Verdandi would eventually make her way to the entrance of the ruins playground. She could venture further but it was suggested by the guards that these lands here weren't really safe. Verd would hence stay close to the gates of the most nearby village. It had been an easy, short walk from Kiri here. It seemed peaceful. Empty mostly. A lot of broken down buildings and monuments in shambles. Unsure why they had never been rebuilt. Verdandi would scratch herself at the back of her head. She had been requested to do some fancy training with a younger Yuki Clan. The one from the previous missions to the southern borders. Verd had memories that were foggy about it. As if part of those stories were somewhat unwritten. She did however certainly remember the very ambitious young man. After all he was on the list of potential pupils to be assigned to Ahoban. Among about a dozen others. Verd however, despite swearing she would never practice favourism, had a certain pet peeve of enjoying the company of fellow frost clansmen. It kind of put her at ease sometimes to remember that she wasn't the only creepy person whom could freeze down stuff at whim. Verd would give Avalanche a pat on the butt and send him off. "Go find a pond sweetie. I can smell water in the air. Shouldn't be too far off." Verd would say. Knowing the bear would rather cool himself in his favourite element over just standing around idly.

The large monster trotted off towards the ruins. Verdandi kept eyeing her surroundings and stared back into the village. The guards gazing at her somewhat unusual appearance from her specially crafted Yuki Combat gown. She stared down herself like "What? Something wrong?" but eventually would see them blushing up and getting awkward about it and just trying to avoid any actual conversation. Verdandi chuckled. She gazed deeper into the camp. The village had a cozy feeling to it. She had no clue why one would suspect raiders and even nuke-nin to be around here. That was crazy. She hadn't seen a kiri missing-nin since the war and those certainly didn't hide under the broad daylight in Kiri. She shook her head. It was silly. But seeing as the wilderness had certainly reclaimed part of the ruins, some wild animals would certainly be out there somewhere. Good, that she had Avalanche available. The guy can smell problems from afar. Eventually, the young man would arrive. Verd would bow as it is custom to her branch of the family, unsure how related the two of them were. She tilted her head. "Welcome, good to see you again, cousin? I was under the impression you needed to learn some of your own heritage, right? But let's find a cozy spot first… the Aisu ruins here were thematic and just as well the reason why I called you here after your request." And with that. Verd would trott off into the distance. Taking the young boy along for a casual walk. Open for chit chat.


520

Kaori sighed as he made his way to the ruins, stretching. He had decided not to bother with his ninja outfit past the forehead protector, instead wearing simple, light clothing that he could move around in. He had requested to train with the other Yuki, knowing he needed to learn more about the clan he had been born into. The guards nearby, and the sight of Verdandi, made him stand up straighter as he headed towards the woman. When she bowed, Kaori bowed as well, his family having ingrained etiquette into him long before they left him out on the streets. It was only respectful to bow when somebody bowed to you. Standing back up, he listened quietly to her words. "Indeed you are correct. I was taught nothing of my heritage by my mother, the one with the Yuki blood in her." He said, nodding in agreement when she decided it would be best to find a better spot first.

The genin was rather quiet as they walked, thinking. He had a lot to learn, and this "cousin" of his could probably teach him a lot of what he needed to know about the clan. He knew nothing but the name of the clan and that they could manipulate ice. "So... what is it exactly you had in mind, today?" He asked, slightly curious as to what she was planning for this little excursion. He had many questions, but most would probably be answered in their own time today. That was all well and good, Kaori could be patient when he needed to be. He had already learned the cost of being too impatient, from the burns on his face. Impatience only led to injury, in most cases. Or other situations that could easily be avoided. So yes, he would wait. He didn't know much of the woman in front of him... but he could tell she would teach him a lot. And probably not just about the clan... she was clearly a lot stronger, and wiser, than he was. Or at least, that was his opinion of her.

He did not speak again, taking in the ruins around him. The place was probably magnificent in it's prime... but now it was old, worn down, and wild. Beautiful, but no doubt deadly if you encountered the wrong wild animals while there. He occasionally stumbled over stones, once again his blind side giving him trouble. He could not help it yet, he still needed to train himself to work past being entirely blind and deaf on his left side. Though hopefully, he would better be able to train himself soon. He couldn't let his left stay as a blind spot. Being able to know what was going on around him would be crucial to any mission where he actually had to fight.

