Dray lay gently on his bed in the abandoned house that had now become his. He looked at the ceiling looking at the many cracks in the wood. Stretching his right hand towards the ceiling, a flexible wood ejected from his hand slowly as it grew to the ceiling and patched the cracks. Sighing, he turned to his side, looking towards the window. The weather was bright and the wind was calm. Perhaps, a nice day out would do but what exactly was he to do in town? He hardly went anywhere in the village and even when he did, he went to get materials for making a puppet.
He had no friends, just acquaintances. One he knew as Harichimo Kazako and the other called himself the phantom eye warrior. Just then, some words rang in his head..
"Also, if you have time later on I would like you to join me in this shop in the village. They have great food and your drinks would be on me, there is so much I want to know but that is for a later date, for now tell me who you are. Hopefully one day we can battle again, and then, I will not lose so easily." They were the last words of Sekuro Karumo before they parted way. Perhaps, if dray went to town, who knows what could happen...
He got out of bed and headed to the bathroom. In no less than seven to eight minutes, he was done having his bath. He dressed up in his usual attire of green and black and made sure to bring along his basic projectiles because a shinobi was never safe or so he had learnt. He exited his home and headed straight for the town. He wondered where could be a good place to have food and drinks in iwagakure no sato.
The bazaar... Dray had heard of its goodness or richness from passerbys and they had good food too. A perfect place to start looking it was.

As he walked the streets knowing that he would have to leave the village soon, he would think of the days when he would lay on his bed and rest his head on the pillow stuffed with cotton. His half exposed body which was his upper torso would lay straight to give him a posture of death. The silvery bed sheets that half covered him from toe to waist would reflect the white light that shone from the ceiling of the room. He would always stare into the nothingness that seemed to envelope his vision. His mind that is as white as a lamb's skin. He would always try to think but the many mysteries of this abandoned house would not let him. He would think to his book of poetry. I dream my art and I make an art of my dream. We are only puppets, our strings are being pulled by unknown forces. Death is a release from the impressions of the senses, and from desires that make us their puppets, and from the vagaries of the mind, and from the hard service of the flesh. We are no longer puppets being manipulated by outside powerful forces: we become the powerful force ourselves. My puppets shall be far more liberated than I am for ventriloquism is a useful way of expressing myself. I could never be on the battle field on my own but puppets can say things that mere humans can't say. Fighting an opponent is not a big task. The trick is that you have to let them know they are holding the strings. You can’t play hard to get. You have to give your all, leave your wounds open for the salt to be poured in cause that’s what it’s all about! It’s about being defenseless with that one person, letting them crawl under your skin cause if it’s true, they’ll be the first to stretch out the helping hand. You may think that letting them hold your strings is a wicked thing but in the end, those strings that they’re holding..
Are the stiches they use to pull you back together... It's all about convincing them. It's become a part of me, always near but
never seen. Born from torment, raised on agony. Devoured my innocence, taken my soul. The demon now has control, a new misanthropic mindset. Countless days, destruction reigned.
Clashing thoughts and actions like swords on a battlefield. I've become a puppet, no longer able to act on my own. Pulling my strings I bend to its will, dance to his tune, aged and tattered, It
has no use for me. I look around and see nothing... It was all very nice and he would be glad to move on and write more.

WC:838

It was just after breakfast, a nice day out with sun shining and the air crisp. The bazaar was pretty quite but then it was just after breakfast, Sekuro had the day off and had decided to take the day off from his latest research as well. He went to a nearby teahouse with a deck of cards and sat and drank tea and snacked on some baked bread. The timing was right, just after breakfast, Sekuro had gotten to sleep in and took the day easy. As he leaned back in his booth in the tea house he could see the people walking by, it was fun to people watch, the most interesting things could happen by sitting around and just taking in the scenery. The waitress walked up to his booth as Sekuro shuffled his cards, Here's your tea sir, enjoy and let me know if you need anything. She had a wide smile on her face, she seemed so happy to be working there or maybe it was just what she was trained to do around customers, it mattered not.

