The Chuunin Exams had collected an array of shinobi from far and wide whether they were hostile or not was another question but as it stood it seemed that though these festivals were supposed to promote a friendly rivalry there always held some event or major catastrophe that seemed to happen. Hopefully it wouldn't this year but who knew, when it came to the shinobi world anything from ninja aliens to kung fu emus were all possibilities and Xiao was exactly one of these oddities. A boy who became a spider who became a boy, born from a summon animal and a foreign knight and sired by a fluffy spider sage that he had never met. He was a contradiction but despite this he carried with him a deep hope not only for the safety of all those around him but the world would never lose it's strange way of being. He'd been walking through Shinwato before the exams themselves, it would be a while until they knew exactly who they were fighting and even when the time came Xiao didn't truly care much just who it was at all. He didn't have any intention of winning, nor was he even here to do that at all, if anything he felt he needed quite a lot of training to become a Chuunin and deep down felt he hadn't reached the level he wished he was at just yet.

With the Ice Princess and the Web Princess as his adoptive mothers and a tendency to find himself in compromising positions the little Spider shinobi found peace in this crowded isolation. Surrounded by many and yet feeling as if the only person on earth as he walked down the streets examining folk that walked on by wondering what their stories were, what their experiences were, the entire world all filled with little chakra souls that each held desires, hates, loves and a variety of other such things. It was something Xiao thought about often, The Web of Life that connected every shinobi on earth all bound to their strands and fate but all connected as one. Purchasing a firework pinwheel, some firework bumblebees and a few smaller flasher fireworks as well as a candy floss from a local vendor he made his way to a small waterfront garden watching the candy floss flop in the wind reminding him much of Chigetsu's own hair. He smiled faintly as he observed it's wavering thinking on how the hunter nin must be feeling right now or if he had decided to attend at all.

Finding a large stone seat near a willow tree, a gentle fishing spot or so it seemed the shinobi sat cross legged and drew his Guqin. He hadn't played in a while, not since what happened to his parents by the hands of Samuru and Haka Osada. He was, by all sense of the word, an orphan now and though that pained him what harmed him more was that those who had killed his parents he would count as his close friends. It was a fishing spot, and thus Xiao opted to play something to do with fishing wavering his fingers over the steel strings as he played watching the water thinking over the past year. Slaying bandits with Sachihiro, His mothers death and last words that with great power came great responsibility, His fathers by the hands of his friend Samuru, his discovery of his spider like blood, the brutal training of Haka Osada...All leading to this moment on his strand of the Web of Life. He knew he was immature and unlike other shinobi. He wasn't dark or brooding, he wasn't powerful or proud, he was a jester who was blessed with webs. He didn't know why he was here or when he would have to truly grow up but right now he was simply in the moment playing his guqin and admiring the water.



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669

Shinwato...yet another place Aura has never seen before. That being said, she's been hard pressed at seeing anything, considering she can't see at all. Yet this never stopped her from enjoying the places she went, meeting new people, or even training. To do so would be a misservice to her goals in life, and to say that everyone that ever put her down was right. To Aura, they were horribly wrong, and she already demonstrated this by walking as though she could actually use her sight, using all of her other marvelous senses to accomplish the feat; touch was the most important, but she also relied on the scents of greasy party food, the sounds of her own footsteps and others, and even the taste she got from the cool, crisp winds of evening. Through all of this, of course, what attracted her the most that day was the light splashes of water that came nearby. Having no idea of the source, Aura trotted her way over to the less than hidden fishing spot, intent on listening to it more.

As she got closer to the body of water, alongside another being entirely, the young little woman slowly sat herself around the shore of it, plopping down on the sand, dirt or grass, whichever came first, before extending her legs and dipping her button toes into the water. It was lukewarm at the moment, though it would quickly change the longer she waded herself in it, due to her own body temperature. Cold radiated off her body, so anything she ever touched would meet the same fate if it did not have a heat to match it. That being said, she was rather beautiful, her cloudy, sightless baby blue eyes staring absently off into the distance, her hair snow white, long and luscious, and downed in a white and blue kimono, tied up together by a red ribbon, all which covered her petite figure. She giggled a bit, kicking her feet lightly in the water, yet not disturbing the fish cause she was a considerable distance away from the boy who fished, fortunately for him.

