Ame tugged at the corners of her hood, the rain blowing harshly against the outside of her thick cloak and making the hood nearly blow over. The sky was dark, rumbling and flashing with lightning. The city’s tallest buildings were struck over and over again, their lightning rods ringing with the vibration of the burning strikes.  Ame could almost feel the latent power of the swirling storm above. It left a metallic taste in her mouth and the smell of ozone on her skin. She truly loved the rain. Unlike the others on the street around her she carried no umbrella, nor was she rushing to get out of the impromptu downpour. She simply walked calmly along, her boots splashing through the quickly forming puddles. 

She often wandered aimlessly down the streets  of Kumogakure just to think, but for once she had a destination in mind – a traveller’s inn where a friend of hers stayed. He hadn’t promised that he would be there when she was, but he had recommended the food to her, due to her dislike of dining with her esteemed family. It was just a thing of preference. The rain that would have soaked right through her usual attire ran down the sides of her cloak as she moved with purpose, humming a familiar tune as she went. She turned a street corner and adjusted her hood again so that it could better protect her face from the wind and water droplets now that the wind direction had changed. She could see the sign up ahead, swinging back and forth in the harsh gusts. The windows of the inn were lit up with a warm light, a little place that seemed welcoming.  Ame walked up the stone steps and pushed open the heavy wooden doors, the warmth from inside making Goosebumps rise on her exposed skin. 

The place was surprisingly full, as Ame could see once she’d lowered her hood, letting it pool around her shoulders. A flight of sturdy oak stairs led up towards a second floor, but she moved past them and into the restaurant part of the inn. It was very crowded down there, the loud noise of many voices and loud laughter carrying over the room. The warm and friendly atmosphere of the whole place sunk into her skin as she shrugged off her cloak, holding it under one arm. A smiling woman came up to her, asking if she would like a seat. Ame nodded and smiled back, and the woman led her towards the back of the room where a few booths lined the walls. At first Ame was confused, as none of the booths were empty. The last one on the right however, had only one person sitting at it. The woman directed her here and gave her a menu, which Ame thanked her for. Once the waitress had left Ame turned to the other patron a bit awkwardly, a small smile on her face. “Hi there. Sorry to barge into your space but the whole place is really full. I hope you don’t mind me intruding. I’m Ame, by the way.” She dipped her head slightly in a tiny bow, as per clan custom.

---

Words: 541

The night had been one of the fiercest since dray had gotten to the village hidden in the clouds. As the rain poured down heavily as if to wash away the sins of the village, thunder struck every corners of the land with fear while all the lightning did was laugh at the many people that were shivering in their beds. Dray was not one that slept all that much so he sat up in bed through the night and followed the rhythm of the event.. rain.. thunder.. lightning.. rain.. thunder.. lightning.. He did this with the hope that boredom would take over and sleep would kick in but the artist in him could not help but fall in love with the sounds that were made by these elements of nature. The night looked like it would last forever until it was finally morning and the crow of the rooster could not be heard neither could the tweets of the birds be recognized. The rain continued non- stop as if it was someone’s doing. Dray was not bothered by the rain at all, he had no place to go to. He could sit in his room for all he cared, there would be no one to question him. Perhaps, he could use one day of meditation to figure out what he really wanted at the moment. Kumogakure was not too bad in beauty as dray closed his eyes and he could remember all the places that Ruvaak had shown to him. They were indeed beautiful. Such is life and art is life.

Dray got out of bed to take his bath. It was a rather long bath that would make anyone to wonder why a person would stay so long under the shower with the cold weather but dray could even stay under the rain for all he cared without flinching. Water itself ran through his veins and that was one of the things that could hardly hurt him. He finally left the bath room and changed into clean robes of green. He combed his short hair and left it to fall in place. Dray sat on the bed and wondered what was next when he heard the bells of the inn. It was time for breakfast and the room that served as the dining hall would be crawling with people so dray had better make a move. Calmly, he made a single hand seal and out came Chi from the scroll where he was stored. Latching invisible chakra strings to the young puppet, both dray and chi walked out of the room as they walked towards the dining room. Some people looked at dray and chi and they were amused while others were confused and others just minded their own business. Dray was a tall man with green hair and in green robes. Chi was a young puppet with a hunch, green hair and he was in green robes too. No one could easily detect that chi was a puppet due to dray’s skills in puppetry. He had concealed all the joints of the puppet and made it look real.