Sekuro took the bamboo cup from here, steam was leaving the top of the cup and it smelled excellent, Thanks, I'll be sure to let you know if I do. And with that the women walked away back towards the kitchen area. He set the drink down towards the right of the table and began flipping the cards out for a game of solitaire. He would await his bread that was coming out, it was supposed to be baked with garlic and some herbs in it. It would be a delicious brunch since he skipped breakfast, and as he continued his game and a few more sips of his tea he would begin to relax. Sinking down a bit into the booth, he finished his first card game and the bread arrived at his table, only a few minutes had gone by since he arrived in the shop. The woman was nice, but he wasn't sure that he was spending his day wisely, still wanting to be productive on the day but also wanting to enjoy his day off.

As he sat there and shuffled the cards again, he was sitting along in the shop facing towards the door, he finished his tea and was very well relaxed at this point. But in the bazaar he saw someone familiar, the man in green, he never gave Sekuro his name which was unfortunate, he enjoyed his fight and it was his first one in a very long time. Maybe the man would see Sekuro in the shop and come join him for that drink that he had offered him.

[454 words]

Dray scanned through the shops in the bazaar unsuspiciously. He hardly forgot a face so if he saw the man, he was sure it was him. He looked at the beautiful atmosphere. Not too hot and neither was it too cold. His face was as calm as usual. He wondered if he would ever find who he was looking for. The beautiful shops all around him were fascinating and enough to catch a man's eye but not his. He had little interest in them. He had no reason to visit them too often. He had all the necessary food stuffs he needed at home. He only came out when they were almost finishing or if he needed materials for his puppets. He remembered telling the young man that he would one day know why he was called the man with the wooden strings but dray was a bit unhappy that he did not bring his puppets along but there was always another day. Perhaps, when the young man truly deserved to be called a phantom eye warrior. When he was able to show dray his abilities. Then, dray would not even hold back. The whole of iwagakure would feel the tremor but today, today he was only going to have a drink with the man.

Scanning on with hawk like eyes, dray spotted the young black haired fella in a tea shop but the young man seemed to have spotted dray first expecting dray to find and approach him. Dray did as was expected. He walked up to the young man politely and obseeved the surrounding, taking in every major and minor detail before he took a seat in front of the gentle man. He observed karumo and he was no different than when they first met. He happened to be playing a card game but dray had no interest in that. He looked the phantom eye warrior squarely as he placed both of his hands on the table. With his calm look, saying to him gently.. "I have honoured your request, haven't I ?"
WC:346

As expected the man noticed him walking by, hopefully he wouldn't be too much of a distraction, he still had the rest of the day to be productive, and wasting it sipping tea and talking wasn't the best use of his time. Sekuro smiled as he approached him, no reason to be rude to the man, he still had so many questions he wanted to find out about the man, and he did have a very small amount of time to kill. The man put his hands down on the table, it was enough force to shake the cards out of symmetry, a slight annoyance for Sekuro, "I have honored your request, haven't I?" His tone didn't seem to match his actions and it threw Sekuro off, he wasn't sure what this guy was doing. With a sigh and shoveling his cards back into his hand he put his hand out towards the seat.

Take a seat, I told you I'd buy but you had to tell me about yourself too while we relax a little. He put his deck of cards in his pocket and took a sip of tea while he waited on the man to sit. Go ahead and order whatever you'd like, it's on me today. Sekuro would wave at the waiter and give the man a chance to order while he asked for another tea himself. Once the waiter walked away he would begin to speak to him again firmly but calmly, Now that we're both here, how about a short conversation over our drinks. I do know you're a wood style user, and there's only one clan/bloodline that can use it, so what brings you all the way from home? Sekuro was worried that that may have been prying too deeply too quickly so he quickly snapped out another quick sentence, Or, we could start with your name and take it slower, don't worry, I won't bite if I don't like your name. Sekuro took another sip of his tea that had just been brought to him, he leaned back and awaited the man's answer, hopefully he would get some real answers this time around.