It wasn't any of her business what someone else was doing, so that's why she had not approached the young man, though she wouldn't have minded making friends. But fishing was a serious business in her own village, so interrupting such a practice was frowned upon, a habit she herself took into consideration. As long as she wasn't a bother, it would be fine, as she could enjoy the simple embrace of river around her feet, unburdened by the upcoming Chunin Exams. Exploring the world was what Aura cared about most at the moment, taking in whatever she had lost during her lonely childhood, making up for the time that passed. Doubly so for making friends. Who needed a silly fighting competition when she could challenge herself by taking a twenty mile hike? Or staying as still as she possibly can in a serene setting? Maybe even just playing chess with an old man? There was no end to the fun she had, so to her, being a Genin was still fun right now. Her content was found in the mundane, as even that she had not experienced in life. Such a simple thing, really.

[Current WC: 557]

The guqin playing was met with the rhythm of footsteps, something that made the young shinobi's attention spark as he marked out the sounds of movement followed by the gentle sounds of spreading grass that came with sitting and dipping ones toes in the water. His eyes attempted to locate the sound, staring for a moment at what appeared to be a spirit or yokai created from ice itself. She had the look of Kirigakure about her, it wasn't that Xiao was a psychic or had some sixth sense at all but rather that every shinobi who seemed to come from the mist each held a certain aesthetic with their albino hair, fair skin and frail bodies. Xiao atleast checked one box of the three seeming requerements to be a Kirigakure shinobi and he even had the tragic backstory to boot that atleast allowed him to feel some semblance of belonging besides the fact of being a spider-human hybrid that scarcely knew what type of creature he actually was let alone if he was human at all. Gazing upon the girl feelings did well up in Xiao, not that he was a lusty adventurer or seeking such things but it had been a year and he was entering puberty and with it did come some semblance of emotions in those regards but extended no more than the admission of her beauty. Glancing to her he watched as she splattered and played with the water

She was far off from his current position but with the combination of white hair and pale flesh he knew she must have been one of his own. That was, if it wasn't infact Yoshito in disguise, with a sliding of his guqin onto his back webbing strands to make a makeshift backpack for his instrument he began to slowly walk towards the kunoichi. As he stepped carefully forward he made he went over what to say in his head, when it came to women Xiao seemed to consistently run into those who wielded blade better than heart and had met with quite a few risky encounters already, namely those with his two adoptive mothers Verdandi the princess of the ice and Haka Osada the princess of the web. These two besides his own biological mother were the only real exchanges he had with women and thus had left him with a unique view on how these creatures functioned. In his own mind they tended to be cold, brutally honest, assertive and above all else ruthlessly powerful whilst the men in his life he had met though quite diverse all seemed to be warm, hotheaded, humorous and above all else strange in their own manner, it was an odd thing for Xiao in his own limited knowledge of the world that the women he had met had emulated this and thus as he approached the girl he did so with the utmost of caution. "Uhh, Hey" he stated with a wave as he walked forward towards the ice user.

"You're from Kirigakure right? I mean hey I'm just guessing with the whole ice on ice on ice design you've got going on" Xiao stated gesturing to the appearance of the girl infront of him with a friendly tone hanging in his voice as he approached her. Stopping roughly a metre or so away from her he leaned on the ball of his heel as he pressed his thumb to his chest "Kyutai of the Spiders, y'know?" he stated with a smile as he slid down next to Aura sitting across from her in a crouched position not quite sitting or standing but rather squatting as he looked to her "Man I thought I knew EVERYBODY" he chuckled shaking his head as he scratched the back of his neck looking her over once more hoping he wasn't intruding as his eyes darted about for a moment trying to think of a reason as to why he approached her out of his pure impulsivity that it truly derided from "
Uhh, so you're here for the exams too?"

It seemed her splashing antics within the fishing waters of the one she heard from earlier had caught their attention, as only moments after her arrival they had started walking towards her. The nervous thought that she had disturbed their own fun had crossed her mind for only split second, before she pushed it into the back of her mind. How could she be paranoid about meeting a new person? It wasn't like he was rushing over or anything to come smack her in the face. No one was like that but her foster family, and if they wanted to hurt her they would have done it already anyway. Her color scheme and overall appearance was eye catching, so of course anyone would want to know what she was about upon seeing her, right? Strangers were only friends she hadn't met yet. That was the attitude she wanted to take on with this meeting.

