[OoC: I think it was Fukai/Daremo I was going to do with? But I haven't heard from him in a bit nor did he say if we wanted open or closed... So this is open, butbdor 1 person so if Daremo joins it will cap out at 3 people.]]

Suki sat still for a moment on a small stump, gazing around her in idle interest. There was a lot to look at. This forest, not as dense as other parts, had as much to look at. With trees and plants less dense, she had more room to see the Other animals. The setting sun found stray holes in the canopy that lit up the forest floor, lighting the intruding shadows. The shadows waged a war against the slowly setting sun and the shadows would eventually win out, however temporarily. However the sun was not on the brink of fading for the night, there remained nearly an hour before the sun would vanish from the sky. Suki's right ear twitched he's as she heard a slight snap. Suki turned around and saw a small white rabbit, which Sat still and gazed back at her. It was as if the rabbit was unsure of what to do, run away or go about it's business. Perhaps it was scared and was simply frozen. Many people overlooked it, but the bodies responses to stress, in this case commonly referred to as fight or flight, was incorrect. There was a third, freeze. If one truly wanted to be accurate they would say "fight, flight, or freeze". Sometimes when in danger a person or animal simply froze, not moving or speaking. Was that what the rabbit was enduring?

Suki watched it silently in till it hopped away and out of sight. Overall she was fairly calm, philosophical, and for the most part, content. The slowly approaching shadows were of no concern. It was part of being a cat, her pupils would expand and she would see just as well at night as she could during the day. She had night vision naturally, and that meant darkness was no problem. Suki enjoyed sunsets, and had come out to this forest to enjoy one. However she was too early, and the sun was still high enough that the sky was normal, no pretty colors that warned of the impending darkness. How long would it be before the show began? She didn't know. She would need a better vantage point to make any kind of accurate prediction. However, she had no need of such a thing. She could wait.

Just then her stomach jolted slightly, warning her of her soon to be missed snack. Sure some felines ate one or two times a day from a food dish, but Suki was not a domesticated cat. And though she had tried cat food out of curiosity, it wasn't often to her liking. Suki's tail swished back and forth before grasping a backpack of sorts she wore. A large zipper made it easy for her prehensile tail to open the compartment. Her tail snaked it's way in, and emerged with a nice, large, well seasoned piece of jerky. Not that kind you could buy at a gas station, the tender, juicy beef jerky, this was real jerky. Dehydrated in till it was tough and dry, made of deer not your typical beef. It was the kind of home made jerky that when you think about, your mouth just watered.

Her tail, roughly 2 feet 4 inches long, brought it up towards her face, where she caught it in her mouth. After zipping the compartment back up, Suki lay quiet and still, watching the sky and the forest around her from a large stump, too cleanly cut to have been felled by a storm. Or perhaps someone had cut the stump when in need of a seat before? Regardless, it didn't truly matter. So she played, chewing and gnawing on the slab of deer jerky.

Some part of Suki wondered what it would look like to anyone to happened to wander onto the scene. A large feline, she stood 16 or so inches from ground to shoulder when sitting or standing on all 4s. She was 2 feet 2 inches from butt to chest, and her tail was brought 2 or so inches longer. Her Orange, white, and black coloration would make her look not too far from a miniature leopard. But that wasn't all. An orangeish black "backpack" of sorts was strapped onto her. It was clearly made for her feline body. Tied around the top of the backpack of sorts was a konohagakure headband, telling all who saw it that she was a warrior of at least genin rank from Konoha.

Word Count: [751]

The large beast ran through the forest, trotting at a forced march pace. It was breathing heavily, sounding like short snorts that syncronised with it's stride. The spiny tail wavered back and forth as it ducked around trees to keep balance. Claws dug deep into marsh and flicked up mud onto the creatures armoured hide.

The beast was the combined form of Daremo and his partner Ikimono. Roughly a week ago they had awoken in the wilderness in the Land of Fire with no recollection of who they were and what had proceeded them. Since waking, the pair had started adapting and finding their way in this new world. A few days ago he had met Uchiha Tenzo, a large and formidable presence that had done quite a lot to help them along. Since then, they had focused. A singular yearning had tugged at them, and that was to find out where they had come from. Daremo hoped that if he figured this out, he would be able to easily find a place in this world.