[377 words, 831 words total]

All the while as dray walked into the shop, over to the young man's table and placing his hands on it, he had tried his very best to be gentle as he always was but sometimes, actions could be misinterpreted as dray could see that the young man did not seem confortable with the few actions that had just taken place and he decided not to voice out.
Dray anticipated the young man's reply as he watched him closely though he was relaxed on the chair.
"Go ahead and order whatever you'd like. Its on me today" dray would hear sekuro say to him. What would he order? Nothing tasted good to him neither did it taste bitter. They were all drinks and he would not want to turn down the young man's offer. Sekuro waved to the waiter to come over and as he got there, dray would order for a cup of chapman. Fruits would seem good to go.

"Now that we're both here, how about a short conversation over our drinks. I do know you're a wood style user, and there's only one clan/bloodline that can use it, so what brings you all the way from home?" Sekuro would continue and for the very first time since dray had been zennyo ryuo, his heart would skip a beat. He himself was aware that he was a wood style user but where there others? He never thought of that. Deep in thoughts, he would still sip the chapman that the waiter had brought and his face would appear all calm and natural even though his mind was trouble. It was a beautiful possession. Looking calm at all times. This feature of his would not give sekuro the slightest hint that dray had no memories of his past. One thing was for sure. If he managed to find this clan, then he was sure to know more of his past but the question is was he ready for that now? Why did he suddenly find himself in the land of stone with no memories of who he was. Was he casted out.. So many questions yet he remained calm..

"How would I know that you aren't just saying things you aren't sure of.. Perhaps, a bit of accuracy would help me open up.. What is this clan you speak of.."
Dray would question sekuro confidently shutting him from saying anything else. It was all an act to get sekuro to tell him. This act was an art and art is life.
WC:435

The man sat down, he seemed calmer but who knew what he was here for, was he just here to talk and have a drink? Or did he have a reason for wanting to meet here? He also ordered champagne, an interesting choice for so early in the morning, this guy was a bit weird indeed but Sekuro already knew that from their fight. He seemed deep in thought as Sekuro spoke and he sipped his drink, he wondered what clouded his mind. It was not long after that he would inquire Sekuro, "How would I know that you aren't just saying things you aren't sure of.. Perhaps, a bit of accuracy would help me open up.. What is this clan you speak of.." Sekuro was immediately thrown off, what kind of wood-style user doesn't know about their own clan? Sekuro tried to contain his blatant shock, what was with this guy, his mannerisms and actions were out of normal, weird even and he doesn't even know about the clan he has to be atleast descended from?

Sekuro took another sip, trying to calm his mind down, he looked towards the man after a brief pause and began to speak, an inquisitive tone taking over "What do you mean, how would I not be sure that the Senju clan of Konoha are the ones who use wood style? What kind of question is that?" he was extremely puzzled, he would look to the man's posture and tone in his response to try and gauge what he was getting at. "And what do you mean by accuracy? I'm still rather confused about who you are at all....Listen, I'm absolutely sure of myself, if I wasn't I wouldn't have said anything at all." a slight bit of frustration was starting to arise, the man still hadn't given him his name, or even anything he could call him casually. "I guess I'm just confused, I'm a rather inquisitive person you see, I like to have and collect information, to collect the stories of people and chronicle them in my mind. And one day, maybe even write them into stories and book one day. And a Senju all this way from home might be an excellent subject for a story someday, so just tell me about yourself if you want to, or maybe there's a question of yours I can answer? he baited his question well, no matter what response the man gave off, Sekuro would gain some information about him and be a little bit closer to the truth of the man, well, hopefully atleast he gains his name in the end.

[454 words, 1285 words total]

