It was an odd day to be in Hi no Kuni.

From what she'd heard about the place---no, even from the name---one would think that the Land of Fire would be a place of fair (if hot) weather and sunshine.

Today was just a big nooooope to that.

It was terrible....the one day she was supposed to be collecting herbs. The light breeze that came over the grassy knolls comforted the young girl in a periwinkle tunic-dress, ruffling her loose sleeves ever so slightly and tossing her hair, yet not so much as to annoy. Yes, even though the clouds overreached so much as to cover what normally might have been blue, down to where the sky met the edge of the earth to human eyes.

"Ugh....overcast is never good for the potency of herbs.... Hopefully I can make a good salve out of these...." She mumbled as such to herself as a distant crack of thunder rumbled into earshot.

That came as both a blessing and a curse to Noriko.

Where she was, with how fickle the weather seemed to be in the areas not near Konohagakure no Sato, it might as well have been signalling a flash-flood. As she was on top of a hill, she couldn't ask for more....but what if a thunderstorm broke out? High ground was never a good option there.

Simply sighing, the young woman resolved that she should probably find somewhere else to stay.

Droplets of water fell from the heavens as Noriko ambled aimlessly about the Hills. That is, until she found a small nook. Not quite a cave, this probably could not be called as such. It was more like a dugout. A small, seemingly natural---there was grass growing on it, and even the 'walls'---indentation in one of the mounds of giant dirt gave her shelter. Using what little supplies she had, she started a small fire. She had already gathered some tinder along with her medicinal plants; unsealing it from the marks on her palms, she placed it in a standard formation, and realized that she had no flint. She pondered a bit, and tried using chakra, despite not being naturally inclined to the Fire Release chakra nature. She took one of her basic Sealing Tags, and focused Lightning chakra at her fingers. Now, Noriko was never good at calligraphy, but a 燠 (Oki ~ Spark) seal was manageable for her. It took a small while, but she placed one of these on her hand, it sticking easily; she held it right next to the stack of dried wood. Closing her eyes and making the Half-Tiger hand kata, she opened her eyes in a split second to see a small burst of light pop out of the seal, and onto one of the sticks; this caused a small ember, which, with a bit of manual fanning, got the fire going.

She sat and waited out the drizzle, which was slowly turning into a deluge. She was expecting at least someone to show up....for this group she was planning. She did post up flyers.


But then she decided she was bored. So she entertained herself. Her sealing tag....the small kanji written on it did not occupy the entire blank circular sealing space that was surrounded by the generic sealing formula. So, she wrote another word that popped to mind: 雨燠 (Ame ~ Rain). The surroundings, of course, inspired that one. But....a rain of sparks...at the Half-Tiger kata, nothing happened. Frowning, Noriko willed it to work, squinting her eyes shut in concentration as she tapped the edge of the Sealing Tag. And then: Fssssssh. It somehow did....after the small geyser of sparks ended, she noted that the seal was not the same as it was before.... It was not 雨燠 'Ameoki' any more; it was 線香 (Senkō ~ Sparkler) Intrigued at how this could happen, Noriko began experimenting with other kanji. Like 音 (Oto ~ Sound. Not a very good idea.

A series of bangs reverberated through the surprisingly acoustic shallow valleys of the Rolling Hills region. The sound probably would have carried much farther had there not been the sound of rain splashing on what now appeared to be small river systems.

Noriko sighed and continued to amuse herself with her seals. Because she was not going out into that rain. Not without something to keep her dry.

And then something else hit her.

Modifying the seal for one of her few personal Sealing Techniques, the Water Release: Rain of Tears, she made it a personal-size suspension bubble. Modifying the range to only herself so as to avoid squandering her chakra (one could never be too careful as a non-village ninja, people are nasty sometimes) as well as modifying the technique to not explode but to make the water still form into small 'globules'. Perfect.

After putting it on paper, she tapped her hand on her neck to imprint the exact same seal. She was getting good at that, it would seem.....

After that, she erased everything she had on her seal and went out to test her new rainproofing......she could only hope it would, with the water coming down hard, almost in a curtain.

One step. The water within one inch of her congealed into a single mass, and made a sort of mini-waterfall around her. All around her. To the point where she seemed to be a walking mass of water, and all she could see....was water. Willing the power that changed her seal to work again, she managed to clear her vision again. Good enough.