WC: 481

Verdandi wasn't known for keeping her mouth shut. When she examined her student again and once more revisited his wounds and his own behaviour. Verd would notice the little problem in motion and peripheral sight as it seemed. Verd would lift her palm. Using simple Hyouton manipulation. Pulling water vapor from the air and cooling it down until it would freeze. Using any of her lower ranked ice techniques before she just misshaped it in the end to slowly bend it into a vertical mirror. She would let the mirror hover for a bit right in front of Kaori. Not saying any specific word. It was not tall and easily one could see past its structure, bit if Kaori would glare into the frozen tool before him, he'd realise he could use it to cover his dead spot. Verd let the mirror soon dissolve again, returning to become but vapor in the air and disappearing. "Hmm it was just a test but, if you would dare to make a technique based on frost mirror you could probably even some of your… visual problems out." Verd would not. Not minding much if he would find her way of talking too intrusive or not. She didn't know much about his deafness either so she couldn't really give much hints there for now. As they finally arrived at the central temple, a huge platform ruin could be seen. Something that must once have been a huge monument of the Hyouton Clan's faith. Now but a shadow of its former glory.

Dozens of broken statues, rotten gardens, new wildlife and plants having retaken the land that was once robbed from it. Verd sat herself down on the corner of a heighted pillar and pat her palm next to her in order to sign for her pupil to come and sit down. "Alright. First off… we're here in the Aisu temple. The Aisu are one of the oldest branches of our family. There's also the Kori, the Solstice and Dao, but that’s a longer story. The Yuki itself were but the largest branch of our clan, so that’s why the other side dishes are often just included in that name. Where we exactly come from is a mystery. Most people claim we descended down from Yuki no Kuni, the land of the snow. But many claims this to be untrue. However, we know that Hyouton Clan's have both been born in Yukigakure and Kirigakure. And we're wide spread. Hundreds if not thousands of us exist nowadays. Of course, only a fraction of us was ever able to really control the ice element. But yeah. Our home is in Kiri now. For most of us. As a great evil. Called Hao Uchiha, burned down Yukigakure a few years ago with his devasting all consuming Amaterasu. The land of snow is now but a barren icy wasteland. Only one city remains in the north. Which happens to be my hometown. I'm from the Dao branch mostly but we're somewhat interconnected with the Yuki's by marriage you could say… but again… that's an even longer story! You have any idea what branch your parents were from?"

Verdandi would glare back at the young Yuki Clansmen. Considering he had his past in Kiri he'd most likely just be an Aisu. The oldest of all branches as it seemed. Allowing for the widest spread genes into Kiri as well. Verd had little knowledge about the Solstice, she only knew Ayakashi to be called like that. Not even sure if it was a branch of her own? She had to ask her aunt sometime again when she'd see her.

620 / 1140

Kaori fixed his eyes straight in front of him, still staying quiet as they walked. At first, it was nearly silent, but for the sound of their own footsteps. However, when Verdandi created a simple mirror out of ice before him, he turned to her with a shocked expression. "What is this?" He would ask, before looking harder at the mirror. It took him a minute to figure out, but after studying it a little he caught on to what she was doing. He listened to her explain, nodding simply when she was finished. "I suppose you are right. Though I'm not good enough with hyouton yet, it would be useful to develop a simple ice mirror to use in the future. Probably not any bigger than the one you just made." He said, musing out loud. "Though for today, that obviously was not the purpose of our meeting." There was nothing to be done for now... but he would try and figure out what would work best later. For now he would pay attention to Verdandi and what she had to say. Approaching the ruins of the central temple, he studied whatever he could, only sitting down when Verdandi gestured for him to so so. He sat down beside her, listening quietly as she launched into her first explanation. His attention was focused mainly on her words, making sure to take mental notes on the names of the different branches of the Yuki.

When she finally asked him what branch he thought he was from... well, he honestly had no idea. His mother had never said, and he had no desire to ask her. So for now, he would just assume he was a simple Aisu. Out loud, he would say as much. "Mother never really told me... but I'm going to assume she was an Aisu. She never had fantastic control of Hyouton, though my siblings all did." He said, thinking back to the years before he was kicked out. Nope, nothing really gave any hints. "I wasn't exactly born in Kiri, so for all I know it could be anything. We lived in a small village, a day's or two journey from Kirigakure, perhaps." He explained, frowning slightly. His mother didn't keep anything clan related with her, so he honestly didn't know. Not that he knew much of the clan in general. He was more than willing to learn everything he could, though. It was definitely worth it, in the long run. "The stranger who brought me to Kiri seemed to have an idea... but he passed away before I could ask him."