Dray had finally found a solid lead. All the while he had been in iwagakure no sato, he had been thinking of where he came from, how he came to be. What his real name was. Who were his family members, his clan members, the leader of his village. Why did he not remember anything, why did he find himself at the gates of the land hidden in stone if he was from this senju clan located in konhagakure. Even though dray seemed to have found an answer to his existence, he did not seem so happy. He was now cock sure that this phantom eyed warrior was certain of what he said due to the way he talked and the expression on his face. Dray thought as he maintained his calm look and sipped his fruit drink. If he did not remember anything, was it not for a good reason? Was he exiled for a crime he committed and had his memory erased? He was not so sure. He had always felt that he was not his true self. Like he was behaving like someone else but even still, was he ready to throw away this new life, this life of reality.. Was he ready to throw away his arts, was he ready to pursue something that might not be true or something that might end in disappointment.. He was confused but it did not show on his face. Karumo Sekuro continued to speak to dray telling him that he was certin of what he was saying. He went on to explain that he loved collecting information thus why he knew so much..
Dray looked at Sekuro as their eyes would clash. That of a senju against that of a phantom warrior. Deep within himself, Dray really wanted to give karumo some answers but there were none to give cause what he had found out was something that he already did not know. This new would cause him to leave iwagakure sooner or later. Even if it was a dead lead, he still had to check it out, trial and error, he always applied that when making his puppets. Their eyes would lock into each other for a while as everything around them would seem to slow down. Only if dray could connect his mind to karumos’. Even though he had only met the black haired man in the fissure training grounds and had beaten him in combat, he still felt like he was the only true person he had met in iwagakure. Dray would never forget that name, that face, the zeal he had to beat dray, the acknowledgement he gave when dray overwhelmed him, the need to know more about dray which finally led to him even giving dray some information about who he was.. Dray was short of words. He was bound to leave soon but he still felt glued to the chair and his legs refused to move. What is this feeling he felt.. Was it friendship? Why would he feel that way if karumo probably did not even feel the same. The air around him became tense but his calm would not let sekuro suspect anything.. Finally, dray would find some words to say to Sekuro as he would slowly open his mouth and speak.. “Some things are left better unsaid, phantom eye warrior. Don’t make this harder than it already is but I assure you that when next we meet, you would have some satisfying answers..” Dray would say calmly to sekuro as he would look downwards away from sekuro’s face.
WC:600

He looked like he was deep in thought, as if Sekuro's information was some new found knowledge that couldn't be accessed in the deepest archive, it puzzled him even further, because this wasn't information classified by the Kage, it was information that nearly everyone at least knew of who went through an academy, and with this man's combat skill and jutsu knowledge he knew that he had at least gotten through an academy or something of the sorts. He was interesting indeed, perhaps he was shunned by the clan at an early age and can't go back to them, or maybe he is hiding his identity, or maybe he was born outside the Village Hidden in the Leaves and therefore never knew that this was his clan. It was interesting indeed, he had so many questions for him now, but it wouldn't be long before the man would ruin his fun. Trying to stomp out the flame of curiosity, he would only embroil it, but in the end it didn't matter to Sekuro and it was of no concern to his. This was a guy who neither belonged to Iwagakure nor would be around long, anything he learned would be useless, he really should be asking to spar him more often as the battle experience against someone who uses the wood style could prove invaluable down the line.

The man would probably end up leaving the village soon, with the approaching chuunin exams who knew where he would end up, Sekuro would probably end up wherever they're being held so that he can watch and enjoy them, but would this man as well? Maybe he would see him there, or maybe he would end up in a village and aligned with an enemy, maybe he would have to face him in battle one day or maybe he would would end up allied with Iwagakure, but that was all he would become to Sekuro, he knew nothing of him, as of right now, he was merely a guy that he kept running into in the village. No name, no homeland, no information, and nothing to associate him with other than not really being open and being descended of the Senju. It was not long after the pause of Sekuro's little rant that the man spoke up, “Some things are left better unsaid, phantom eye warrior. Don’t make this harder than it already is but I assure you that when next we meet, you would have some satisfying answers..” he said with a calmness about him, his head falling downwards away from Sekuro and his eyes. Mental frustration built in Sekuro's head, he was getting tired of these vague answers that led to nowhere, and still no name, what did he even mean by 'satisfying' answers? It was starting to drive him crazy but he wouldn't show that.

Instead, Sekuro would take a rather large gulp of his tea, drinking a large amount of it very quickly, sighing after and leaning back in his seat now. He looked down at his hands which he held under the table for a second, remembering again, that in the end, none of this would matter, not unless he gave him a reason to remember him, a name, something about him, anything at all really. Sekuro let out a quite remark before looking up at him, Ok it was all that came to mind, and with a large inhale he looked up at him and tried to catch his attention. So, tell me then, if you can't tell me anything what was the purpose of coming here today? If not to tell me your name at the very least then it might have been better spent elsewhere, maybe training or something, right? his voice had taken the tone of defeat, he no longer cared for his past or anything, a story that might have interested him and gave him reason to remember him seemed out of reach now, what was left at this point? Small talk between the two of them? That didn't interest Sekuro in the slightest at this point in time and if it didn't interest him he probably wouldn't end up staying long.

