Taede was quite in-ept at listening to himself. It was a terrible habit, really it was.

Here he had thought that he would ease up on the physical training, but....no. There was no stopping for this Koizumi. The limit does not exist; this was an adage Taede learned a long time ago in the mines. Back when one would think that there was naught, nothing left to dig for, a new vein seemed to spring up from beneath one's feet. Things had always popped up out of nowhere. Like....like those scrolls. The markings he inexplicably developed had pointed him, almost, to further his own knowledge. This, in turn, had pushed him to further his own ability as a ninja. It had gotten him this far....there was little reason or rationale that could make him abandon one of the philosophies that meshed into his overall thinking pattern. Not at this point, where the results showed so clearly with so few notice-able downsides.

Yes, climbing this mountain was the perfect activity to fit in with his life-style. It tested his own limits, and to boot, he was trying out a new movement style as he ascended. Nan-ba Aru-ki, the antiquitous (if also a bit odd-looking) foot locomotion system used by the mail-carriers of yore. His feet were flat on the ground or, when moving, slightly hovered over the ground whilst still parallel; his knees were bent, and he moved his back (and thus his arm-swing in gait) in the same direction as the stepping foot. This was opposite the normal way of walking, let alone running, which usually swung the opposite arm of the hip that was currently taking a step. It was, however, a gentler way to walk, both on one's own back and muscles as well as any cargo they were carrying.

Yes, Tua certainly enjoyed this excursion. The bull, dim as he was, still understood that he was being makeshifted as a training weight. He, however, was used to filling roles usually not meant for his species....or even roles not usually thought of as possible for living creatures. He was tethered to Taede using a series of rope and twine, in several areas so as not to constrict blood flow or muscles (for either of them). Intermittently, the cattle would give off a short huff, a grunt of momentary discomfort, and even moos of glee (or was it terror and acrophobia?).

Taede could see the flat-top peak. He found it odd that such a perfectly conical mountain could have such an irregular summit. Then again, that was nature's work, the creation of these things. He couldn't question it too far, after all, if no human thought was put into the creation of such a prominence.

He had to admire some other facets of this place, though. Perhaps it was the particularly overcast and slightly chilled day, or the fact that he was admittedly very high in the air, but the clouds were so close he could very literally grab at them. They escaped his grasp....as so did many things in his life. Suna was devoid of such clouds most of the time, though, so even the fleeting sensation of actually being able to touch them was nigh on exhilarating.

The summit was theirs. The clouds not just within grasp, but on eye level. This was...both vexing and astounding simultaneously for Taede, but he couldn't stay here long. He was already running out of air. Tua was doing fine, seemingly, but....then again, he wasn't the one that climbed this thing. It was no matter. Descending was hardly as difficult as climbing up the alp that was Sky Point. It just took a bit more dexterity rather than sheer strength and endurance.

After staying a small while....well, they had no reason to delay any further. They began their pitch down the slope of the mountain, noting that one side was actually of a less steep grade than the other. Nature's imperfections were sometimes also blessings.

One foot off the edge of the flat surface - which was, notably, a much-needed break from incline - was all it took to get Taede's momentum going. A cow on his back at a downward angle? A veritable juggernaut. Now, if he could get down there by dinner....

[737]

It was crunch time for Taede, at this point. He was no longer able to stop....in more than one sense of the phrase. First off, it was well past the start of the sunrise. That....did not bode well for him at all. If he couldn't reach the base of this mountain before it got dark, he would most likely freeze to death. It wasn't that this was Ice Country or anything, but it was a very, very high-altitude mountain. Which reminded him that he didn't have a lot of time in that respect, either; the air was thin, to the point where plant and animal life alike deserted this place. He had the strength, the speed, the endurance necessary to travel anywhere on this mountain that was his fancy and/or whim. However, it was the constantly craggy and shifting terrain that got him. He didn't have the reflexes to adapt to this sort of place on such short notice as a foothold suddenly crumb'ling out from beneath him.

He had made it about 100 meters down, with a few stumbles and close calls along the way; the oxygen level was starting to return to normal at this altitude, and he was feeling much better. It was at this point that he started to pick up his pace, making hops rather than careful steps. There were plenty of out-croppings, almost mini-plateaus jutting from the side of the slope here and there. He should have been more careful. His hopping was much less light-footed than he probably might have thought, as he had a considerably heavy cow on his back. Yes, Koizumi Taede should have considered the fact that cattle were not the thing to take on a backpacking trip. Especially as the backpack. It was too late at the current point, though. The solid-looking platform that he stepped upon had already broken in-to pieces by the time Taede had figured out what was going on here. To his dis-pleasure, however, there was more to the situation than met the eye. Indeed, below the out-cropping of rock that he stepped on and caused to collapse was....a bird's nest.

