Kazui awoke with a start, and looked around, looking down towards the ground to see a rabbit caught on something beneath her. Of all the luck! She had a meal... But no knife to skin or cut the rabbit, and all the wood was damp from the recent storm. It was like mother nature was tormenting her with it's cruel irony. The one time she needs a rabbit, and gets one, she can't do anything with it. Kazui sighed and looked around. She had fallen asleep in a tree. She spat as she became aware or the gritty texture in her mouth. It came out brown, and she sighed. She had chewed willow bark for pain. She had some minor wounds that had been making sleep harder. With a sigh, She climbed down and grabbed the rabbit. It squirmed and did it's best to escape her grasp, but She has it firmly by the scruff of it's neck. With a smile, she fashioned a loop from her remaining coverage, and wrapped it around the rabbits neck and stomach. She tied the remaining end to a small, low tree limb. She didn't want to kill it, with no way to eat It. Yet she didn't want to free it, then find a way to eat it. So she chose to keep the rabbit as a temporary pet.

Kazui looked herself over. She was no longer bleeding, that was a plus. The sky was opening up and was clearing slowly, the storm from the previous day was going, and that was a blessing. She looked down at her leg, a mild cut now stabbed over. It had bled notably last night, But she had used tree sap to stop the bleeding. She manages to find a mossy rock, and peeled off some moss, using it like a sponge, she cleaned off the sap covering a few such wounds, leaving them as clean as she could hope given the circumstances. She was in the land of fire, but That was all she knew for the most part. She stumbled and looked down, grabbing a sword hilt.  There was no blade left attached, the last fragment had broken off in the tree when she had used it to get the sap. That meant she was again without any cutting tools, and the rabbit was safe. A Ray of sunshine penetrated in a small beam through the canopy, giving her situation some degree of brightness. Then she remembered the reason she had the hilt.

Bandits had used a thunderstorm to launch an attack on her families traveling caravan.  Her father was a ninja, and an aburame. Kazui was a trainee so to speak, and the attack fell on the day after a celebration in her honor for becoming roughly the strength of your average fresh genin. Her training was far from over, but it was a good milestone to celebrate. She had defended her caravan with her parents, using her kikaichu and a blade, stolen from an attacking bandit. Unfortunately a stray bolt of lightning hit a tree beside the caravan, blinding most people, and stirring the horses into a stampede. She was unable to reach the wagons, and the caravan sped off without her. It was most unfortunate. She managed to salvage some items from a damaged wagon that got left behind, but upon hearing more bandits, had fled into the woods. Soon she was hopelessly lost, and she knew the horses were probably long gone. It was unlikely she would meet her parents again, at least not soon.

A cool breeze stirred Kazui's damaged cloak, which was badly ripped in a few places. Her shirt and skirt that she wore under it were slashed and cut, fortunately not in any exposing ways. Thankfully her cloak had spared her clothing the worst of the damage. Kazui sighed and scrounged around for something to work with. At last she found a solid hammer rock, and some flint. She sat near the rabbit and set to work. "I am sorry, but if I can manage to make a sharp 'knife' from this, and get a fire going, you may have to die my friend. Luckily for you I have no real experience with flint knapping, and only know the vague technique." And so Kazui set to work, banging on her rock, hoping to knock off a large, sharp shard. With luck she could make a half decent 'knife'. At first she had no luck, knocking off small, semi sharp splinters. But she had nothing better to do, and with a growling stomach, she had motivation.


WC: [772]
Total WC: [772]

Kazui kept hammering on her flint, slowly chipping away larger shards. She thought, quite briefly, that she heard something. However the wind picked up for a moment, and she decided it was nothing but the wind in the trees. Still, her intuition caused her to look around anxiously. However, the forest being as densely packed as it was, she could find nothing out of place amongst the trees and bushes. She kept hammering at her flint stone, trying to create something sharp enough to skin her rabbit. The wind blew again, brushing through the tree leaves and making a stir. She shivered slightly, and set back to work. She needed a fire, and something in her stomach, preferably both today. Water wasn't as big an issue, aS many rainwater puddles were around, and moss was soaked through with water. For now her biggest priority was getting set up enough to get herself out of the woods, and find a village. She could perform on the streets for her food there.