[716 words, 2001 words]

Dray was sure from the man’s tone that he was not happy with the turn of events. He was probably expecting something more from dray but what more could a man with no memories of his past offer to somebody like karumo sekuro who seeked knowledge. For but a while, dray would seem to feel disappointed in himself but then again, it was not his fault that he could not tell karumo anything. It was not his fault that he did not remember anything. It was not his fault that he found himself in iwagakure. Nothing was his fault and he had learnt to stand by that. He was not afraid of his past instead he is taking charge of his present with courage and paving the path for his future with supremacy. This little piece of information that sekuro karumo had given to dray was the most important piece that dray had ever gotten since he began his search on who he was but even now that he had found solid eveidence, a hot lead, something to follow, he did not seem like he wanted to follow it. What if he followed the trail, got to the other end and found nothing, then he would have lost in two places. The only thing that was certain at the moment was holding on to his reality. The reality that he was Zennyo Ryou not some thoughts that he had a previous life before this one. Deep within himself, he believes this to be true but the fact still remains that it was not reality.
The phantom eyed warrior seemed to feel that he was wasting precious time with dray. Relevant time that could benefit him if he was doing something else and not sitting in a shop having a drink with someone who knows nothing about himself. “My name is Zennyo Ryou if that will help you feel like you have gained something and If by chance, we do cross paths again, I’ll be happy to tell you things you might want to know that is if we are on the same grounds. I really do not know why you are called a phantom warrior but I am sure that you would make a fine warrior. When we meet again, I would like you to fight to the best of your abilities and do not forget that back then when we fought, I was merely holding back and next time, I wont go easy..” Dray would say to Sekuro as he would turn and leave… “Did I ever get to thank you for the drink? Thank you..” Dray would turn back to say as he would then leave the shop.
EXIT
WC:452
Total wc:3035
Training earth puppet tecn and earth cloak [2000/3035]

“My name is Zennyo Ryou if that will help you feel like you have gained something and If by chance, we do cross paths again, I’ll be happy to tell you things you might want to know that is if we are on the same grounds. I really do not know why you are called a phantom warrior but I am sure that you would make a fine warrior. When we meet again, I would like you to fight to the best of your abilities and do not forget that back then when we fought, I was merely holding back and next time, I wont go easy..” he said as he began to stand and leave, it was an interesting point but he made it sound as if he had a great advantage on Sekuro, even though at the time he was merely a fresh genin, straight back to activity and not the far more skilled chuunin he was now. But, he would love a rematch, even if it was more serious getting to test how quickly he had grown in such a short time would be worth it, and against none other than the one who he first fought. As he began to walk off he turned slightly, “Did I ever get to thank you for the drink? Thank you..” and then headed out of the shop. Sekuro would say nothing but merely grin as he walked out, holding his hand up to say goodbye and not even waving his exit.

Two drinks now sat at the table, but only one person, he took his cards back out and re-shuffled them, it was quite again and he had the man's name, Zennyo, and that was all that mattered, he knew the man he faced and knew who he would probably face again. As he sorted his cards out again for another game with the remainder of his tea, the waiter came and picked up the other stuff from the table. After ten minutes or so, he completed his game and had finished off his tea, afternoon was upon him and it was about time he stopped wasting his time. He left some ryo on the table and more for the tip as he got up and walked out of the store, he waved to the women as he left and headed to the administration building to check in for the day, preparing for any missions or helping out in any way he might be able to. If not then some light training might suit him better, he did need to expand his jutsu capabilities, and after having trained his swordsmanship maybe getting a couple of swords he could use for combat would be worth it too.

Either way he needed ryo to keep himself afloat and he didn't have nearly enough of it, so now it would be time for him to figure out what to do about his situation and where to go from here. He was now only a couple hundred feet from the building and now it was time to continue on with the rest of his day.

[526 words, 2527 words total]
[Exit Thread]

Training: