Daraku was feeling homesick. Yes, it was indeed odd, seeing as he was never really a fan of the dry climate and the neverending sand of Kaze no Kuni, but nonetheless, here he was, wishing he was there. It was an unusual feeling of displacement, as if he knew he didn't belong here in Iwagakure. He got up and got dressed, putting on a pair of shorts and a plain black shirt before leaving the house, with both of his swords strapped to his back. The sun was oppressive and hot, but it wasn't something that bothered him, he was used to hot days like this one. He continued down the dirt roads and crossed the paths of many people, waving hello to a few of them that he'd met before (and one who he'd slept with just last week). Soon enough he was in the Wilderness, just outside of Gisei Lake.

The lake was an abnormality here. The whole village was full of rocks and dirt, but here, it was all crystal blue and shimmering, peaceful yet powerful in size and appearance. Well, there was Waterfall Point, of course, but that wasn't the same. Gisei Lake was just special. He sat by the shore, staring off into the distance. From here, the land past the border was in view, the nature that separated his village of origin from this one. Sunagakure itself wasn't in view, of course, but he wishes it was. Seeing those gourd-like buildings would've brought a smile to his face. Seriously, why was Daraku so down about this? He hated how it made him feel. He needed something to take his mind off of home, and his clan...

A noise interrupted his little train of thought. Daraku turned half-heartedly to face the noise, but found nothing there. "Anybody there? It's fine, I won't bite. Well, at least not right now I won't."

Homesickness... homesickness was for those who actually managed to enjoy their home life. Gen had never had such an opportunity, and the only reason Set did was because he was able to kill people without getting people on his back for it. Now that he was here, he could take care of criminals just the same so there really wasn't anything to miss. It was that reason that they were both relatively happy as they flew across the lake, the lake making ripples as they moved in over it, the wind billowing out over him and sending larger waves than normal against the shore. This, moving with the wind blasting through his hair, was the life of a true traveler. Those who were eternally forced to stand on the land would never be able to have the thrill of being able to do something like this. Still, there was something said for being able to go on the ground every now and then. It was that reason that he did so many missions without Horus' help, which was actually the main reason they were out here right now. they had to reconnect frequently or else they might have an argument. Horus and gen saw each other as brothers, after all, and despite all the love between brothers, it's rare to see any that don't argue.

Moving in over the land, they could see the form of someone... well, yeah, someone pretty much summed him up from up here. Hell, he wasn't even sure if he was a he, that was just what he assumed when it came to thinking about shinobi from major villages like this. Surprising, now that he thought about it, with the main guards of his tribe being women and all. Maybe that line of thinking was just hardwired into people? Oh well, he thought as he swung past, ready to just ignore him and continue on his flight. However, as he moved past, the man seemed to call out to him. Or, to someone else, but they were the only two out here right now, right? He... honestly wasn't sure. that was never a good thing.

"Anybody there? It's fine, I won't bite. Well, at least not right now I won't." This guy... seemed upset. That was the final twist of the knife in his gut. The man was upset and could probably use with some company. It would be failing to follow the fourth path (right action) if he was to just avoid him and let him stay being miserable. So, swooping around the shore and turning to land just in front of the fellow ninja, he poked his head out and looked at him, a little confused. the gourd on his back might have implied that he was from Sungakure, with the majority of the Sabaku clan, but the lack of a headband didn't agree to that line of thought. Admittedly, however, it equally did not disagree with that line of thought.

"Umm.. are you okay?" he asked, still not getting off of Horus' back just in case the man turned out to be hostile. People didn't seem to like wanderers nowadays, it was not safe to get away from his main escape route. Horus, however, seemed more amiable.
"Oh, come on Gen-nii, he looks fucking miserable, do you even have to ask that?" This situation, if he could see it from the outside, probably looked like an absurdist comedy. Some white haired kid that looked like he came from this guy's village just swooped down out of the sky, riding a giant hawk, who was now talking in a tone that seemed to be full of arrogance. Anybody would be confused about what was going on, if they didn't live it every day of their life.