Just as dray had thought, the dining room was almost full. He picked an empty table somewhere in the shadows and waited to be served. There were two chairs at the table, dray sat on one chair but he had Chi go get another smaller chair for himself. Dray was soon served a hot cup of tea and some bread to go with it.. so much for a morning food he thought but that did not bother him. A lady soon appeared at dray’s table. She introduced herself as Ameryuu and when dray looked at her, she was dripping due to walking in the rain.. “Nice to meet you miss. You had better hang that.” Dray would say to her, referring to her coat. “I am Zennyo” he would continue as Chi would return with his chair, place it at the table and join the conversation. “and hello there, my name is Chi.”
WC:677

Ame nodded, agreeing that it would probably be for the best if she removed her cloak now. It was starting to drip onto the floor, and she didn't want to make a mess. Ame pulled it off, unclipping it at the front and gathering it in her arms. Underneath it she wore a simple dark grey turtleneck vest and her usual black shinobi pants. Her boots were a bit muddy from her trek to the inn, but she had wiped most of the debris off onto the doormat when she had entered the warm room. Ame draped the cloak over the back of her chair and took her seat, facing the man. She was surprised when she heard another voice call out, coming from someone (or was it something?) who was pushing in a small stool next to the table. Ame blinked, trying to figure out if maybe her eyes were deceiving her. No, now that they were closer she could feel that 'Chi' was not human. A puppet perhaps? Had Chi been human, he would have had a detectable electrical signature that even Ame would have felt this close up. Her kekkei genkai couldn't pick up on one however, so she assumed that Chi was not in fact human. Or at the very least, not an alive human. She had heard of the art of human puppetry before. 

"Oh, hello Chi." Ame turned towards the man who had introduced himself as Zennyo. "A puppet?" She queried. She was curious. He must have been a good puppeteer to fool her for a while. Most puppets were clearly not human, and one didn't need extra-sensory perception to be able to tell as much. She had always admired the art of puppetry, but she herself would probably not be very good at it. It was something that required amazing chakra control, something which she didn't have. That was not to say that her control was bad, per se, but it wasn't at the level required for Kugutsu, nor Medical Ninjutsu. Maybe the areas that required knowledge of Raiton chakra, but not anywhere else. Her Raiton manipulation was excellent, but that was to be expected, considering which clan she was born to. There it was an expectation, and if you didn't match up to it it was quite likely that you would be shunned for it. 

Ame looked down at her menu for a moment, noticing that Zennyo hadn't gotten much by way of food. Surely they had more than bread and butter? Maybe that was just an appetizer, meant to sate the customers until their actual food arrived. She hoped so. She had spent the early hours of the morning meditating, thanks to the storm keeping her from sleep, and now she was rather hungry. The menu did seem promising and when the waitress came around again, she made sure to ask. Nothing elaborate or large, as she had never been able to stomach too much at a time, but something filling. A plain set of grilled fish and rice balls. She smiled at the waitress and said a quick 'Arigato', before waiting for Zennyo to order his own food. Once he had and the waitress had left, she would attempt to start conversation. "How long have you been in Kumogakure, Zennyo-san? Just passing through, or perhaps here to train? I've met many a traveler who has come to Kumo for the purpose of getting stronger." She always seemed to meet travelers, more so than fellow Kumo-nin, and their stories fascinated her. She had to sate her curiosity.

---

Words: 607 ~ 1148

The young lady did as dray had suggested as she removed her coat and hung it over the back of the empty chair and took her seat opposite dray. Now, there were three at the table as if preparing to play card games or even bet only that dray was the one with the food and he was not really looking straight, down to the floor rather. “Oh, hello Chi” the young lady’s voice would follow with a confusing look on her face. “Surprised to see me?” Chi would ask jokingly. “Am fun to be with.” He would continue. Chi had been the best company that dray could have ever had. Just the two of them, staying in a small dark room with nothing to do and talking to each other and pouring out ideas of art unto the floor. It would seem rather weird, the times when dray and chi conversed because whatever chi said was what dray intended him to say. One could wonder , why tell yourself your own ideas and dray could answer that perhaps it always sounded different if it came from another source, another voice other than his. The ability to make Chi talk was a rare skill that few puppet masters possessed but the trick to making him walk and do things like a human with no one seeing any strings was the greatest level of skill dray could admit that he had acquired in puppetry as of now. It did not bother him that people always looked at him as odd, having green hairs, green eyes and putting on green clothes but he loved the expression on their faces when they saw what odd really meant like when his arm changed to wooden branches during his fight with the phantom eye warrior of the land of stone, he had the surprised look on his face and his mouth opened, wondering what dray was. A little piece of art could leave thousands questioning themselves for eternity.