He looked at her for a minute, before asking a question of his own. "Why do you ask? I'm assuming what you say next will be based off my answer, but I am rather curious." He said, brushing a strand of hair out of the whole side of his face. He didn't need his hair getting in his one good eye right now. He couldn't hear well, with only one ear, but he was managing to figure out what Verdandi was saying as long as he paid close attention. Luckily, he didn't have to focus on more than one thing at once right now. He should really learn how to read lips. That would make it a lot easier to pay more attention to what he could see instead of what people were saying.

WC: 580 Words
TWC: 1,061 Words

Verdandi gazed at the boy and chuckled. He seemed like a broken record. She sorts of enjoyed the idea of an imperfect one being here today. But she didn't know why he wouldn't heal himself. There were plenty of doctors able to fix his visual issue. Verd, from all people would know that. Seeing as she had lost her left eye in battle and now donned an imposing sharingan in its socket. Gently covered by her hair for now and the eye closed though. She did have some personal empathy to him cause of that. Verd had too spent a few months with her injured oculus before it went fully blind. But once that happened Verd instantly searched for her replacement and promptly got one in form that was very unusual and unplanned. She coughed to herself and wondered. What kind of Clan he would be from in this area. Yuki, Kori, Aisu. I mean they were all Yuki… but still. The subculture would be interesting. Maybe someday he'd figure it out as he explores the depths of his existence and follows his ancestors' paths. "Well let's not linger in the branches topic. What is important is. My aunt and hence one of our Clan are currently acting Mizukage. So, our element is really famous in Kirigakure, even all over the world. And the other fact is. As a Hyouton user you should really visit Heidel, the village in the snow someday. I can invite you sometimes. My family lives there despite the empty continent since years."

Verd would caress over her own neck. Eventually Avalanche would join the two. Kaori must have seen the bear during their mission to south Kiri so he shouldn't be too surprised by the huge bears appearance. He was still scary probably in the eye of a young untrained shinobi. Ava casually climbed the pillar the two Yuki Clansmen were sitting on. Soon licking at Verd's cheek before place his huge and heavy head in her lap. Verd would chuckle and caress the loudly breathing, snorting and growling beast. "I'm not sure if you remember Avalanche, he too is from Yuki no Kuni, the land of snow. I found him abandoned and his mother dead when he was but still a little pupper. Now he has grown into quite the size…" Verd would underline once more that this majestic creature was but the top of the food chain in the land of snow. "I dunnou. It seems like you should probably visit Heidel just to find out more about yourself? Also, I promise. Creating Hyouton jutsu in a world made of ice is much easier than here, despite all the moisture and water available in Kiri! So… I guess I could answer your own questions for our bloodline limit or clans… unless you want to train a bit. I just wanted you to show these ruins you can get an idea over what your folk once lived like. They were proud and rich people. But money doesn't preserve a bloodline sadly…"


510 / 1650

Kaori would respond with a gentle smile, when she said he should visit Heidel. "That sounds nice. Visiting the last surviving village in the snow, to find out more..." he said, all his features softening. He didn't look nearly as stiff, or perpetually annoyed any more. More relaxed. More like he was having an actual good time here. The young boy sighed, content to sit there in the moment. Relaxing for a bit... that sounded more his speed than anything else. Though it was true, he ought to be training or doing missions. Anything to get closer to his end goals. So when Verdandi's bear approached, and she spoke, he would listen to her in the same quiet manner as always. "I do remember. He is quite the impressive creature, no doubt about it." He said, looking at the bear. He was large, especially next to a midget like him... but he didn't scare Kaori. He loved animals. No matter how large. As long as they weren't amphibians, any form of insect, or any reptile besides snakes, he would generally like them. After Verd's next statement, Kaori would think for a minute. At the moment, he didn't have very many questions he could think of. He snorted at the statement that money doesn't preserve a bloodline, though. "That is pretty true. Money can't stop a clan from dying off." He stated, taking a second longer to decide what to say next. "As for questions... I can't quite think of any at the moment. I suppose training wouldn't hurt though, it might help balance out a few weaknesses I need to get over." He finally said, climbing down the pillar and then looking up at Verdandi.

She could help him train if she wanted, he would greatly appreciate that. But he would train alone otherwise. He didn't mind being here, rampant rumors about missing nin hanging around or not. He felt safe enough here, and he wasn't entirely helpless... he'd be fine alone. Just fine. In his head, he wondered what to train first. Adjusting for his blind side? Working on creating that simple ice mirror? Learning new jutsu? There were so many options, and truth be told he needed to work on all of them. Besides academy techniques, he only knew a handful of jutsu. It would be beneficial to learn more. 5 low ranked jutsu did not a ninja make, after all. "I have plenty to train, so training is probably actually a good idea. You're welcome to watch, or help out, but I should be fine on my own if you have other things to do!" He said, looking back up at Verdandi. He wondered what she would do? He did hope she at least watched, though. Any comments she might have would be just as beneficial as actually physically helping.