With a loud crack She broke off a sharp shard. She felt it's edge, and smiled. It was large and sharp enough to skin a rabbit. She smiled as she held it in her hands. As a test, she cut through a leaf like sharp sword through a paper bag. It was sharp enough. "I am sorry my furry friend, but I now have something to dress you with. You had better hope I can't find dry wood and tinder for a fire."no sooner had those words escaped her mouth, than she potted a hole in a tree. With a curious glance, she got up and walked over. Inside was an old birds nest. Dry as a bone. There we're no bird eggs, or even a bird, but that would have been ridiculously lucky. With a smile and a hope for food, she set to work gathering what broken limbs she could, without the use of a blade.  Again, she thought she heard something, but it turned out to be the wind. She set to work building a small fire pit. Rocks lined a circle, and she places what wood she had within it. Now all she needed was an ember. She had a flint stone, but she needed another rock that would spark it. Not just any rocks would make a spark after all. So she set to work, banging her flint and other rocks together, hoping one would make a spark. After a minute or two, she found one. "I am sorry my rabbity friend, but today is apparently my lucky day instead or yours."

She tore off a small piece of her nest, and roughed it up, creating a large dry surface area for her sparks. She managed an ember after but 2 tries, and slowly nursed it into a flame. She was absurdly lucky today. Why was that? Did fate feel like being kind today to make up for yesterday? Just then, with much noise, a bandit burst out of a nearby bush, dagger held threateningly. It wasn't much, had she been fit and healthy She wouldn't be too threatened by it. In fact it was almost insulting to call it a dagger. She felt like she would be shaming real weapons to call it one. But in her weakened condition, mildly wounded and tired, the threat was much larger than it would normally be. That said, even healthy She wasn't a strong fighter yet. He would be threatening even had she been prepared. It should also be said that he was attacking from surprise, in an ambush. She fell backward as she recoiled, and tripped over her ripped cloak.

She stumbled right into a large net, and suddenly she was ensnared. "Shit! What the heck is this?!?!" She recognized one of them then. It was the same ones who had attacked her families caravan. They had been stalking her. I should have paid more attention, I let hunger and tiredness cloud my mind. What do they want with Me?!? Kazui fought all the harder as those thoughts came into her mind. What would bandits and thieves usually do with captured women? Anyone with half a brain could imagine. She would probably be bound and raped, possibly repeatedly. She fought to her feet, only to stumble. Her legs were snared in the net, they would only need to throw the rest over her to ensnare her completely. She threw her sharp flint 'knife' the one with the dagger, but then had nothing left to throw. The only other thing within arms reach was her rabbit. Chucking a rabbit at them would just amuse them. She had her bugs, she could launch a surprise attack  her kikaichu, currently hidden under her skin. But  would only give away her trump card. In her state could show run them anyway? Not likely. It was best To play nice then and hope for an opening. "Let me go!"

Word Count: [836]
Total Word Count: [772+836=1,608]

It was over pathetically fast. She never got a reply about why they had captured her, but again, what would one expect bandits to do with captured women? Most stories about that usually ended up in sex slavery of some sort. Kazui had to stop herself from imagining what awaited her now. Days, possibly weeks of captivity, likely death in the end. You don't kidnap someone then just let them go with an accurate description of your face and the like. Then again, it didn't matter overmuch, as they had bigger things to worry about.  Surely attacking a caravan was a more serious crime. That said, the caravan might be as lost as she was. All she knew was that she was in the land of fire. Hopefully, If she was close enough to the ninja village, a shining would be dispatched to investigate the wreckage left after the attack. Kazui sighed. No wonder she had been so lucky. Fate had needed to give her good luck in other matters that day to balance out this atrocity of bad luck. Fate was a cruel thing. That said, Kazui didn't truly believe in fate or destiny. She believed that you made your own fate. That said... In this case hers lie in the hands of others for a time being.


What would they do with her? Could she play nice and hope they trusted her enough to give her an opening? That was her only plan at this point. Best to give in and bide her time than get herself killed here in a fight she couldn't hope to win. The bandits loomed up over her as she squirmed, attempting to get q good look at them. "Heh, she d'int put up much of eh fight ey Ryuji?" what had they expected? She could put up a fight, but ensnared as she was it would be pointless. That said, hopefully she would get a chance soon. But that itself worried her. Here, there were but 2 of them. She had hope of escape if he legs were not ensnared, perhaps, but not too much hope in her condition. There... There could be a dozen more bandits... 2 dozen. There was likely no real hope of escape at all. Kazui kicked herself. The whole thing had been decided the moment she was startled and stumbled into the net. She fought back tears with only mild success, feeling both rage and fear rise within her. The part that wanted to kick and scream was already formulating plans to send kikaichu into the privates of any man who would attempt to rape her. She was also kicking herself, no, closer to assaulting herself for being weak enough to get captured. She had failed to adequately protect her families caravan, and now she had failed to protect herself.