Short term survival had been secured recently, finishing their little den and discovering a reasonably sized food and water source. This expedition was to expand their known world. Ikimono had suggested that they scout around the place and discover what was in the general vicinity, not knowing what to expect in any regard. They had been travelling in their metamorphosed form as it was faster, their control while in it was getting better with practice. The first attempt of maintaining the form while running had resulted in crashing into a fallen tree, smacking their head and slumping over in a daze. Now that they had control, hunting had become a lot easier. Maintaining the form allowed them to consume raw prey and digest it without getting sick much like an animal would. It made acquiring the necessary nutrients in the wilderness a great deal easier.

Daremo continued galloping along, straight ahead into the unknown. The denser forest was starting to thin out a little. There was a clearing a little a head and -what was that? A small white animal was bouncing away. Something inside them grew exited with the anticipation of the hunt. They couldn't pass up a convenient meal like this. The beast changed from the trotting pace to an accelerated chase similar to a lion catching it's dinner. Powerful hind legs would propel them forward, bursting out of the wood and into the clearing, clawed fore feet landing on the creature. Daremo would bend down and quickly bite into and rip the white rabbit in half, devouring it in two bites. The half with the rabbit's skull required a little more chewing, the beast would lift it's head to the sky and roll the bone onto it's back teeth to crush down on it. They felt a rush, hunting felt so natural.

The combined pair were about to set off again when he noticed another, larger creature sitting on a tree stump. It was a strange colour, yellow with black spots and slightly smaller than their form but was still much bigger then any other animal they had encountered. Daremo would turn to it and peered closer. It's wearing clothes! They immediately became intrigued, letting out a low pitched squeak. They weren't quite sure what to do, curiosity coerced them forward a few paces, muzzle close to the ground. The beast was .8 metres in height and 1.5 metres from nose to tail, making it about the similar size of a great dane.

Spoiler:

[601]

Suki laid upon her stump and watched the forest around her with great interest. But soon something approached. It was  large and quite intimidating. It was dark in color with golden markings around its large horns. What was this creature. Its size and form make it look like a wingless Dragon, but that wasn't all, it's legs looted ridiculously muscular, making Suki wonder how fast it was. And it wasn't just that, it also had claws, claws that looked large enough to lop someone's hands off. What was this thing? Suki had never heard of such a thing, let alone such a thing living in her villages territory. What was it? And what was its purpose? The sheer size difference alone was enough to make Suki anxious of approaching such a thing. Then again, humans towered over her, so she always had to be cautious. But she was used to it at least. But this lizard had her entire attention. Her curiosity began to rise slowly, where had this thing come from? What was it? Was it some kind of new species or just a rare one she hadn't heard of. It then eyed her and lower its muzzle, in what she determined to mean it wasn't going to attack her. Suki sighed and tilted her own head slightly with curiosity. She stood 1 foot 6 inches from foot to shoulders when sitting or standing on all fours, this thing was a foot higher than her, give or take. She was 2 feet 2 inches from chest to butt, making this thing notable larger. Suki smiled cautiously and spoke. "Hello.... Umm... Who or what are you?" Suki's tail, slightly longer than her main body, fished out another piece of jerky. This thing looked obviously carnivorous... Whether or not it would care for jerky was unknown however.

"Ummm... I am Suki, a Konoha Genin...I have no clue if you understand me...but... I mean... Were you a base predator you surely would be more likely to kill me then display any degree of curiosity." Suki sighed ans lowered her ears, shaking her head slightly. This was probably call in vain. How likely was it that this was going to understand her? Perhaps not too much. But not being human herself she knew know to count on that.

No one counted on her being able to talk before they knew her. Even with her forehead protector, it was assumed she was a seijutsu pet by those that didn't know her. So she couldn't dismiss the chance that this was something beyond nature. Obviously this was something atypical. It could be some kind of summoning animal gone awry or a seijutsu pet but in Suki's mind, it was just as likely to be as sentient and self aware as her. Just a beast would surely, assuming it was as intelligent as she suspected, could make a great warrior in it's own right.