WC: 467 Words
TWC: 1,548 Words

Verdandi nodded she accepted that he rather wanted to do something worth while than talk all the time. Verd would get up after caressing Avalanche for another while. Leaving the bear to slumber on the pillar. Herself moving towards a plateau of what once could have been a great hall. "This looks nice. Quite some space for us." She'd answer and then look back at her 'sparing' partner. "Alright. We'll train you. But step by step. First you will have to learn some of the basics of martial arts. Usually we divide our skills in different main specifics. Strength and Endurance. Speed and Reflexes. And finally, Perception. For a ninja it is possible to excel in either or all of these. Sucking at either of them can be bad. But eventually if you can balance one with the other you'll be fine as a ninja. Strength defines how hard you can punch. Endurance how many punches you can take. Speed how fast you can move and evade. Reflexes how fast you can react to things happening and ho well your instincts work. Perception will define how well you perceive the battlefield, not just visually but also by feeling into your surroundings. Hearing. Smelling and just sensing what's going on around you. You need to train all of these things if you want to somewhat make it is a shinobi. So, lets start with number one. Strength."

Verdandi would get into a basic Karate defensive position. All shinobi were able to use martial arts to a certain degree. Verd would be curious to see what style the other clansman would use. Preparing herself for him to come at her. Verdandi's speed and reflexes vastly exceeded his skills. She could probably pick every of his fists from thin air if she wanted to. But Verd wanted to analyse his movements and give him some space to adapt and improve himself. Hence, she would step a few times left and right to watch if he'd seriously get into an offensive position. "Don't be afraid to try and hit me. I have seen battle countless times and I have faced death basically on a daily basis for the last two years. You shouldn't worry too much. Just go ahead and try your best. Try to copy my own movements when I will try to punch back at you. I will not use my full strength, simply because there is no need for that. You'd do the same if our roles were reversed I'm sure. So, lets see what you can do. Punch me as hard as you can. Try to kick me. Hurt me and make sorry for challenging you!" she would joke a bit with the last part, but teasing the kiddo might help motivate him to get his socks ready for actual combat and take this whole thing serious enough to learn something from it. Verdandi had trained quite a few newbies into martial arts she should hence be capable of doing the same here again.


510 / 2160

(You are at 1.5k of 3.4k WC to turn all your stats from E to D-Rank.)

Kaori listened to her words intently, each description of different skills and their categorization having him in full listening mode. He wasn't about to kiss a word she said. She was training him, it was only respectful to listen to what she had to say first. He already knew, endurance would be a weak point of his. He had always been somewhat more fragile than other kids, and here is where he would find himself lacking. This, there would be no doubt. He was fragile and slow to heal, half of the reason why the burns on his face still looked so intense. The incident had happened weeks ago, but they had yet to heal.

From the moment Verdandi started talking, telling him to attack her, Kaori's attention focused solely on her. It was almost like he got tunnel vision, able to see only one target in his mind. Verdandi was asking him to come at her. And if she wanted him to attack her despite being obviously stronger and faster than him? Well, there was nothing he could really do about it. All he could do was get into a fighting stance and hope for the best. He kept himself light on his feet, trying to keep them a shoulder width apart. His hands were curled into fists, kept up, but not too high. He groaned in his head, knowing this was guaranteed to hurt no matter what. But oh well. Hurt was unavoidable as a ninja. All he could do was face it like a man. He looked at Verdandi reluctantly, trying to decide how to attack her. He couldn't focus on anything but her no matter how hard he tried, he was just that unable to focus on multiple things. Sighing, he resolved to just rush at her and take it from there. If he could analyze her movements as she defended... maybe, just maybe, he could eventually cause some kind of damage.

He tried his best not to trip as he rushed at her, his fists ready. He went for a more direct method first, testing her. There wasn't much else he could do, really. She would wipe the floor with him either way. He'd just be proud to land a punch. His fist swung out, not towards her face or her abdomen, but still direct enough and aiming for her side. He put all his force behind it, which honestly wasn't much. But still, a guy had to try, right? His movements were clumsy, and frankly, rather slow. He nearly tripped as he swung at her, having not really paid attention to their surroundings. He ended up having to steady himself, leaving him open to attacks. He was lucky he hadn't fallen over, but it was still a mistake that would probably cost him in terms of this training session.

