a somewhat averagely heighted individual, hair in somewhat neat dreadlocks. With every punch the person made, they released a sound, like one could imagine a karate user doing, and Oki being Oki began analysing his posture and form. It was obvious to Oki that he had not been at this training for long, the stranger showing signs of normal breathing. The type of training was rather simple, one Oki was somewhat familiar with, yet something felt lacking. The stranger’s posture was… Odd. Their shoulders were tense, something which would be better used for a defensive posture than the offensive techniques he was using via his punches. A shame, to Oki, and one he couldn’t let go.

Pride swelling in his chest, the bear man stood on top of the nearest rock, looking down at the stranger that was training and shouting out. “You there! The one training! I cannot help but notice you working, and I hope you do not take offense, but, I do believe I can help you!” he exclaimed, before hopping down from the rock, picking up his bear by the forelegs, then jumping back up. “My name is Oki of the Kuma clan, and this little guy here is Debu! If you will allow, I would like to try help you with your exercise! We are in the village of stone after all; and a mountain is not formed from a single stone!” he beamed happily, letting Debu down now, the bear rolling its eyes and hopping down back to the ground with a grumpy growl. Oki really didn’t have any volume control.

533

(OOC: Hope you don't mind me writing your posture/ what you're doing, I tried to assume that Kino would be doing the exercise from his dream/ memory, and assumed the tense thing from the whole "rough sleep/ rough memories" thing~ Hope that makes sense, and if you have any concerns about the post, let me know)

Hai...

Muscle and sinew bunched and twisted, exploded and recoiled. It fought against stiffness and stress. He fought against himself, forcing himself to push through it - to push through the horrid memories that attacked him like some ancient plague. Another punch, far too rigid. Yet another followed, this much too robotic. The young shinobi performed each motion in kind, each portion of this learned dance as if programmed. Still, he could feel the fault in each movement. They lacked the fluidity they were entitled to. He could hear his brothers voice scolding him for these failures.

Kino paused for a moment to collect himself and perhaps smooth the wrinkles in his mind. As if the act itself would bring about the desired result, he ran his hands along either side of his head and his fingers through the dark chocolate locks that adorned his skull. When his fingers found the bit of torn crimson cloth that caged his mane into it’s fairly tight tail, they played at it for a moment. The intent was to pull some rarely seen and sacred memory of his mother forth, one that did not remind only of her mangled and burned body. Slowly his eyes closed. On the backs of his eyelids the warm smile of a woman, that more often seemed ashamed of him than proud, sat. Kino’s lips too curled into a grin, albeit short lived. Even here his demons tormented him. The warmth of his mother’s face dissipated becoming cold and flooded by the tainted carmine hue of spilled blood and dirt.

“RAUGH!” The surviving Shihana grunted as his right arm burst forward, twisting at the wrist as it reached full extension. He’d surely punched a hole in the chest of some imagined foe before him. Yet, still he was far too wooden in his execution. This was however lost on him, instead all he knew in the moment was rage or worse self pity and hatred.

The fighter twisted on his right heel as he rocketed his left leg outward in an arcing motion at an angle perpendicular with the ground beneath him. The thin fabric of his white pants danced in the wind created. His equally thin and alabaster sleeveless tunic followed suit. So swift and powerful was the kick that it continued the twist on his right heel sending him into an uncontrolled spin, that perhaps were he more focused he’d have utilized to further his imagined attack. Instead he found himself off balance and falling toward the ground. There was no effort made to correct this issue. He’d let himself fall, not even bothering to catch himself when he did. thud The ground embraced his face.

A moment passed before he rose to his feet again to retake his stance. “Hrumph.” He steadied himself and began yet another round of punches, each seeming more mechanized than the last. It seemed that even in his waking hours he would find no reprieve, even in training the one thing that most often seemed to calm him. Still, he continued performing various combinations that his brother had imparted to him. Sometime passed and still he felt just as stiff as before. He could hear his brothers voice once more, calling out to him - offering help.

So lost in himself was he that it took a moment before he realized that this voice belonged to a stranger.

Kino’s eyes darted toward where he assumed the sound had come from. His eyes narrowed as, just after a moment of searching, his eyes fell upon a bear of a man. A man accompanied by an actual bear of all things. He’d heard tales of shinobi who fought along side beasts but never had actually seen such a person. Could it be that this stranger was just that? Kino’s lips curled into yet another smile. The bearded stranger reminded him of his brother, though he was certainly larger, atop his rock. There was a certain friendliness in his posture and triumphant tone to his voice that seemed familiar. He chuckled as the man snatched up his companion and made short work of the distance that separated him from the ground. Despite, the ease that initially had overcome Kino he tensed yet again. Though the man seemed amiable, his stature and attire certainly made him seem quite menacing. Still, he’d announced himself and his intent to help before approaching.