Eh, I think that waiting it out would probably be better anyhow....if I attract attention now it would only come back to bite me. With that mental note, she sauntered---rather clumsily due to her nice, bulky suit of water---back into the inset cove that was her temporary dwelling.

After awhile, the young girl would start to doze off, the rain not letting up for quite some time and her hill becoming an island. Waking up, she found this out. She gulped. "Not good....Where the hell is Enoka...?!" She said this as she looked out to see that not five steps out of her little dugout, there was water. A lot of water. Veritable fjords.

At least the rain was clearing.

150/150:

1065/1000:

Training Note:

Boris stood outside the bar he had been drinking at. It was his daily routine. Wake up...brush off the twigs from whatever spot on the ground he had passed out on. Take a piss behind some tree or another. Go hunting with Ivanov his bear companion. Listen to Ivanov growl and grumble about how his addiction the the sauce was a weakness. Eat what they caught and then split up for the day. His companion always less then thrilled about how Boris kept putting himself in danger alone. But Ivanov never tried to stop him. Even if the bear hated it he understood why. To drown out those memories and to forget the nightmares. The silent screams of his dying children...when he was too far away to hear them. Still Boris could see how the lips moved. The question of where was daddy? Those scared eyes and then the fire that engulfed them. Boris jolted back to reality out of his thoughts. A low growl and a shake of his head. A man passing by looked at him startled before hurrying along. In a hurry to not be the target of such a man beast. Still not every one was so intelligent. He stood tall and stretched. His massive seven foot two frame of muscles only partially hidden by the burnt bear skin on his shoulders. The burnt bear skin there to remind him of his failure. Still he was massive and sober people usually left him to his business. But his business was always around the less then sober unfortunately.

Boris turned as he heard some of the men from the bar coming outside. They were loud after all. Obnoxious even. They were the reason he had moved himself outside. Their jests about him being big foot were getting on his nerves. So he had come outside to cool down. Still some thing or another had convinced the idiot group to follow the biggest man they had ever seen outside to poke more fun at him. One of the fatter guys of the group stepped forward. The mug of beer in his hand sloshing. His words seemed to drip with stupidity and ignorance as he spoke. " Ey...Hey der...Big foot!...Come over here...We are your fans man." And in return Boris grunted and turned away. But that was never something to do when dealing with the stupid. One must always be vigilant so the stupid only hurt themselves. As Boris turned away the fat man grit his teeth at being ignored and raised an eye brow. " You can't just...ignore meh.." And with that he reared back and through his mug through the air. Boris saw it coming but he was rusty and intoxicated. He tried to move out of the way but his muscles felt numb. Too much to drink huh? Well that was going to cost him. He flet the initial impact of the mug against his right ear and then it all shattered.

Boris stumbled a little. His thick skin had prevented the shattered mug from drawing any blood. But now his ear was ringing. It took a moment for the pain to draw him out of his calm drunken state. But the impact had acted like a spark to the fuel that was his rage. A fire ignited within him and he regained his footing. The others had kind of realized their mistake already. But the fat man was too drunk. He stood there smirking as he looked back at his friends. As if seeking acknowledgement of his awesomeness. As if him having the balls to do something so obviously stupid deserved their approval. But all he saw was fear in their eyes. The storm crackled to life overhead with a loud thundering boom. And it was then that he looked back. Boris stood tall. His black eyes looking at the fat man. His clawed fingers flexing as his lips peeled back over his fangs for a snarl. now the fat mans expression changed. Fear as his lips trembled. Boris began to step forward. He ignored that there were ten of them. He ignored that he was outnumbered. His feet seemed to hit the ground with every thunder crack. His mouth opened as he screamed out in rage in a deep and menacing voice. " You Dare?! You Dare to strike at me?!" The fat man fell backwards and scurried back to his friends. For the moment they looked unified and willing to take him so long as they all stood there. After all he was big but there were ten of them. Then it began.