“A puppet?” the voice came through as it snapped the little puppet master out of his thoughts. His mind was always creative, not staying in one place for far too long. Dray finally raised his head and looked at Ameryuu with a calm look on his face.. “Takes quite an amount of observation or skill I would say to detect that the little fella really is a puppet.” “You promised not to call me a puppet” Chi would protest while folding his arms and looking away from dray. “I didn’t want to tell a lie and make the young lady think she was wrong” dray would say while finishing up the little food on his table. The waitress came around as ameryuu ordered for some food. “I’ll also have what she is having” dray would say to the waitress as she would leave. “Now, nobody asked what am having..” Chi would say still folding his arms and mumbling to himself. The young lady would further into their conversation once more as she would ask dray if he had come to stay in kumogakure or if he was just passing through. She was indeed correct when she asked dray if he had come to kumo to train but dray could not simply tell her yes. That was no way to prolong a conversation so he had to go all the way round. “I can tell from the look on your face that you like to hear about the adventures of travelers but mine isn’t much of an adventure. I have come to kumo for many reasons but I think I am going to stay for a while and train, yes.” Dray would answer her. “I suppose you are a shinobi, correct?” Dray would ask as the waitress would serve them both a hot bowl of rice balls and grilled fish. “I do have something that would fascinate you if not scare you” dray would say with a little smile escaping his lips.

The range of his signature technique was large enough to cover the whole inn so dray would prepare to surprise the young lady. With his own room in the inn only being few meters away from where he was, dray would share a piece of him with temp- a puppet that is very identical to dray such that it possess the color and shape of dray’s hair, all of dray’s facial features and even dray’s clothing. Away in the room, life would be breathed into the puppet as it would get down from where it was hung and open its eyes. It would walk out of the room and head over to where its master was. Getting there, the puppet would pick up a chair and place it at the table as Chi would unfold its hands and speak. “Finally, someone who understands me.” Stretching out a hand towards ameryuu, temp would attempt to shake her.
WC:826

Ameryuu smiled slightly awkwardly at Chi as he asked if she was surprised to see him. "Not at all." She hummed and looked down at the table. She was still not quite able to understand how Chi had originally fooled her. She couldn't see any puppet strings, and the quality of the puppet itself was amazing, considering exactly how human Chi looked. Puppet users were very seldom seen in Kumogakure. Here the art of Bukijutsu was much more heavily practised. It was considered a fundamental part of most shinobi's upbrigning to learn how to wield a sword. Everyone in her clan practisied it, as did the Raikage and most Anbu members, along with quite a few of the people she'd met within the village. Puppetry however, was something completely foreign to her. She knew of it, of course, hvaing learnt about each of the shinobi arts during her time at Kumo's academy, but she had never actually been able to see Kugutsu up close. This was definitely turning out to be an interesting experience for Ame, if what had transpired so far was anything to go by. Zennyo seemed to be an eccentric man, to control the puppets the way he did. He seemed to be perfectly fine with eating his breakfast 'alone', with Chi as his only company. She was quite sure that Chi would only say what Zennyo intended him to say, to the effect of Zennyo simply talking to himself. Ame didn't fault him on it. Many shinobi had various quirks, some were simply odder than others.

Zennyo seemed a bit surprised that she had deduced that Chi was not in fact human. She was about to explain exactly how she knew as much, when Chi and Zennyo started arguing. It was a strange sight to behold indeed, watching the puppet master argue with his puppet, who happened to be indignant over being called as such. Ame peaked at the people around their table and winced when she noticed how people were staring increduously at the scene the two of them were making. Ame turned back to try and calm the two down when she realised they had already stopped bickering. She blinked, seeing that Chi had crossed his arms and wasn't looking at Zennyo, while Zennyo was now calmly ordering food from the startled waitress. The waitress left the table, a little too rushed to be natural. Ame shook her head and concentrated back on the conversation. "I could sense that Chi was not alive, as he had no electrical signature. To be honest I wasn't entirely sure that he was indeed a puppet, but it was my first guess as such." 

Zennyo's answer to her question surprised her a little, but she smiled despite herself. She did often have that 'I want to know so tell me' look on her face. Her mother thought she was incredibly rude when she was in that sort of mood, but Ame really couldn't help herself. Her sheltered clan lifestyle had made her yearn for adventure, or at the very least tales of it. She was always willing to eavesdrop on people, despite the fact that she couldn't hide her presence in her clan compound she still tried her best to figure out anything she could. "I am a shinobi. I don't have my hitai-ate here to prove as much, but I am one. Considering your prowess with Kugutsu and intent to train here in Kumo, may I assume you are one too?"

Zennyo was quick to bring out something else interesting, and Ame leaned forward a bit in anticipation. She certainly wasn't expecting to see an identical head of green walk towards their table and take a seat. Ame was so shocked that she didn't even have the common sense to think it may have simply been a shadow clone, but something told her that it wasn't. "Is that-" Chi's words snapped her out of her confusion. It was simply another puppet then? It was crazy just how much it and Zennyo looked alike. Ame could imagine how much painstaking work must have been put into making such a good replica of himself. "That is certainly amazing. How long did it take you to make, um, does it have a name?" The puppet held out a hand to Ame which she took gingerly and shook it. With it this close she could feel the lack of nerve synapses in the puppet's hand. It made her feel a bit better.