The sun slowly inched towards the dawn, and a slight peachy tone was coloring the clouds. Suki looked up through a gap in the canopy, and quickly looked back down. Suki wondered if it could see in the dark as well. It would be night in the fairly close future. "It's nice to meet you?" the statement ended in a hint of a question, as though not sure if talking to it was an exercise in futility.  Suki shook her head and smiled softly. It didn't matter I'd it was futile or not. If it was just an animal.... It was a unique one to be sure.  Suki looked to it's right slightly as she talked, taking the precaution of not engaging in too much eye contact. Just incase it was something that would attack... Though she felt reasonably confident, one should not underestimate anything.

Word Count: [650]
Total Word Count: [751+650=1,401]

[My apologies for the wait I was expecting someone else to post but they didn't... And I have been stuck babysitting 3 of my nephews around the clock.]

Daremo was not sure what was going on. The animal in front of him gave him a strange feeling and he didn't know why. He wasn't about to turn down the chance for an extra helping of meat but.. Something felt wrong about eating it. Maybe it was the way it stared at him. He could see intelligence behind those eyes, something more than just another feral creature. Hello... Umm.. Who or what are you? They weren't sure about the cat, creeping slightly closer and bending down to sniff at it. It smelt strange, too. There were scents of the forest on the surface but underneath was more. He smelled alien aromas like perfume and smoke and.. other people. It's confusing scent reminded him of Tenzo, the one whos said he was from the village called Konoha. Apparently, other people lived there as well.

Ummm... I am Suki, a Konoha Genin...
Wait- It talked! They had missed it the first time, being a little unperceptive. The beast was shocked that the animal talked, jerking it's head and jumping back. Another new and surprising thing, animals seemed to talk like humans do, they don't just click or whatever like Daremo's partner, Ikimono did. They did not really know what to expect in this world and should probably stop being surprised at every new thing. After all, something can only be strange if the onlooker has a normal state to compare it to in the first place. But that was just it.. They felt like they did know some things, some concepts felt completely naural like the fight for survival. Others, like this 'chakra' and the abilities that it allowed seemed peculiar to no end. Their thirst for knowledge on this world was as true as any other basic instinctual drive. They wanted to find ot all they could about the world around them so that in turn, they could learn about themselves.

Konoha.. kill.. Daremo had only spoken to two shinobi so far and yet he was beginning to build word association between these two. He noticed Tenzo's village as Konoha, a place where people lived together. That would explain the strange smells. They had already been warned that people out here can kill and that it was dangerous. Daremo didn't quite understand the rules around village members but it didn't seem unreasonable to assume that they would be allowed to harm someone outside the village. Tenzo had asked him if he would like to come to Konoha with him but he had refused, being quite suspicious after the man's warnings. He didn't want to bump into any threats out here for sure.

After a few seconds, the beast regained it's composure and started to speak in a low raspy voice. Oh uh, hello Suki. My name is.. Daremo. He was a little anxious to give out his name but reasoned that it should be fine as the animal in front of him had offered it's own name and looked a little uneasy itself. He gave the name that the large stranger had given him so that he had something to meet other people with. He wasn't too sure about the name, he felt like it didn't represent who he was but only who he had become over the last week. Daremo was his new self, the old one nowhere to be found.

It's nice to meet you?
The awkward greeting bled into the late afternoon, the sky starting to hint at changing colour. The little animal creature smiled and Daremo decided that it couldn't possibly be a threat. The large cat didn't seem to exert any ill intent from what he could pick up. But they still didn't want to trust her with their story just yet. The beast sat down on it's haunches, cocked it's head and ignored the greeting. They weren't familiar with some social intricacies. Are there lots of animals like you in Konoha? If there did happen to be other strange species around it would probably make him more comfortable to enter the place.

It was getting late in the day, almost time to turn back for the night but they were curious about this creature in front of them and any information she could give them.

[734] /1335

OOC: All good :) take care of your nephews. I noticed that you have the same colour as me so I changed mine. Also excuse my fast and loose use of pronouns in this thread, I haven't 100% figured out how I want to do this yet.