Taede was, as most in his social and work circles from Suna-gakure no Sato knew, very averse to killing. He didn't take missions that involved it, he even avoided hurting others when it was absolutely possible. So this....he was almost as crushed by this as one of the birds was crushed by the falling rock. He felt at that moment like crying and doing nothing else. Taking a life out of ignorance, for him, was no better than taking it intentionally. He knew he couldn't do that, though. Sitting and crying was not what a shinobi did. Even a shinobi like him.


A deep, sharp inhalation was all it took to get Taede ready again. Yes, this mountain....he could surmount its obstacles with ease now. No part of the young man's trip up or even the return down thus far was weighting him any more (except for Tua). Oxygen filled his lungs with increased capacity and capillary function, negating the thin air at the height he was still at. His reactions sped up notably, and Taede found himself bouncing on small rocks that he thought impossible to traverse in his condition. Perhaps there was some adrenaline at work here as well, but one....he managed to save one bird only from the catastrophe he had wrought. Amidst the flying rubble, he had managed to put his hand under the falling bird. This situation, he knew, was not without hope yet, though. There was still a way that he could make at least one amend for the horrendous thing he'd allow'd - no, abett'd - to happen.

The young man was taking shallower breaths than before, now, but his oxygen supply was fine. He was panicking. He had a bull on his back and a bird in his hands; he had only his footwork left with which to descend this mountain. And descend it he would. These rocks yield'd to his strength when they directly opposed him, and he was in far too much of a heighten'd fight-or-flight state to care. He was fighting and in flight, for the life of this tiny, insignificant....beautiful creature. It was only a juvenile; its wings were fit enough to fly, but it certainly did not have the development that an adult bird would have. After an extensive life with Tua, Taede knew a thing or two about the biology of non-human animals, including their life and developmental cycles. The base of the mountain was close, and soon he could begin.


[808~

Yes....! It had finally come into view. The clouds, so thick from the rather brisk temperatures today and the high humidity and dew point, had obscured the young medic's vision here-to-fore; he was going by memory alone not on how to get down the mountain - that was a simple matter of means - but rather how much time this poor little thing had. That was the only thing on Taede's mind right now: making sure this little bird lived. He knew he couldn't perform any sort of treatment on volatile ground like the mountain provided, as he just wasn't trained; so terra firma was the only option for him right now.

He had no surgical incision tools, he had no splints, nothing. Once he got to flat and solid land, he could concentrate and patch this up. It was only about 50 meters away, and Taede could nearly taste the sensation of mobilizing his chakra network. He had no time to lose. The bird's diastole was weakening, and its systole was doing little better; if he didn't hurry and fix the blood vessels that were un-doubtedly compressed by the blunt-force pressure, this one would die as horridly if not worse than its mother, for the terrible thing that was prolonged suffering.

The base camp was in sight, but he was not going to wait to enter that building. He lay the poor avian child onto the flattest area of ground that he could find in the immediate area, and began. He normally wasn't a heavy user of medical ninjutsu, preferring a preventative approach to the subject of wounds. But, in this case....he would have to pull out what few stops he had. First off....he wasn't skilled in it to the point that a natural user of it would be, but he attempted an atemi on the small bird. It was a very miniscule version of the Crab Grab offensive jutsu he often utilized, this time only using one finger. He wanted nothing to set the wrong way when healing, so disabling the bird's use of its skeletal muscles - if only temporarily - was prudent in this situation. He brought his hands a-fore his chest, and quickly made the Reverse Dog and Modified Tiger hand seals.


He was panting....it wasn't a feat he usually accomplished, to simultaneously use both of his Medical Ninjutsu on one subject. It was....to his own surprise, very effective. It hadn't come to his attention that a healing technique meant for humans was most certainly going to work with more efficacy on a small animal not even 1/20 his own size. He then thought that a bit too much chakra was not good for anyone; he had already transferred about a tenth of his own to the purpose of healing this small one, even though that was more than enough. Why wasn't it comatose, then, like had been demonstrated....?


The young one was enjoying what little free-time he had left, here in Kumo-gakure no Sato. He was done training and the exams loomed. He walked along the rooftops; not running, as ninja often did, but simply maintaining locomotion away from normal foot-traffic. Above the sound of talking - hushed due to distance - he could hear something else.

The fluttering of wings. "I'll never forget you, y'know.". A smile, of all things, faintly crept onto Taede's face upon remembering the very recent incident. He'd been followed for quite some time, so he decided to give a name to the bird, even if unofficial....even if the relationship wasn't pet-and-owner. His name was....

[635~

1500/2180 Trained Seven Heavenly Breaths.
675/680 Trained Ninja Art Meridian Overflow.