Boris pressed down on his forward foot. His leg muscles flexing as he prepared to pounce. His roar of rage echoed through the square as the ground cracked from the impact of shoving so much forward so quickly. This was long in wait. An unleash of his rage and guilt just bottled up inside of him. He was faster then was reasonable for his size! Already he was upon them and in the middle of them too. His right hand reaching out and finding the fat mans arm. Huge fingers wrapped around the fat mans forearm and then pulled. The jerk pulled the shoulder out of the socket and sent the screaming man into the right half. Knocking over all five with the man like a projectile of fat. Then the others reacted. Trying to tackles his legs and waist. After all if they could get him down they could take him. Two on each leg and one on the waist. But Boris braced himself. Only scooting back a couple of feet before his hands raised up. Combining his fingers to make a club like blow he brought it down hard. Slamming it into the back of the one on his waist so hard he slammed down on his friends and cost them all their footing. And with that he lifted his hand's again and clubbed them all from the side sending them all sprawling into the mud...The rain was falling...he was so focused on the battle he hadn't noticed the downpour.

Still fighting was frowned upon in the village. So as he turned to go after the other group one hand was suddenly snatched back by what looked like wooden tentacles and the other hand was grabbed by some sort of chakra chains. Uzumaki and Senju huh? Still he felt his chakra being cut off from use. It was then that a third Jounin appeared in front of him and spoke. "Within the village we do not condone combat with our citizens. I am aware your a foreigner but being as they started it i will keep your punishment light. As of now you are not allowed within the gates for 24 hours. Do try and avoid these situations in the future." And with that he had been escorted from the village and thrown out just as the storm really began. His ear had stopped ringing at some point but he still felt kind of rusty. If not a little sobered up. He needed to dedicate himself to training after all. So he went back to find Ivanov in the woods. Of course the bear had found high ground and was hardly bothered by a little rain. Still by then Boris was dripping wet anyway. Still when he told Ivanov they were going to use this storm to get some training done. Ivanov was excited to do something to say the least.

Fast forwarding to near the end of the storm. The Rolling hills were flooded. For a couple of hours now Boris and Ivanov had been doing strength exercises to increase their physical potential yet again. Soaked as they were they pushed through Waist deep rushing flood water. it seemed to fight them. To push at them as they growled and pushed through. They had been doing this for some time but had no indications of getting out and taking a break. Both of them had astounding resistance to such pressure. Still they were doing something dangerous. If either of them got swept away they might risk serious injury. Already they had heavy bruising from things slamming into them under the water. But they ignored the pain. Bruises were just temporary. They after all would refuse to give in if only out of pride. Still Boris's head was beading sweat. It was hard to see since he had placed the mask back on his face. Still his muscles strained as he pushed on. Unaware that they were passing by yet another stranger. Still the bear was panting as htey tried to force this along. He spoke in a very deep voice. "Boris I know I said we should train...But there are physical limitations. We don't have to risk our lives just for something as simple as this. We need to take a break old man." To which Boris only gave a grunt. Before he nodded.

They broke off from the water and climbed on of the surrounding hills. Just high enough to get away from the water. They were soaked and tired. Still the sun was coming out. Boris let a small laugh as he felt elated. His Bear looking at him quizzically. Before Boris spoke in his own deep booming voice. " What have we become Ivanov? It's been a while since I could say I wasn't addicted....It been a while since I haven't fucked things up. We used to be farmers.. You joined me when I vowed vengeance but now i wonder. With The terrorist Hao dead... What purpose do we have? I am no longer the farmer I once was and...we don't really help anyone. It's just... It's been a while since I could look at my own reflection...I can still remember Just the way they laughed....Would they still call me father if they saw me now?" Ivanov could only shake his head. And with that they sat in silence. not quite alone.

Taijutsu training continued and completed from here.328 wc:

Training Seijutsu pet D-C:

100 words left over to the next training.

1678 in total

It had been several hours. Several hours since his encounter with the snake woman, several hours since he'd ventured back into the village for another cup of coffee. Now he was once more, walking through sticks, attempting to await his companion. He would be fine, save for what appeared to be an impending storm. He was begining to regret buying a new set of clothing to mark his departure from Konoha; a red scarf wrapped around his throat, one that could be pulled up to conceal his lower face. His uppoer body was clothed in a shirt that seemed to be composed of bandages underneath a leather chestplate. His lower half was clothed in a lightweight material that resembled a... liquid. His arms disappear into black gauntlets of the same liquid material that can't entirely decide on a shape; brackish muck creeps from his toes nearly to his navel, scabbing over into plates. What might seem purely black is, upon closer inspection, almost infinitely complex in color; it travels his surface like an oil. Around his waist was a red sash, ending in six inch tassels.

"....."

Nothing was said for the moment, save for an occasional sip of coffee. A deep breath later, and the male's eeys turned skyward, awaiting the first drops of the downpour that was sure to come.

"Well now... this is going to be interesting." As he spoke, his shadow moved and arranged itself, lifting from the ground to rear above his head in a the shape of a cone, allowing the first droplets of water to fall around, rather than on him. It was a simple practice, something that he felt could be held for a signifigant amount of time. Hell, he might be have been able to use this in battle..

Spoiler:

"Well," Aethir, soaked from the earlier downpour, was on top of one of many hills present. He leaned forward, looking down at the flooded ground, the water pushing and shoving itself, as if it were a mob of people rushing to get something on sale. "It isn't all that bad!" he smiled, taking note of the rain slowing down. He checked around himself, eventually ending up on all fours, looking at the water doing it's thing.

"It's times like these that I wonder what I'm doing here in the first place..." the boy glanced up to the sky, soon looking at the other nearby hills. He was thinking of either something to do or a way to get back to town, whichever came to him first. "Maybe I can try-" he stared at the water below, picturing himself attempting to walk on it, only to lose his footing and suffer a severe injury. "Maybe not. No... Okay..."

The boy was unable to focus on seeing anything simply because the falling water droplets would somehow, as if guided by mother nature herself, fly right into his eyes. "Bah, I can't- Would you stop- MY EYES AREN'T WATER PROOF!!" Aethir wiped his eyes free of the water, only for it to be replaced by newly fallen rain. It then dawned on him that he could at least try to get out of the rain, or shield his eyes from it. "Aha~!" Aethir smiled, putting both hands over his eyes, his blue eyes able to see clearer around the area. "Now, let's take a decent look arou-...Hold on a second...Is that-" As Aethir could have sworn he saw someone or something on a hill with what looked like a waterfall as a side feature, the rain MAGICALLY looped around his hands and flew dead into his eye. "Oh come on...!!" he groaned, rubbing his eyes once more, still becoming soaked by the falling rain. While he wiped his eyes, Aethir thought to himself... 'Does crime occur even when it's raining...?' He thought about how the criminals were able to not get rain in their eyes when they were busy robbing and doing whatever it is that is considered a crime. 'Do they wear...swimming goggles? Or maybe they perform lightweight crimes... Do crimes even have ranks...?' the boy pondered this as he continued to do battle with the rain droplets.

Before his alarm even had the opportunity to go off, Nikkō sprung from his bed. Sliding his curtains apart, standing, staring out over his small lawn, he watched in his boxers as the sun reared it's gorgeous face over the horizon of the earth, illuminating it's darker confines with brilliant, iridescent light. The morning started this way exactly almost every single day, sometimes he missed it on the weekends because of a rough outing or a party-filled night of drinking, but all was good.

He showered with haste, a warm steamy one for the books, then with a whip of a towel and quick drying, he quickly dawned his wondrous armor, sliding his helm down into his pack rather than on his face because he had no intention of quarreling today. No sir, today was a day of good deeds. A day which he has marked upon the calendar for helping people with smaller problems. Things that didn't necessarily require him to be a shinobi at all.

To his utmost displeasure, upon taking another gander outside, he saw the clouds slowly enclosing upon his sun. A tragic event indeed for the spirits of Nikkō, he wouldn't let that stop him though. No sit, Nikkō trudged right out the door and merrily walked through the streets, waving and saluting all of his passerby's. He took to the edge of town and sought the hilly lands out.

"Oh magnificent embodiment of hopes and eternal light, you are the father of the sky, and yet you so graciously give up your spot on this day to allow this gloomy weather to fulfill the basic needs of the plants and animals. How kind you are! Indeed...on this day I too shall be kind, just to get as close as I can to your level of spiritual incandescence as possible."

His small village was a business place in which travelers would walk in, and right out the they side, picking up supplies, board, or drink along the way. It was a straight shot from one end of town to the other, and no gates barred either end. This was free territory. It rested just outside of Konoha, and surely enough it connected directly with the hilly lands in which he was heading out into. He knew with the coming rains there would be poor families in need of wood for their fire stoves. Otherwise they would all catch colds, or whatever else. He checked his sheathe for his beautiful sword and slid on his helmet to help block the rain and keep him dry.

Not but ten minutes into his journey he would encounter creeks starting to flood, creeks that shouldn't have been there at all, for that matter. He feared that the community wood pile might have washed away in this mess.

"Oh dear, oh dear. By the sun, please don't be gone, sodden wooden logs!"

He felt silly having said that, talking to himself was a habit he had been trying to break for awhile. He saw what appeared in the distance as the logs he sought after. He had an interesting way of hauling these logs. They were all tied along a large rope, which he could drag along with all of his might if he tried hard enough. This wasn't the first time he had done this. But it was the first time he had done it in this sort of terrible weather.

He pulled and dragged at the logs for what felt like a century. He wasn't hydrated enough to continue, that was until he saw the curtain-like waterfall draping over an ident-like cave nearby. It was obviously a gift from the sun. Such a formation couldn't have been more perfectly placed for his needs. He scaled the mountain side, leaving the long rope of logs on the ground level below.

Futon Training:

Noriko sighed. She thought that....well, after waiting all this time, at least someone would have showed up. She really did post flyers and everything.

But, eh...maybe they just couldn't find her? She told them where she'd be. And if they couldn't find her....they weren't very good shinobi. Which meant bad news for her. Maybe, they just needed a little help....~

Suddenly, she heard a disruption in the slow, steady stream of water that was splashing down over the entrance to her cove. Someone was entering----!--....oh. "Damn it, Enoka, I was worried about you...." The surprisingly large stoat shook himself off violently to rid himself of what water got on his relatively liquid-repellent fur. Noriko patted him, branding him with a straight line, the Ichi seal. She was going to try a new jutsu in order to get their attention...and she knew that it would. There was no way that they wouldn't notice. This scroll, she had borrowed from the Konoha Archives (under the guise of a Jounin); it was one of the most powerful seals that one could perform without too much consequence. Rumor had it that it was used by one of the previous Hokage, but that was just word-of-mouth. Either way....

Branding the Ni seal on a second spot in the cove, and the San seal in another, she kneeled in-between two seals, just behind what would have been the line connecting them to form a triangle. Her back was to the entrance of the small dugout. She began to make the hand signs for her jutsu:

Monkey.
Ram.
Hare.
Boar.
Dragon.
Horse.
Bird.

Fūinjutsu! Sanhō Fūin!

The seals lit themselves to life with chakra, and sent a line connecting to each other seal (with Enoka pouting at having to be one of them), forming a brilliantly white-light-shining triangle on the ground.

Dog.

The chakra perimeter of the jutsu glowed brilliantly, as the ground itself shook from the intensity of the chakra; no doubt that this could be felt from a distance, as the combined tactile and balance-disrupting sensation of it was enormous to an up-close Noriko. And at that moment, she heard another presence approach her little camp, each footstep clear to her. She had no choice but to continue the jutsu, or it would undoubtedly backfire on her. She instantly clapped her hands as a kata, and the jutsu didn't do exactly what she wanted....probably due to whoever was currently entering, breaking her concentration. The glowing lines started to pull inward, coalescing in a large glowing circle of energy about 2m wide; it emitted a bright light out of the waterfall-covered entrance of the cove, creating a beautiful iridescent prism/rainbow effect as the light passed through the cascading aquatic essence. The enormous pillar of energy, though Noriko could not see it, reached far into the sky, piercing even the clouds. Well then....hopefully that'll get their attention.

WC:

OOC skip me for this round

As he drank deep of the water flowing down the side, covering the small cave-like indentation, Nikkō might have felt that form of euphoria beyond which the mind is able to handle but once every so often. from within a light so bright, he couldn't stare into it at all, erupted skyward, shining up through the clouds then(though it was a matter of total coincidence) the clouds parted and revealed the sun. He dropped to his knees, staring at the incredible site. He was almost tearing up from this. He knew the sun had been listening to him all along. A brilliant and magnificent father indeed. He climbed to his feet to find the source of the clouds forced clearing. He walked straight through the curtain, ignoring the amount of water that had soaked him and getting pretty drenched. What he saw next caused him to gasp. A woman say in the midst of this room, clearly the source of this light brining miracle. Nikkō dropped to his knees and begged of her.

"Oh sun goddess! Please reveal to me your name! You have brought the sun back into the sky on this dark and dreary day! I owe you praise for being a child of the sun! It's magnificence  is wholly unmatched is it not? My name is Nikkō. I am practicing myself to one day be able to bend the suns power to my aid. I am not very good at it yet, however."

The first half of his words to her were as serious and noble as could be, but his gone changed with the mockery of himself and a hardy laugh burst forth from him after it. He was still deeply enamored with the fact that he had been lead here by then sun, and that a sun goddess was in this place. Quite a peculiar coincidence indeed. He offered his hand to her in greeting then took off his helmet and plopped down on the rock formation which most resembled a seat in the cave. He looked about and saw all of the different seals written upon the walls, and a select few were glowing and contributing to the sun-beam. It was indeed beautiful. He looked to the sun goddess and wondered if she would be interested in joining his cause.

"What brings you to this place on such a dangerously rainy day?" He asked her, sitting forward in his seat a bit.

Futon Training:

Aethir stared off into the horizon, seeing nothing but hills and nature. "Rain, hills, all this nature." he sighed, then looked in shock as he spotted a tall pillar of light suddenly appear. 'What's that...?' he thought to himself, then gulped as an idiotic idea entered his mind. 'Aliens...' he mentally spoke, looking around nervously, soon back at the tower of light, 'Aliens are- ...What am I even thinking about...? There's no way...' he snickered, then gulped while clearing his throat nervously. "But...there's always a chance... No. No way! It's probably just...lightning! Going upwards..." he said in a hushed voice, a bit hesitant to just wander over and investigate. He turned away with a large smile on his face. "A-And plus, I'm sure there's a special at one of the restaurants back at town! Can't explore giant ominous pillars of light on an empty stom-..." he stopped his pitiful excuse for retreat, turning back to the light. 'I won't be able to sleep if I don't know the source of it...'

With a single nod, he was about to just casually walk in midair, over to the light. But then it occurred to him... "Right...Right...hills...On top of a hill here..." he nodded, looking around himself. Of course there's no way for him to walk in midair... He can only try his best to jump towards the hill with the light erupting from it. He leaned over to see the water below him still rushing about. 'Right...Okay... We're just going to give it a jump.' He nodded to himself, rocking back and forth while staring at the hill he was aiming for. 'Don't think about falling... Just...' he gulped, then took a step back before charging forward. With a loud grunt, he pushed off as the hill began to descend downwards. Nothing ran through his mind as he was watching the hill come closer and closer to him.

Clinging onto the ground of the hill for dear life, Aethir stared at his clenched hands, not moving at all for a moment. He turned then soon looked above him to see that he did indeed make the jump. Though he had to admit, it could have been a little bit more...safer. In the end, however, he was now on the hill with what he kept mentally calling the 'Light of the Aliens'... "Okay...L-Let's assume that I do find aliens," Aethir mumbled as he climbed the hill, "M-Maybe they'll be peaceful. Yeah...! ...But what if they'll want to do battle...?" the boy continued to climb the hill, staring up at the parted clouds, gulping. 'I-It's not like I can't take on aliens...! I...I'm pretty sure we can talk it all over with a nice cup of-' The boy paused, noticing a small...indentation if you will on the side of the hill he was on. He stared, soon looking up, then back at the small alcove. 'Aliens...or cave exploration...' Aethir stared at the sky for a moment, soon inching over to the small alcove. As he leaned over, he could have sworn he saw alien being inside the alcove, chatting with each other. Upon staring however, he noticed they were two ...normal human beings.

"Huh..." he sighed with a smile, inching closer and closer until he had found himself near both of them... He didn't notice this, and was very unprepared to speak to either of them. Perhaps he was interrupting something important...? He hoped not... Either way, it was best to simply bow, apologize, and excuse himself and head back to town... "Erm," he began, looking at the two within the hillside alcove, "I- ...Please excuse me intrusion." he bowed, holding this position for a lengthy amount of time while gulping. 'Should I...just turn and walk away now...?' he asked himself, not sure if he should wait for a response or just leave. 'They aren't going to attack me are they?' he went on and on in his mind, tossing ideas and fears back and forth while staring down at the ground and keeping an eye on both of them with his peripheral vision.

The young lady simply sighed. It seemed she was never going to get on with herself at this rate....all she wanted was companionship. Someone to call 'friend', maybe even 'acquaintance' would do. A partner in travels...was that all so bad? Was it really such a crime to want that, that it was impossible to find something to satiate that desire? Pondering this, she sat before the circular crater she had made in her little place. (Incidentally, she was unhappy about this as well, as the jutsu was supposed to be a polygonal one.) It seemed such a shame...she had defiled the small cove that she could have called her own.

Then, she snapped back to attention. She just remembered the figure that had caused her to lose control of her jutsu: he stepped inside, clad in armor....was he trying to battle her?---

"Oh sun goddess! Please reveal to me your name! You have brought the sun back into the sky on this dark and dreary day! I owe you praise for being a child of the sun! It's magnificence  is wholly unmatched is it not?"

Blankly half-staring at the person before her, she knew not what to say.... "M-my name? I am known as Toshiko. And, please, no need for praise. I was simply honing my abilities. I have not perfected that art yet. As for that great star...yes, nothing truly makes its equal. I have quite the eye for the Moon, however. It is simply...astounding, even if it may only be reflecting the Sun."

And then, another peered into her little place. Only this young man's face penetrated the waterfall covering the entrance---well, the primary intended one, anyhow---before he stepped fully into the natural 'room'. "Erm, I- ...Please excuse me intrusion." "Oh, no; it is of no trouble at all. Please, come in. Oh! How inhospitable of me.... would either of you care for a spot of tea? I've got all manner of herbs to make some out of."

She wrote the kanji for spark after gathering some  of the leftover firewood she had gathered; her current one was smoldering and was nearly out. Thus, after rekindling it---regardless of the fact that the rain had stopped, it was still chilly, even in her cove---she produced some water from a kanji on a sealing tag, in the same manner as she did the spark to ignite the fire.  A simple infusion of kava-root in the water, with a bit of berries squeezed into it to mask one unpleasant aspect of the natural flavor (because who liked tasting dirt?). After doing so, she poured each of them a bit.

Onto sealing tags, of course; with the kanji for cup on them. The liquid was suspended in an invisible glass when she poured the aromatic water on. She smiled as she handed the tags, now stiff like saucers, to each of them.

WC:

Aethir slowly and cautiously lifted his head to the woman, one eye half-shut due to a deep fear he had. He thought maybe this woman would behead him, or this man would ram a sword through his face as he looked up. However, neither of these things occurred. In fact, Aethir may have just gotten himself a free cup of tea! "Tea...?" he repeated, thinking of the letter 'T' first, then eventually everything else BUT the beverage. He watched as the woman began to create said beverage before him, a huge bright smile appearing on his face. "Ah, Tea! Right!" he laughed, genuinely finding what he was thinking of funny.

He glanced over to the other man in the cave, quickly looking back at the female. He simply found it easier to look at the woman rather than the man, getting a friendly vibe from her. "I've never..." Aethir began to speak, but trailed off as he found himself slowly looking over to the man. He quickly looked at something else on the ground, continuing his sentence. "I've never had tea before." As he finished saying this, a look of surprise formed on his face, staring at what he could have sworn was magic or witchcraft. Aethir began to remember that not everyone is as friendly as they seem. 'Is this woman...' he began to think to himself, 'Is this woman going to drug me and take me to her gingerbread house?'

Almost on cue, Aethir's stomach growled, the boy putting a hand to his stomach as he groaned. "Ugh, that wouldn't be half bad actually..." he said aloud, slowly looking over to the woman, gasping as she had one of her tags stuck out to him. "Huh...?" he tilted his head, noticing the tea was...almost levitating in midair! He reached for the tag, but then thought about reaching for the liquid. He then stuck his head towards the liquid, thinking he should drink it from the air, but soon went back to reaching for the tag as he saw the woman was holding it from there. "Thank-" he grabbed the whole tea set up, cautiously making sure the brew wouldn't spill, "Thank you." He took a moment to glance again at the man, taking a quick sip of his tea before looking away.

'Oh, I just remembered...!!' Aethir nearly choked when he realized what he had done, the tea going down, 'Gingerbread houses. Gingerbread...houses!!' he repeated as he began to cough, carefully balancing the tag while covering his mouth to cough. If the tea was truly drugged, he may as well ask this before he went under. "Ma'am," Aethir looked over to the woman with a cautious worried look, "Do you...have...a gingerbread house?" he asked quietly before looking back down at his tea. He awaited her answer, expecting to hear 'yes' ...And if he heard 'yes' he would expect to feel lightheaded soon or...whatever. Aethir's never been drugged, he wouldn't know how this goes...

WC: 1633