At least she had one of their names, as the other had been dense enough to acknowledge it and reprimand the other about giving real names. Not that it mattered really. What help was a name going to be? Dimwit 1 and Dimwit 2 were fitting enough anyway. But that said, they had managed to capture her, and if they were dimwits, that just made Kazui queen dimwit here. Granted She was tired, wounded, and hungry, but Kazui was too furious at the herself to see reason regarding those points. Kazui was grabbed and heaved up and onto one of the bandits, and carried off. The primal, instinctive part of her wanted to squirm and thrash, But the half logical part of her was furiously stopping that, as she needed all her energy, and wasting it thrashing about was just stupid. Kazui's eyes leaked hot tears as she was carried off to who knew where.


Soon she could hear more around her, and the creaking of a wooden gate. As she was carried past it she saw the size. This was no tiny group of bandits, but a true encampment. Her heart sank as she was dropped, still bound. Some big ugly beast loomed up in front of her, carrying some massive weapon she couldn't fully see given her vantage point. Kazui squirmed and managed to get a good enough vantage point to see the slimy grin across king ugly's face as he looked her over. Her rage had cooled during the hike here, and she had some semblance of calm. There were no tears, only determined resignation in her eyes. Her rage had cooled too. Like a red hot Canon, it had cooled and red into a formidable weapon, no longer fighting to control instinct, her logical mind had reinforced and tempered the cannon that was her rage.  

Loud noise and talking came then, as someone approached. A red person, or rather, someone in red clothing, had approached. "That's as close as you'll ever come to a girl before you die," someone was here! Could she truly be that lucky today? Someone who felt confident enough to threaten an entire encampment of bandits. Lord, Kazui hoped he wasn't boasting idly, but had the wherewithal to back up the threat. But there was a running, followed by a sickening sound. A badly forged blade fell near herb almost cutting her. She began getting to work, rubbing the netting binding her against the blade in an attempt to weaken the net. More fighting, it sounded like a massacre really. She heard arrows land, yet not the stranger falling to them. Slowly, She managed to wriggle a hand free. Then she managed to grab the blade and get to work with the net.

With a last, desperate attempt, she broke loose, and sat up just in time for king ugly to fall to the ground beside her. She watched in awe as the man's weapon contracted into a sword shape. What an amazing sword! She wanted to become a great swordsman, but this man had massacred an entire bandit encampment without taking any real blows. "They won't be bothering you for a while," Kazui stood as quickly as she could and looked down at the blood soaked dirt around her. He began leaving already. "Please! Don't leave me!" Alone and recovering from a rather dire situation she needed someone, anyone to be near her. Even this dangerous man She didn't know. He could cut her in half, but the thought of being left in this bloody land alone was so horrifying she couldn't  help herself. "...please...I don't want to be alone here..." Kazui bent down and grabbed one of the blades... Holding it in her hand, like it was a precious relic, gently yet firmly in her hand, as if she aimed to use it. At the same time, she eyed it with obvious distaste. She whispered: "They had no taste in weapons..." it was a bare whisper. Yet the thought of being without a weapon in this blood soaked place was as frightening as the idea of his swordsman just leaving her there. "I know I have no right to ask you not to leave me alone... But please..."

Word Count: [1,199]
Total Word Count: [1,199+1,608=2,807]

One might question why she wanted him to stay. He had just slaughtered an entire bandit encampment. The blood pools oozing from the corpses bore obvious witness and evidence to that immutable fact. Considering he may well be a serial killer or any number of vile thing. In truth she may well be getting herself into a worse situation than she was already in. In fact, that would probably be the most wise way to think about It considering all the facts. Kazui looked down for a moment, and couldn't find any words to say what she needed to say. Her family was gone. Who knew how far away they were. She was wounded and had no way to find a way out of the woods. But it was more than that. She was truly alone and with no where to go. Sure she had her jutsu, a few tricks that mean she could survive, and had a better chance than some. Tears once again forced their way down her cheek as she gazed downward.

Kazui was at the lowest point in her life. She had been unable to truly protect her caravan. She had been kidnapped and caught by surprise. It had been made abundantly obvious to her that she was incapable of protecting herself, let alone anyone else. What pride she had had in her modest and rather novice abilities had been crushed into a paste. She felt angry and upset for asking a stranger for help. The logical part of her mind screamed out that this wasn't too bright a move. Yet... It was her only possible move. This man could possibly cut her into bloody chunks and then pound those chunks into a viscous paste. But what else was there? Wandering alone in a dense forest, wounded and just hoping there were not more bandits out there? Surviving without a purpose? Sure she wanted to meet her family again. But clearly she wasn't strong enough yet to protect herself on such a journey.

Sure she could join a village and settle down, but that was a foreign idea. The road was her friend, it was the only thing she knew. She would figure that out later, and at the moment it was the furthest thing from her mind. "Don't leave you?" Kazui looked up only to find the man facing her again. She couldn't tell his true voice, due to the mask. The red clothing and the mask were somewhat creepy to her. Big red flags to anyone who was normal. He looked like a serial killer from someone's nightmare. But... He was someone. Someone to be with. Someone who could possibly help her back onto her feet. Someone that might help her to better things. And right now, she needed to not be alone and scared, frantically trying to protect herself from whatever else lurked in this forest. "You'd trust your life with a stranger who you have just seen take out the lives of many men?" He had a point. He had just slew many men. Many men She had been powerless against. He could easily slay her without a backward glance. "I....It is better than being... alone in this bloody place, with no one." Kazui spoke softly, still looking down. It made little sense, and yet she needed someone. "I couldn't...protect my family...even with all my dad's training...I couldn't even save myself...I would have probably died here...alone and violated in who knew how many ways...I may well die if left alone to hope there are no more... I may end up dying due to exposure of any number of things out here...I...it is better not to die alone...in the end...I..."

Kazui hear footsteps and saw his legs move. He was approaching her. She looked upward, half in surprise that he didn't just change his mind and walk away like she had expected he would. It would probably be so easy for him to just leave her here. Kazui looked down at the ground again, seeing the blood of these men trail off away from their lifeless corpses. It was bloody and almost horrifying to look at, and It was a dire sight, and one that only fueled her desperate need not to be alone here. She looked up, trying to master her own emotions. "What do want in this world child?" The question surprised her and she looked towards his masked face faster because of it. Surrounded by blood and lightly wounded, he wanted to talk about what she wanted in this world? It was... Oddly poetic. She wiped her face with her arm, clearing her vision enough to see clearly and properly again. "I... I guess... To travel, to...see the world and have adventures. I want... To get stronger and become a renowned swordsman and warrior..." Kazui topped for a moment, her voice fading slightly. She looked downward again, and to the side. It as hard to say. It was very hard, perhaps mostly because it was a desperate need. The first things were wants, the next things were needs. Her voice dropped slightly as she looked back towards his masked face, forcing herself not to look away.  "I want to be able to protect others and myself... I want... to... to stop this from happening to someone else... I... I know it isn't fair... But... I need you right now..."

Word Count: [906]
Total Word Count: [2,807+906=3,713]

Kazui did her best to maintain eye contact, as much as possible while he stared at her. She assumed he was anyway, it felt that way to Her, but considering the mask, one couldn't easily know if he was or not. She wasn't a person who maintained eye contact much, largely due to her modest and slightly shy nature. Looking others in the eye and sustaining that eye contact wasn't natural to her. At the same time, the circumstances had her more self conscious than she might normally be. Her clothing was somewhat dirty, and would have been quite ragged had She not managed to get a change of clothes from her wagon before passing out in the tree. Otherwise, she would have been in clothing torn badly, and somewhat revealing. As it was however, her clothing was merely dirty, and it and her were both in need of a good scrub.  Despite the lightly wounded and somewhat dirty, She wasn't in horrible condition. After a bath and the like she would be back to normal soon. However her soft akin and odd peach-amber colored hair hid something that would lead most to label her an abomination.

Even had the bandits not planned to kill her, if they discovered that, they probably would. Kazui was keeping this trait hidden, but beneath her skin was a vast colony of bugs. Thousands of them lived inside her very flesh and bones, kikaichu, the chakra devouring bugs of the Aburame clan. Her last name was Kessho instead of Aburame though. Her parents had struck a deal, and she had been given to her fathers own bugs, becoming a living hive, while she was still a baby. In exchange, her father consented to her keeping her mothers surname. She didn't wear the clans typical clothing, which hid most of the skin, instead she simply kept the bugs inside her, not permitting them to randomly crawl all over her skin and clothing unless she wore a cloak. She had no such cloak now, but it wasn't a problem.  She wondered how this swordsman would react when he found out? Bugs tended to creep people out, and being a living hive...well...few people were as naturally creepy as an aburame, at least, when you stopped to imagine thousands of bugs burrowing through your flesh and crawling all over you. It probably gave many people nightmares if they thought about it.

"Hmm, very well, i suppose i am technically responsible for you now," Kazui felt mildly guilty for asking so much of the man She didn't even know. Yet the relief she felt at those words forced it's way out in a sigh of obvious relief, making her fear of being alone here, and the relief of not being abandoned obvious to anyone looking at her. At the same time she felt awkward with the idea that he was responsible for her. She didn't know what to make of his choice of wording. Hopefully neither him nor her would regret it. He turned his back on her, and moved, towards what, she didn't know. She felt awkward just following him, but it seemed like that was the most reasonable course of action given what he had said. She walked behind him, not too near or far from the rather intimidating feline that followed him. The black cat made her... Cautious. Not because she was superstitious, but rather because it looked like it could rip a person into a bloody mess if it wanted to.

"Tell me about yourself," Kazui looked towards him and debated what she should say. It felt awkward talking about herself, but if She was going to be following him, he should want to know her. "Oh!...umm... My name is Kazui Kessho, I am 16 years old...me and my family were traveling entertainers. We went from place to place putting on plays, big events, festivities...etc..also...I guess I should say this now..." Kazui sighed and thought oh how to phrase it. She worried that disgusting him could make him abandon her. At the same time, it hurt that most people were creeped out by it. Regardless, she wasn't insecure about it much anymore. " I have my mothers surname but... Like my dad...I am an Aburame... My dad has taught me basic jutsu but...I...." Kazui didn't know what to say. This line of thought was going to lead to depression and self hatred...with some mental determination she pushed the thoughts from her head. "Um...what should I call you...sir...?" She changed the subject, in the effort not to dwell on unpleasant things. She also was careful in her phrasing. She pointedly avoided asking for his name. One didn't wear a mask, then simply freely give their name. The general point of a mask was to protect one's identity. Therefore expecting or asking for his name didn't seem to make much sense.

Word Count: [841]
Total Word Count: [3,713+841=4,554]

(WC fixed to exclude coding: previously total wc was 4,655, now 4,554. Total words from coding now excluded: 101)

Strength, Speed, Perception, Reaction Time, and Endurance all trained from So to Do at the cost of 750 words total per stat.

Speed and Reaction Time both improved from D to D1 at the cost of 325 words and 25 ryo each.

Total Word Count Unspent: [154]

Kazui could sense the pause. She could sense the way the atmosphere changed quickly when she had uttered her clans name. Soon afterward it became clear that no she wasn't imagining it. she had the feeling that Binsu had zoned out, and was in his own little world. Kazui wasn't horribly surprised. Some people took it that way. She had been given to tho bugs as a baby. Sacrificed to the bugs some might say. Her father let his bugs burrow into her and take her as their hive when she was just a baby. She had grown up as a kind of human swarm. People looked at you differently when they discovered that you had thousands of tiny chakra eating bugs living inside your very flesh. That your skin crawled with them, and they walked on yours muscles and bones inside you.  The idea was horrifying to some people. Her parents had always taught her not to be ashamed of it, and she wasn't for the most part. But as her savior zoned out she felt afraid. Afraid he was going to ditch her. Afraid he would leave her behind because he couldn't deal with her bugs. The fear was real. She let a tear drip down her cheek as she pondered what to do. She couldn't afford to push him away. She couldn't afford risking him leaving her. But what could she do? He didn't owe her help or support. He didn't owe her anything. If he let her come with him it was out of the trace of his heart not by duty or honor.

She looked around the campsite as they arrived, her savior still out of it. The tree house and fire pit were impressive, that was true. She had been expecting a tent and she could sleep outside. Maybe she would make a leantoo when there was time or if they got there early enough to make one before nightfall. Perhaps the next day she would work on a real shelter. This wasn't the case at all. She was blown away to discover a multi level tree house and an established fire pit. This was more a base camp than your average camp. A small platoon could be housed here perhaps. But Kazui's mind returned to the turmoil with her savior. Was it that bad? Was he going to reject her? What was it best to do? "Um, this is uh, w-where we are going to staying at for the next few days or weeks." Kazui could definitely tell what was wrong if It wasn't obvious to her before. He was shaken badly. She didn't know what to say or what to feel. "Um, you can have the top room of the treehouse. I can make breakfast and dinner, but lunch you'll have to provide for yourself." Kazui could deal with all that, she could fend for herself at least to that extent. She felt too awkward to say too much. "Okay...and thank You..." Kazui tried to be honest with her feelings, and she was grateful. But a sort of hesitancy was obvious. "By the way,"

you can call me Ni..." Kazui put on a half smile. "Thanks you then...Ni. I owe you so much...and I Will do my best to....keep my...kikaichu...inside me and not let them wander openly around you. I...mostly do that when I am around others anyway...so I am used to it." Kazui let only the barest hint of her worry and hurt leak into the sentence.

Word Count: [608]
Total Word Count: [4,554+608=5,162]
Total Unspent Word Count: [154+608=762]

Speed: D1 to D2
Strength: Do to D1

725 wc and 75 ryo.