WC: 482
TWC: 2,030

Verdandi watched the young Yuki prepare his stance. It was poor in both defensive properties and offensive. Verd chuckled. Remembering the moments, she started out like this. Aunt Ayakashi gave her the first real training spar of her Genin'hood. Being put into the dirt by the Mizukage. Verd grinned. Would she be as mean to Kaori as auntie had been? Her lessons were certainly effective. That was for sure. But Dandi wasn't the 'give you a lesson you won't forget' type. Instead she waited. Allowed Kaori to move, giving him the chance to show how he would fight. After all. He was a ninja. Being of lower skill or not. He had the talent of martial arts within him since he entered the academy. Now that those days were long gone. He'd just have to find his pick of martial arts and go with it. For Verdandi, it was a very uncommon speciality. She picked her field of choice to be 'blade dancing' and complimented her Kenjutsu and Taijutsu kata with specific elements she once used when she did blade dancing for simple show. It was an aesthetic choice at first. But eventually Verd had figured a way to use the flexibility of her dance-like motions to enhance her reflexes and speed during combat. Ver wouldn't really need to show her full Kata here though, nor would it make sense to show the boy an already specific specialization of martial arts while he was struggling with the implemented basics.

As his first fists came forward. Verd would gently brush them aside with her palms until their potential force were negated to the side. Encouraging Kaori to try again and again and again. To come and try to hit her. To kick her. To let his fist, find his target. In a moment of surprise, when he obviously left a big hole in his defense, Verd's fist would quickly move forward and hit Kaori in the side, into his ribs. However, Verdandi used chakra to dampen her own powers even below E-Rank values. The thud of the fist could be heard, seen and felt by Kaori. But there was neither damage nor pain to be felt. Once Kaori understood that he could spar with Verd without getting beaten into a pulp. Verd would frequently attack back and punch him where he had a clear opening in his defense. Verd wouldn't just do so for a few minutes. Her training would be hard and demanding. Kaori would soon find himself strapped down for a whole hour of fist combat. Verdandi using the continuous testing to clearly show him his mistakes by punching him, painlessly, but 'shocking' him into a slight annoyance each time he failed to avoid it. Until the moment. Verdandi would move her fist forward to attack one of Kaori's lack in defense's and her palm would be stopped mid-way by Kaori. Making Verd's eyes widen at the reaction. But she wouldn't stop there just as he showed a little improvement. No, he had to learn how Verdandi attacked by watching her and how she defended alike.


530 / 2690

Verdandi kept her effort going to show Kaori as many techniques as she could in their first training batch. It wouldn't take much longer until the first results of their sparing match would show and Verd was able to spy progress within her student. She'd chuckle as he didn't seem to realize it just yet. He'd probably need a second round to figure it out properly. But for now, the training was over. Both of them could go home and rest. A promising student at last. One that actually might make it to the second round? Verd wasn't sure but a senpai could still have hopes and dreams?

[EXIT]


70 / 2800

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Kaori had been rather hesitant to keep fighting, that much he knew from the moment this training had started. But it was training he needed, he knew that. He didn't want to be stronger for his own sake, but for people like him. And that was something he just couldn't give up. He had to focus, despite the obvious difference in skill levels shown. And focus he did. It seemed the only thing he could really focus on right now was Verdandi, her movements and her reactions to everything in the fight. Fighting was painful, tough, and frankly rather difficult to learn. But he was trying, even with every light blow his teacher landed on him. Each hit was an annoyance, a clear distraction. He watched her, but her movements weren't so easily predictable for a genin like himself. No, he had to pay very close attention. The blows kept coming on both sides, missing or being blocked on Kaori's part, and getting past his defenses every time on Verdandi's.

The time passed in a blur, with Kaori's stamina dropping the longer they went. He simply wasn't as strong or fast as his mentor. He was getting tired too quickly, having to pause for breath after every few minutes that passed. A kick, aimed at Verdandi's side, missed. A blow he meant to block landing on his stomach. The cycle of not being able to stand against her continued, each humiliating little defeat only serving to make him angrier. He was a ninja, wasn't he? What was he doing, messing around here? He had to keep going, even if he really just wanted to flop to the ground and not get back up. And thus, when her next blow came he moved to block it... And actually managed to catch her fist. It was a mix of pure dumb luck and frustration, but he had made some small progress. Adjusting to his blind spot was difficult, but he was slowly making some kind of improvement on his bad fighting skills. The lesson continued, until finally it was time for both to part ways and head home. With a sore body and a determination to do better, he walked away. He hoped that he could learn enough, from Verdandi.

WC: 387 words
TWC: 2417

[EXIT]

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