As the young man approached her, there was only one thing she could recognize from him of any significance; that was the scent of spider silk. There was no way for her to know anything about why he smelled like this, but it was definitely there, and she could not mistake it for anything else. It was not unpleasant to her, as it reminded her of morning dew in Kirigakure, bringing a sense of comfort to her, as they were in foreign lands. A small, lovely smile crossed her soft, pale face, as she started to shift her sitting position to look in the direction of the boy, her eyes absently finding them. From their perspective, her eyes would not follow a single movement, only the sounds that followed them, so she was essentially looking at his legs as he began to speak, before trailing upwards to find his face. They were a very light baby blue, the pupils barely visible under her hazy gaze, yet being as beautiful as a cloudy, early morning sky.

Though it was a slightly surprise that he too managed to figure out she was from Kiri, it didn't really bring much shock to her. There was no mistaking what he smelled like, and it seemed he had gotten comfort from the waters and fishing, just like anyone from her Village would. The 'ice on ice' comment she gotten also pretty much sated her worries and made her much less apprehensive. She was in the company of her fellow citizen, a nice yet awkward one at that. Though she saw nothing, the nervous twitches and sounds his body and voice let out was clear that he wasn't sure how to talk to her. Kyutai of the Spiders? Was that his clan or something? Maybe that is why he had the scent of spiderweb. Either way, she decided to try and relax him, using her own soft, whimsical voice, almost akin to that of a fallen maiden ghost.

"Yes, I'm from Kiri. It's nice to meet you, sir...my name is Aura. Be at ease, I can tell you don't feel too welcome towards me...I like to think I'm friendly. I didn't come here for the exams...just wanted to expand my horizons and take a break from training...what's your name?"

[Current WC: 551 + 557 = 1108]

The Yuki member was pretty much what Xiao expected, poised and shy and resembling ice in every way. Such was their clan and their tendency to adhere to such design whenever Xiao had met their kind. The Albino ice users all seemed to hold that same regality no matter their ranking within the clans leadership and Aura was no different. As she smiled to him he couldn't help but feel warm, something the yuki members couldn't often project with their bodies and yet Xiao felt that warmth surround him as he looked into her eyes that seemed to shift as if guilty or perhaps just self conscious, quite the opposite of Xiao's tendency to be outgoing to the nth degree.

She confirmed she was from Kiri, it was a start and Xiao was happy to have it, his suspicions were confirmed - she must be or rather of course she was, between the icey design and her position there was no doubt in Xiao's mind she would be from the hidden mist as it was Xiao that didn't quite fit there and not the soldiers of Aya that tended to be able to be spotted out in a line known for their quiet yet ruthless combat.

Her name was Aura, it was a beautiful name and something similar to what Xiao had heard from his father of names of his own people or rather one half of his people, the Gelel Knights. Aura, it meant a spiritual essence that radiated out or an ethereal presence outside of something in Xiao's tongue though he knew it could be attributed to less in others. it fit the Yuki nin quite well, almost as well as Xiao fit his own.

She proceeded to say that he wasn't 'too welcome' towards her, much to his confusion which caused the boy to wave his hands with a laugh "Hey hey, no no, I didn't mean it like that y'know? You seem like a pretty peaceful person anyway - not everyone can chill, err literally, without ending up training these days so that's enough proof for me." Xiao stated with a grin to the little Yuki ninja who proceeded to explain her reasoning for appearing in the land of fire.

"That's the spirit! More Kiri nin need to do just that, stop getting all trapped up in the 'cool silent killer' deal and start adventuring, y'know?" Xiao passionately exhumed not realising just how pasisonately he spoke out these words like a passionate politician trying to sway a crowd, he pointed to his chest with a grin "Names Xiao but folk call my Kyutai...or loser...or hey shut up...or get out of here..." he stated thinking on the amount of Kirigakure shinobi that just couldn't stand him in any way "You're a genin though right? why not compete for chuunin?"