"Umm.. are you okay?" said the voice from the shade. It turned out to be a boy, nothing really special about him except for the fact that he was riding a GIANT-ASS HAWK. Daraku coughed awkwardly. "Oh, come on Gen-nii, he looks fucking miserable, do you even have to ask that?" Daraku stared at the hawk. Was this a summon? That was probably what it was. Still, it was odd to see such a small kid flying around on a freaking hawk. Daraku addressed this hawk's statement with a tinge of annoyance. "Now, I wouldn't go as far to say that I'm 'fucking miserable', I'm actually having a good week, but I'm definitely feeling a bit off today." With that point across, he looked back to the waters of the lake, completely still. A single gust of wind broke the stillness, sending rippling waves along the water and blowing his hair back a little.

Daraku turned back to face the guy and the hawk, figuring he may as well be amiable. He took a closer look at the two. The guy was tall, probably taller than Daraku was, with long blonde hair. His arms were covered in tattoos, and his face was pleasant to look at. His eyes were a similar color to Daraku's own. The hawk was a variety of dark colors like black and brown with white streaks under its wings. Its eyes were yellow, with pitch-black pupils that focused on Daraku. He smiled at them and made an attempt at conversation. "So tell me, kid, what's your name, and what brings you to the lake today? And who's that hawk of yours?" They were valid questions, and presently he awaited an answer as he kicked his feet in the dirt out of boredom.

The man was staring at the hawk, obviously surprised about what was going on. Absentmindedly, Gen's hand moved out and gently petted Horus' head, trying to soothe him. He knew for a fact that if the man didn't stop making a scene like that there was probably going to be some awkward stuff down the road, so it was better to prevent that if he could rather than just let it happen and not say anything about it. However, there was the fact that Horus' little comment got disliked instantly by the man who seemed to be taking offense to it. Apparently he was not "fucking miserable", or really miserable of any kind, sexually active or not. However, he did admit that he was feeling a bit off today, and Gen jumped on that statement, hoping to find a common ground between the two that wouldn't result in either yelling at the other, there was no need for an argument.

"So, you are feeling a bit off? What's wrong? Don't worry, I won't press if you don't want to tell me, but if you want to then I'm all ears... well, not all ears. I've only got two after all. But the two that I have are listening. " he said, before moving to dismount from his brother's back, after seeing that this guy wasn't instantly hostile he got a better feeling about dong this now than he had done before, and besides, it was probably rude to carry on a conversation whilst still mounted up. That was implying that he might leave at any moment, which just wasn't true. After all, it was rude to just bail on people like that, and he was not a rude person... At least, not most of the time, depends if you classed Set and him as a whole person or as two people because of their different personalities.

Then the man called him "kid", and his face sank into a pout, a little childishly, looking away as the man continued talking. Why did everyone assume that he was younger than he was? He was older than most of the people that called him kid, and with his training, a hell of a lot more mature. Apparently, however, maturity doesn't stop someone from pouting.
"Kid? I'm twenty..." he moaned, before adding the rest of the conversation. "I'm Sabaku Genzai, and before you ask I'm not from Suna. I've never actually been there before, if you must know, I'm just a member of one of it's clans and before we found you, I was out on the lake was Horus here, we haven't been able to spend much time together with all the work that I've been given by the kage recently." He paused for a second to realize just how weird it was that the kage was giving missions to people not from his village, that was like... what was it called, mercenaries?

Horus answered the man's question, either because it was apparent that Gen had stopped listening and was lost inside his own thoughts again, or maybe it was because he didn't like people talking about him as if he wasn't there.
"I'm Horus, I'm the "Kid"'s little brother, and no before you ask we're not blood related, not like that matters though." He said ruffling his feathers slightly, before continuing on with his conversation.
"So, really, you've never seen a speaking animal before? They're really not all that uncommon."