---

Words: 768 ~ 1916

If Ameryuu didn’t have the look she had on her face when Temp came around then dray could be sure that she was either not human or better still that she possessed the same calm personality like he did. It was an interesting one, having to hold expressions and emotions inside most of the time. This was different from hiding it, it was just not showing it to its full extent. Dray of course did not usually bring out his puppets for chit chatting with anyone not that he always had conversations this long with people. Whenever he remembered his last conversation with Sekuro, the phantom eye warrior of the land of stone before he left the village, he always wanted to make the best of his conversations. He could not help but picture the face of Sekuro, how much he badly wanted an answer from dray but the thing that was hard to believe was that there was none. Living a life where you aren’t sure who you are, where you come from, why you are you, why you can do this.. Dray often wondered what would have happened to him if he did not have a calm personality perhaps he could have rage killed lots of people with the intention of finding an answer but he did learn something from his last talk with Sekuro something he could hold unto, something that felt real like a solid lead but he just could not follow the trail, not just yet. He had to be sure and that was one of the many reasons he had come to kumokagure, to find a home, a home amongst people and if he is going to do that then he would have to leave his comfort zone and start building path ways as he had done with Ruvaak and now doing with Ameryuu. He wasn’t going to get close so he wouldn’t feel attached to anyone yet, just friends they would become for the time being.

So he was right, her being a shinobi and he had told her he was one too but it was a bit complicated. No wonder she was able to detect that chi was not human, the electric signal things. Dray went over their conversation in his head trying to pick the next words and pick them right. “That is certainly amazing. How long did it take you to make, um, does it have a name?” Ameryuu would say once again snapping dray out of his thoughts. He was glad he had a calm look or she would have figured that he was thinking about something. He was trying his best to be honest. Even though he felt like he wasn’t exactly himself and like a piece of him had been chunked out, he still had read books enough to give him vast knowledge of things and he could remember reading that a friendship built on lies would crumble sooner or later so he was going to make this pure. She shook the puppet’s arm with a bit of excitement and dray could see this. “I love art and it has become a part of me. The time it took me to make Temp did not seem like much to me but it could seem like a lifetime to any other person. Whenever I make them, I am overjoyed with the feeling that something is coming to life very soon. I do not make them for the sole purpose of battle rather to keep them as my companions just like you have seen.” Dray would say taking a bit of food into his mouth and eating it calmly before continuing. “There is indeed a twin of temp, he is called wrath but he’s back there in my room and bringing him over would cause the crowd to… you know and I like a bit of calm so he’s better staying in the room than coming here, he will know of everything that went on here when I get back.”

The waitress would pass by once more as dray would order for two cups of fruit juice, something to step down the rice balls and grilled fish. He did not fancy drinks much but he was hoping that Ameryuu would like it at least he was trying to be kind and the two seemed to be needing it since the waitress did not even serve them a glass of water. “Taken in all of the surprise yet? The best one is always saved for the last..” dray would say leaving her curious mind to wonder about what he was talking about even though he had not yet figured it out but he felt like he needed to give her a parting gift or something of sort when she was set to leave. “So, since you have said that you are a shinobi, how about a spar sometime.. I haven’t done that in a while and am getting all rusty with my puppets.” Dray would say with a light smile escaping the corner of his lips as if he was smirking.

WC:860

Ame contemplated Zennyo for a moment or two, trying to figure out this enigma of a shinobi. He seemed completely placcid, emotionless even. Ame herself had grow up around people who were rather similar, and she prided herself on the fact that she could bring her face to complete blankness whenever she so pleased. But Zennyo seemed to be something completely different. It was almost as if he was a puppet himself, with his serene countenance and little movement. He lived, and he breathed, and Ame could feel each of his nerve synapses as they fired their electrical signals around his body. She knew he was alive, but somehow he seemed a little bit too stiff to be entirely believable. She found him strangely intriguing. After her little burst of excitement at meeting 'Temp' she was calm again, her usual peaceful and relaxed expression back in place. She propped her chin up on her hands tilting her head a little to regard the green-haired boy. He seemed to have found himself in a memory for a short moment earlier, but she restrained herself from pointing it out. He was obviously quite good at hiding his thoughts, if that cal expression of his was anything to go by, but the glassy look in his eyes betrayed him. She often got lost in memories of her own, with the tiniest of triggers. Such was the way she worked, with her daydreaming tendencies, so she didn't blame him for falling into the past.

Zennyo's explanation of his art was well-worded and beautiful. His diction impressed her indeed. He seemed to be very passionate about his art. She smiled a bit internally at this. Many shinobi she had met and heard of weren't passionate about their crafts, and just craved power. It was a sad thing that shinobi arts were slowly being lost to time and power struggles. She admired that he was still in it for the sake of the creation of something others couldn't do. She often liked to practice her kenjutsu for the sake of feeling complete, having a chance to see light refract off the tempered steel blade, see it arch through the air as she did the same. He breathed life where there was none, and that was his art. She felt life with each breath and cradled it to her senses, and that was her art. She felt like they were going to be good friends in the future. That was of course, if he let her in. She didn't know if he as the kind of shinobi who didn't like the company of others, and he could very well be so. She would just have to see. The way he talked about his puppets made them almost seem like real people. He must of thought of them as such in his own eyes. To most people it might seem very strange, but Ame was used to these kinds of things, having lived in a shinobi family her entire life. That was simply how some things went. 

As the waitress passed by their table, Zennyo ordered them two glasses of fruit juice, which Ame thanked him for. She had been feeling a bit parched, as they had yet to receive any kind of drink yet. “Taken in all of the surprise yet? The best one is always saved for the last..” Ame's curiosity piqued, but she declined to show as much on her face. She wondered what other surprises she could expect from Zennyo. It could be anything really. Who knew? “So, since you have said that you are a shinobi, how about a spar sometime.. I haven’t done that in a while and am getting all rusty with my puppets.” A spar? She could already tell that Zennyo was a lot more powerful than she was, at least at the moment. She had the feeling that if he went all out the battle would be over in a matter of minutes, maybe even seconds. She was hesitant to get into a fight that she was sure to lose, but maybe it could be a learning experience for her. She never knew when she was going to face a puppeteer in battle, and it was always good to know how to defeat your enemies before you fought them. "Sure, but you have to promise to give me hints and tips. I'll probably come out as the loser in any case."

The waitress appeared again with their drinks in hand. Ame accepted hers graciously, happy to note that it was guava juice. She had always liked guava. She took a sip, noted that it was rather sweet, and put it down. She would continue to sip at it slowly as the meal continued. "Considering that you're staying here, and mentioned that you're here in Kumo to train, I was wondering where you were from originally. Most travellers in Kumo come from the greater Kaminari no Kuni areas, but you don't have the regional features."

---

Words: 849 ~ 2765

One tree is required to make thousands of match sticks but when the time comes, just one match stick would be required to burn a thousand trees to ashes. When a bird is alive, it eats smaller animals but when the bird dies, it decays and joins the earth and then the smaller animals eat things of the earth. It is indeed a never ending cycle so the only thing left to do is to decide where one stands. Live is too short not to live and life only becomes boring when one has lost his purpose. Dray somehow knew what it felt like to die because deep down, he knew that a part of him was dead. It was the part that was born in konoha, that grew up in the village hidden in the leaves, the part that grew up to learn ninjutsu and bukijutsu as ninja arts. The part that lived life alone due to the death of its mother, father and sister during the times of war. The part that picked up three swords of truth and began to wield all three as an identity, it was indeed a part that was recognized as the ‘green beast of the leaf that wielded three swords’until the part was stolen never to be returned again. Losing a piece of oneself meant having a dark room that would cease to be bright unless a candle was lit in it. How painful it is to know that some parts of you were missing.

The puppet master sat at the table with two of his companions that moved and spoke at his will and one other person that was trying to bring him out of the shell he had wrapped himself in. He was there with them physically but his soul was far beyond the borders of this world. It wasn’t his fault but when would the pain that he felt not turn into rage.

‘Through pain we fall but we rise to be greater.
Through pain we are reborn,empowered to seek revenge or not
Through pain we see our mistakes and find fault in our perfection
Through pain.. we are gifted to see life in another dimension’

He quietly said to himself and he calmed down and was back at the table with them both physical and emotionally. Not only could his pain turn into rage but it could evolve into something greater and beneficiary to him. “Sure , but you have to promise to give me hints and tips. I’ll probably come out as the loser in any case” Ameryuu said and this time not catching him off guard as he was fully attentive. Since the beginning of his life in the land of stone, he had not lost any battle even though he figured out that his opponents were less stronger than he was and he often had to hold back. He had only fought full out when he was on missions and that was just about it due to the destructive capabilities that his jutsus possessed. No one would expect a puppet user to be able to use ninjutsu so he often caught his opponents unaware.

“Hints and tips. You might be able to defeat me with your smartness considering the fact that not a lot of people can detect electrical signals from the body.” The waitress came by with their drinks as Ame received one and dray received the other. Judging from the color and the smell, it was an orange juice so the taste would do the final judgment as dray would take a sip from the glass cup. It was good indeed. The going was good until the big question hit him and it was from Ameryuu asking him where he was originally from. Few minutes ago and he had managed to keep calm after his mind had travelled the world but here was the same question that everyone kept asking and he did not have one single answer to it. It was nowhere in his head as he had searched for it frantically, that he was sure of. It was time to make the best of the situation and he would say what he knew. Dray would take another sip from his cup and turn the contents with the straw in it. “Even I don’t know where he is from..” Chi would say while leaning in to hear dray speak. “He is from nowhere.” Temp would add in. “I have not really told anyone this even though dozens have asked. I have no father, no mother, no siblings or comrades. The land of stone is the only place I have known and I consider myself a wanderer.” Dray would say to Ameryuu. “So that’s it.. that’s what you haven’t told anyone..” Chi would say with a surprised look. Even though he was being controlled by dray, some thoughts could not help but escape his mind as if chi was already becoming a thing with it’s own room in dray’s mind and able to draw out thoughts from it. “So can we not talk about where am from as you can see that there is not much to it..” dray say calmly though hoping that Ameryuu would get his ‘I really don’t want to talk about it’ hidden message.

WC:896

Ame startled at Zennyo's words, remembering them from a familiar story her family had passed down for generations. She could almost here the words being sung  iver and over again, echoing in the back of her head. Ame breathed deeply, feeling something cold well up in her throat and send a shived down her spine. For samurai there was no 'cause', battle was fueled only by the desire for peace,  peace through necessary means. Pain was a reminder of the cause, a constant in a changing world. Though the snos melts at the end of each Winter, and blossoms die after the Spring pain could be never ending. It was a lifetime companion, whether embraced or not. To fit in, to find peace, pain held the means of redemption, but only if you were willing to grasp it and take hold of it. Never let it control, for life is too short, too fleeting, and each moment passes just like every other. Ame had lived her life by this old philosophy.  She knew well how the pain of something missing was the worst pain of all. Ever since that day, when she had been struck to her knees on damp stone, clutching a kunai in her shaking hand, she had known. The look of resolve in her father's eyes as she brought the blade down,  the pure burning understanding.  His final words,  a half-uttered 'I love you'. Everything had changed in that single pivotal moment, where the pain of something missing had become her constant companion. Those words, the words engraved into the back of her mind, they were her anchor. And it seemed they were Zennyo's anchor as well.

Ame let out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding and pulled herself back together, effortlessly hiding her cracked facade once again behind an easy smile. She had gotten so used to hiding. She could still here the tune of the folksong whispering along the edges of her mind in strange clarity. Ame heard Zennyo's reply, but it had an odd sound of static clinging to it. "My sensory abilities are hardly omnipotent. I can only sense living things, so I'm useless against your puppets. Even the best battle strategy fails against innumerable odds. If, of course, you live in a world similar to mine. I'm aware that not everyone exists under a storm cloud of pessimism. " Ame joked, trying to lighten the rather sombre mood (one could almost call it melancholy). She took a sip of her drink, allowing it's sweetness to keep her in the present. It would not do to lapse again.

Zennyo seemed to momentarily become lost at Ame's question,  as if trying to figure out exactly where he came from himself. She winced internally, hoping that she hadn't triggered somemthing unpleasant for him. Chi answered first, then Temp before Zennyo finaly gave his words. Ame could hear from his vouce that he would rather not talk about it and she respdcted his wishes, but she wanted to reassure him in some way, regardless of the fact that she was bad at comforting people. "People always put so much stress on the place people are from when trying to describe their character. True, much of our foundation, what our lives are built upon and the direction we choose comes from that place we call home. But I believe that one should live for the future, whethed your past is good or not, whether it is easily forgotten. You are who you are now, and you can't change that by reminiscing. Only by moving forward, continuing to live. That's how to find closure. Or at least that's what I believe." What I have to believe.  Ame looked down at the table. "Sorry, much of that was probably nonsense"

---

Words: 647 ~ 3412

What she said was indeed nonsense but it was nonsense that made sense. Dray had no regrets that he did not know of his past and what if he found out that he had an horrible past then the feeling would hunt him forever but he was now focusing on his present and making better plans for the future, a future with better comrades beside him.. “A place where someone thinks of you and expects you to come back, such place ……. is called a home and I seem to have found one.” Dray would say to Ameryuu sure of what he was saying. The moment he left the land of stone, the only place he could remember ever being, he did not know how he was born, how and where he grew up but he had far more better things to think of now. His new path.. he was going to work for a cause he believed in and not for an applause from people who noticed it, he would live to express his arts and not to impress people with it, he would strive not to make his presence noticed but just to make his absence felt in the new home that he had found. He would not go on saying he was fighting for justice neither would he fall back and let evil take over but he would place his feet where he seemed fit and do what needs to be done for the growth of his new home and the safety of its people. He would join their ranks and fight side by side with the ones he would meet there. He would make them his comrades and dwell amongst them. He would rise in their ranks and perhaps earn a position for himself. He would live for everyone and yet for no one. He would travel far and wide with the integrity of the village resting upon his shoulders and reminding him to make the right decisions. He had once lived a free life and if he wanted to, he could continue living this life and travel around the world but he had decided to make a few more friends that would stand by him in the long run. Even if he was not a fortune teller, he could well see his future if he took this path and there were no clouds of darkness hanging above it. He knew from the very moment he set his foot in the land of the clouds that he had future business with the raikage but he would not let his curiosity take over.

For one with the ability to create and manipulate plant life, he could raise a forest at will as well as crush it with the simple clench of his fist. Not only that but he even possessed a rare specialty, one that wasn’t common among shinobi ranks, the kagutsu no jutsu. He was a living weapon but he himself had yet to discover it. He was still at the tender stage of controlling mere wooden puppets but little did he know that he could access the skill to make puppets out of the dead. Sending such a man like him into battle was having hope that the battle was almost won. He needed not kunais nor shuriken neither did he need senbons nor large blades. His greatest weapon was the battle field itself, containing thousands of dead bodies that were infinite weapons to this puppet master. With little chakra strings latched unto the fallen shinobis, the army of the dead would follow the one who controlled the strings and fight for him as if he was their lord and of course he was because he had given them a new life. One that they could not make their own decisions from but yet they could fight to conquer and therefore rest in peace. The day would soon come when he would discover his true origins but then it would not matter because he would have found a better home where he was acknowledged not a home where everyone strived for power.

“The greatest joy a seed can bring isn’t planting it neither is it watching it grow but being there when it blossoms into a pleasant flower is what you can ever ask for. I don’t see you young neither do I see you as still growing but I am looking forward to the pretty and fearless woman you would become in the days ahead. I will always be at the inn until I get an apartment of my own since I think I’m going to be in kumo far longer than I had planned. You are always welcome to visit and ask me to train or spar with you.” Seeing as the rain had stopped and both of them were done with their food and drinks, dray would speak once more. “I can escort you if you don’t mind and then I will show you what I talked about earlier so Chi and Temp will excuse us now.” Dray would say as both puppets would stand up.. “See ya later, Ame..” Chi would say as both he and Temp would walk back to the room.

WC:876

Ame listened to Zennyo's words and silently agreed. Everything he said was true, about home and people thinking of you. She had never expected to find any such people in her expectedly short lifetime but everyday she found new ones. It was a comforting thought. She had always despised thinking abut what would happen after she died, the circumstances under which her death would occur. Death itself had never been her fear, but rather to leave the world a no one, with not even a grieving friend to show for her actions. It may seem selfish of her in hindsight, to want people to miss her once she had departed, but it had always been a secret craving of hers. Even if after life there was nothing for her, in life she wanted something more. A tad hypocritical of her, someone who wanted to leave her past behind, but this was her present. Her friends, her sensei and teammate, her charge. Here and now in this little inn, eating grilled fish and rice across from a man with a murky past of his own. Her future was still a mystery, an enigma to be unraveled. But she wouldn't have it any other way. 

His next words were laced with the strange, poetic wording she had already come to expect from the man. It was a confusing metaphor, but it resonated with something in her, and she understood his words clearly. He seemed to be acknowledging Kumo as a place to take up roots permanently. She knew of many a traveler who came here and stayed, and the thought made her smile. Most of her friends (that was not saying that she had many, it was still a sparse lot) were travelers themselves, though of them two had become almost semi-permanent fixtures of Kumo. The number of times she had run into them testament of the fact that they couldn't seem to keep away from the village. His offer to escort her was nice of him, and it made her smile deepen. "Arigato, I would like that." She bowed her head in acquiesce. His puppets got up from the table at his words and excused themselves from the breakfast as Ame waved a goodbye to them, a little self-conscious now that they were alone. Not to say that they were, considering the many other people in the inn who were also happily finishing up with their meals now that the thunder storm had paused in it's destruction. She was still rather curious as to what exactly he intended to show her. She had already been rather surprised by Chi and Temp, so anything else that happened couldn't be predicted.

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Words: 455 ~ 3867

Chi and Temp walked back to the room leaving just dray and ameryuu at the table. Dray looked around and he could see other customers of the inn finishing their breakfast as well so it wouldn’t be weird if they stood up now. The morning had turned out to be an unexpected one and dray had a feel that the rest of the day was going to follow the path of this occurrence. What more could he have hoped for in the morning after the thunderous night that deprived of sleep, it was a surprising morning indeed and now, he had made another friend in the land of clouds. First was Ruvaak which he had met at a hot spring and now was Ameryuu. Perhaps, kumo was truly a village worth checking out, a village worth defending and as time goes on, a village worth sticking out a neck for. Since the beginning of the life he had began living, he hadn’t imagined taking interest in anything more than his art but living a short moment of his life in the land of stone, travelling all the way to kumogakure, he had indeed learnt a lot of things that had broadened his thinking. He would not deny the fact that the libraries in iwagakure had helped him a lot and the fact that he had taken a liking to reading as part of an art but the thing is that experience is the chief teacher. Not only did he have the knowledge stored up in his memory but he did have the experience too which made him an outstanding person in his own category. Now, his arms are opening, ready to accept the whole of the village but the question is would the whole of the village accept him? He was odd in every way he could think of and once he was accepted into the village, he would of course have to adjust but he would still remain his self. Just a few changes would do but first he would have to meet with the raikage and address his issue.

Ameryuu’s thanks to dray’s offer had shown that she had accepted his offer to escort her. He still hadn’t found a special something to show her but he had learnt to trust his instincts and they were hardly wrong. What kind of person would ignore the only thing that had kept him living for more than he can remember. A person that was born blind would have to rely on his other senses if he is determined to live and after living for so many years with the guidance of this other senses, it would be hardly possible to neglect them and hope to keep on living. Dray would stand up and step away from the table after Ameryuu. He would reach for his pouch and drop some cash on the table while placing a glass cup on it so it wouldn’t be blown away by the wind. It was payment for his’ and ameryuus’ breakfast that the waiter or waitress would see once they came to clear the table. Walking towards the door with ameryuu, both of them would exit the inn and walk down the street. The streets were not too noisy as most of the traders did not open up their shop due to the morning weather.. There wasn’t much for dray to say except ameryuu had some. Little drops on water on dray’s cloth would indicate that the rain was coming down again and with just that little notice, the downpour would begin as both dray and ameryuu would seek shelter under the roof of a closed shop waiting for the rain to cease. The idea would strike dray as a little smile would be seen. Water, seed, grow. Being a senju, he required none of that but he hoped ameryuu would not freak out. “Here’s what I wanted to show you, Ameryuu.” Dray would say as he would open up his palm for her to see. The center of the palm would open a bit like the earth opening up to allow the growth of a seed. The plant would grow slowly out of the palm and stop at a few inches. “Now, see the beauty.” Dray would say as the plant would slowly bloom into a beautiful pink flower. It was beautiful but dray hoped ameryuu would see it so. It had been a perfect morning for him and his new friend he hoped.

wc:760
Total wc: 4895
Training Stat: Reaction Time: B-B3 (2400/2400)
Training A rank jutsu (2000/2000)
Remainder: 495
EXIT

Ame got up as Zennyo did, watching as he left money on the table to pay for their food. Her first instinct was to insist that she pay her half, but decided that the next time they ate she would pay for the meal. It was easier that way. They exited the inn, Ame with her half-dried cloak tucked under one arm. As she stepped over the threshold, Ame draped the thick cloak over her shoulders in preparation for Kumo's unpredictable weather systems. They walked through the quiet streets, only a few brave vendors daring to set up shop with the threat of more rain on the way. She was subtly leading Zennyo, as she knew to where she was going, but she had decided already that there was no point in taking the shortcut. It was nice to see a bit of the city, especially if Zennyo hadn't done so already. Kumo was always more beautiful after the rain. 

She felt a few stray droplets splash against her skin as the clouds sat ready to burst, but she didn't pull up her hood quite yet. It was a nice feeling against her warm cheeks. They moved in amiable silence, both comfortable without talking. Ame assumed that Zennyo was much like her when not speaking in that poetic voice of his. She preferred to listen rather than talk, to glean information without giving any away. The cloud burst was sudden, but not unexpected, and the two of them took shelter underneath the awning of a shop. Zennyo seemed to have thought about what exactly he was going to show her, as he caught her attention with his words. He spread his palm and she looked on, curious. She blinked for a moment to make sure what she was seeing wasn't Genjutsu, assured herself that yes that plant is living it has electrical signals, before looking up at Zennyo with slight awe. That, surely, was a Kekkei Genkai she had heard of, studied during her time at the academy as they went over past wars, but for the life of her she couldn't remember the clan name that had been attached to it. She left it for later examination and carefully touched a soft petal of the flower sprouting from his hand. It reminded her of the cherry blossoms that swirled at the top of the Durian Tree mountain."It's beautiful." She whispered.

And truly, it was.

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Words: 418 ~ 4285

Training:


Speed: C ~> C-2 (1175)
Reaction Time: C ~> C-2 (1175)
Strength: C ~> C-2 (1175)
Endurance: C~> C-1 (575)

Used Words: 4100
Unused: 185