Oki and Debu, warriors that called the village of stone their home. Regardless of his distrust of the fighter and his beast Kino accepted their presence. Though it wasn’t until Debu was freed of his master's grasp that he spoke in response. “Kino,” He started with hesitation unsure if he should announce his clan as well. A second of deliberation and the irrational fear of doing so was done away with. “Of the Shihana.” There of course was no need to add any indication of his origin beyond this. “Wisdom spoken well, str -” No, he wasn’t exactly a stranger anymore. “Oki.” He finished with a smile, hoping that the name belonged to the man and not the bear. Yes, this man certainly reminded him of his brother, at least in some ways. Kino’s eyes wandered to the bear, who too bore the emblem of Iwagakure. They were a pair, perhaps even partners in combat as the tales had told. “Debu.” Kino nodded in the beast’s direction before returning his attention to Oki. “You offered help?” He questioned. “In what way?”

Hajime…


OOC: Nope, no problem at all. I actually loved it. Also, sorry for the unnecessary length. I got carried away and am still learning who Kino is.

The genin listened intently as the person replied, nodding thoughtfully. Kino of the Shihana. A short and easy to remember name, something that’d make this easier. So, as Kino spoke his questions, quite reasonable ones, Oki hummed in thought a moment, having observed the persons thought and posture enough to get a rough idea of what he was going for. With a grin, Oki planted his feet at shoulder length, pointing at the individual with a surprisingly long nailed finger. “First and foremost, your posture! Comparative to the technique in which you were practicing by punching straight, you are not fluid enough in body, far too tense!” at this, he gestured to his shoulders, tapping them lightly with his hand as if to accentuate his point. “Were you doing defensive practices, perhaps being tense would work, however, muscle tension slows down your actions, and can lead to injury of self if you attempt to actually fight like such.” He explained, not giving an example this time and instead returning to stroking at the goatee.

With a hum, he looked down on the other person, Debu walking around to stand at Oki’s side then sitting down quite lazily. Oki meanwhile just kept humming, before nodding suddenly. “I’ve got it! First, we shall do some stretches! The first thing you should always do when training is stretch, so that your body is limbered up, and to avoid risk of harming yourself by pulling a muscle!” laughing, the big guy walked over to some rocks, picking them up and throwing them out of the way with haste. A rough space cleared out, he turned to Kino with a grin, before gesturing. “Come! If you are willing, join me! The first thing you’ll want to stretch, because it’s required for all forms of exercise is your back! By stretching your back, you make it so you’ll find the rest of the stretches easier, as well as partially be stretching the rest of the body in the process! Additionally, the inverse is true; injury to your back inhibits the entirety of your body and self! I don’t know the specifics, because I am not a medic, but well, that’s how it goes!” then, whether Kino joined him or no, Oki would begin to lean forwards, hands in front of him, reaching towards the ground. The bear, Debu, would follow this act, standing next to him and mimicking the movements of the stretch with its forelegs. “Hold the posture, the stretch, for about 20 seconds! It might begin to sting if you haven’t done stretches at all, but that is a sign of your body getting used to it and adjusting!” he allowed 20 seconds to pass, leaning up now with a grin and a laugh to begin standing upright again. “Once you are back to your feet, you lean backwards!” it was at this point he’d look to see if Kino was copying, but not reacting if he was or wasn’t. Then, he followed through what he was saying, leaning backwards, hands to his side. “This posture, you hold for 10 seconds, not 20! Mostly because it requires more balance than the prior stretch, and if you fall backwards, it becomes harder to break fall!” Debu’s way of mimicking this stretch, was to stand up on his hind legs, and lean back slightly. The training had begun, whether Kino liked it or not.

568 + 533 = 1101

(OOC: No worries, we all have our own ways of getting into character~)

Stretching

Memories flooded Kino’s mind. This man, Oki, despite his outward appearance being so different reminded him so much of his elder brother. The stone villages shinobi held a similar presence, an air of goodness filled the area around him. Perhaps, something misinterpreted or perhaps a show meant to suppress some true hidden nature. Whatever the case the man seemed to be genuinely interested in aiding Kino despite his being a complete stranger, and worse a man clearly not of his own village. It didn’t seem to matter that the two had only known each other as long as their current exchange. Oki was here to help a fellow martial artist - something that Kino’s brother would have done himself.

Kino nodded as Oki began to speak. Had he really been so tense? He could only accept the bear of a man’s observation. It was not so outlandish as to deny it anyway. The young man’s eyes darted to his hands, where fingers flexed as if the action might loosen some of the tension Oki had witnessed. Kino’s lips twisted into a half smile. Surely his brother would be disappointed in him. He turned his attention back to Oki as he further explained the detriment to his body that Kino was at risk of causing. “Mm.” He nodded as his eyes wandered to Oki’s companion whom had taken up a place at its masters side. He found himself at a loss for words for a moment, though as if the man had inferred what question might come to his mind he began to speak again.

Stretching was his immediate solution to the ailes of Kino’s posture and form. Simple enough. It was something that Kino should have considered before leaping from his slumber and jumping directly back into his training regimen. Kino cursed himself quietly for that simple mistake. He watched as Oki effortlessly cleared a patch for them to begin their training, one more suited what was sure to come. Kino followed at the man’s behest after the briefest moment of hesitation. He was still taken aback a bit by his willingness to help a stranger.

Taking up the free space beside Oki, Kino matched his posture, reaching for the ground and stretching his back. He glanced at Debu who too had taken up the same pose and smiled. ”Right.” He nodded at Oki’s statement of how long they should be holding the pose. After the allotted time had passed Kino looked to Oki for further instruction, who obliged by leaning back and placing his hands on his hips. Kino did the same and nodded once more as he was told that they should hold this position for half as much time. He couldn’t help but to let out a soft chuckle when he noticed that still Debu was matching all that was done. ”How is it that you’ve come to bond with this beast in such a way?”[i] He asked as he continued to stretch.

As the trio continued their stretching, it seemed that Kino had a query to the bear genin, one that from an outside perspective made sense – not a lot was known about the Kuma, even from within the village, so perhaps it was to be expected that someone from outside the village would be clueless. He smirked, waiting for the time allotted for the stretches to pass, before answering the question posed with no small amount of pride. “When we of the Kuma are of age, we are to go and meet a companion of the bears within the woods – one who chooses us, and one who becomes one with us. Think of him like a partner for life to me. We met in the western region of Tsuchi no Kuni, in the woodlands. We brawled for a bit, and then we shared some fish. Two little kids. I’m not too sure I’d call him a beast though, unless it comes to a buffet!” he began laughing a heart chuckle, shaking his head slowly.

“Very well, let’s move on from those stretches. First, take your right leg, and while keeping your left leg where it is, lunge forwards, keeping your left leg straight, and making sure to stretch your right leg as far forward as you can, without causing yourself pain. Stretching is supposed to help you relieve tension in your muscles, not cause pain, so if you begin feeling a tight pain, stop, pause for a few seconds, and then try again at a shorter distance.” He proceeded to lunge forwards, slowly stretching out his body. Unlike before, the bear didn’t copy, instead just sat down and watching. While in this posture, Oki stretched out his arms to his side, and began slowly, and gently, twisting his body from side to side. “This is not something you have to do, as it can mess up your balance if you’re not careful. If you opt to do this, and find yourself falling over, be sure to break your fall by, whichever way you fall, bend the respective arm at a ninety degree angle, and roll from your elbow to your hand, hitting the ground with your palm facing down – this will take the pressure off the fall, and redirect it into the hit.” He stated, before going back to his stretching. “We’ll hold this stretch for about twenty five seconds, and then do the same for the other side. This helps gets your legs ready to move out, which for someone that focuses on striking like yourself, allows you to aim for longer distance blows, as well as duck and dodge more efficiently. The twisting of the body should speak for itself.” He said with a nod.

After this stretch was done, and the opposite side was done, provided Kino did not need to stop and take a break to avoid injury, Oki would proceed to move on to the next part of his warm up. “Next up, we are going to do a classical exercise! One of the most famous, and in my opinion, most effective, yet simple! Star jumps! Or, I believe in some places they refer to it as jumping jacks… Quite simply, this should be self explanatory on how to do it, yes? But, just in case, a little piece of advice. Make sure to land flat footed! While it might be tempting to land on your tip toes to keep more agile, this will put unrequired pressure upon your toes, things which are too small and fragile to effectively take the weight of a person that is falling – it’s good for occasional bursts of speed or agility when moving from point to point, but for the sake of warm ups, it simply poses an unneeded risk!” he declared, before getting at a complete standing position. “So! Once more, follow my lead! It is time we begin our star jumps! We shall do ten of them before moving on to the next warm up activity, and then do ten more! I do believe we are getting to the point where we can work on your posture for punching, however it is important to be completely stretched so as to avoid any form of strain or simply general unfortunate incidents and accidents! Let us begin!” he declared, before beginning to do star jumps, grinning a rather toothy grin as he did so, the bear simply rolling from side to side as its own method of warming up and partaking in the exercise it couldn’t do itself – bears were not meant for high agility jumping after all. That was more like, a frog, dog, cat or kangaroo sort of thing. In fact, it could be shown apparent that Oki himself wasn’t the best at jumping, the dust kicking to the sides of his feet as he jumped with a weight that on its own was surprisingly graceful, if not just for the consistent posture.

825 + 1101 = 1926