Suki flinched as it jerked its head and jumped backwards. Aparently her talking had surprised it. Why would it be surprised? Clearly because this was something it hadn't expected. Most animals did not react to her speaking as a human would, humans reacted though. So then did this thing understand her? Suki smiled and lowered her head in what she hoped to be a soft, mildly submissive and non aggressive motion. There was no reason to anger or upset it, let alone started it more. Suki was beginning to strongly doubt this was an animal native to the land of fire. She was also in doubt of it being an animal. However an intelligent animal wouldn't surprise her, she was one. She simply didn't see others aside from summons or perhaps seijutsu pets. That didn't meant there were none that she simply hadn't seen before. Suki would not be biased against it regardless what it was, but she was curious.

Daremo? It had a name? Such a simple thing, but names were very important. Assure from the most obvious reasons of needing something to call someone, it was also much more than that, it helped form one's intensity, and a false name could hide one's identity, literally and metaphorically. Suki nodded when it said it's name. She was glad to know it. It... Suki disliked calling it an it, even in her mind. But, she had no clue about its gender. Neither did Daremo know her gender. It wasn't as easy as a humans gender. Humans hair obvious sex characteristics and a person could make an educated guess quickly. But with felines... It wasn't at all obvious. Not was she sure of Daremo's gender. She didn't want to be rude but it felt weird saying "it" over and over again in her head.

"Oh...I'm... I am a girl by the way... I know with cats it's hard to tell... With humans it's fairly easy for the most parts. Would it be rude to ask your gender? It feels wrong to keep referring to you as "it" in my head instead of him or her, or anything else you prefer guess."

Suki smiled shyly as she said this, and then looked up towards the sky for a moment. The color was still only slight, but regardless it was pretty. Suki looked down once again after a moment. She was glad she had came out this way. She would not have met this interesting person had she not came here. Suki remembered her time in the odd land of sugar? Where she had hunted eggs. She had even met a tsuchikage, a former tsuchikage, but a tsuchikage nonetheless in her mind. Retired kage should be respected, and though they were no longer the active kage, they had the right to claim the title.  

Nanashi had told her that despite being a cat, she was also a person, and in her own way, she was human. Suki had needed to hear that. That despite what species she was, despite not having a human body, she was still a person worthy of as much respect. Many people didn't give her such respect. Suki saw no reason to give this creature the same level of respect. It was self aware wasn't it?

Nanashi had also made her another promise. That when she was a special joinin he would teach her medical jutsu of she wished. Suki had always had had a great interest in anatomy and physiology. She regretted not learning it yet on occasion. She had sometimes wished she had studied medical jutsu instead of fuuinjutsu, but Nanashi had said it was a great skill to have. And since then, she had doubted it less.

Suki shook her head as she cleared her head, returning to the matter at hand. Daremo had spoken. Suki thought about how to answer. Her whole clan resided in Konoha, so perhaps the answer was yes. Then again, Humans were clearly the dominant species there, like all ninja villages to her knowledge. "I'm... It's hard to say. My clan lives there, which, in a way, is my extended family. And many human warriors have animals as their allies, such as the inuzuka. But while I guess there are many unique animals to be seen, the fact that humans are the most numerous can't be avoided. But at least for the most part everyone gets along.

Word Count: [757]
Total Word Count: [1,401+757=2,158]

Oh...I'm... I am a girl by the way...
What was this strange turn of topic? The beast was taken aback at this personal switch, it seemed a little unnatural. Suki was asking their gender due to what seemed like a personal quirk that made her uncomfortable with calling them an 'it' in her mind. Although he could understand curiosity in itself, the topic of genders seemed unimportant compared to his bigger questions. They were also uncomfortable revealing anything about themselves. Not that there was much to reveal. The large spiny form that they have taken was a shield hiding all that they were then they were separated. The pair had shown only one person their usual forms and had been lucky that he had been a kind and helpful person. He had told them that there were many dangerous people that could hurt them in this land, even people from his own village that this cat was a part of. It wasn't a completely conscious decision, but the two combined friends had chosen to keep safety within secrecy.

They did admit that the being in front of them didn't look very menacing. It's small furry body not unlike the things that he had hunted up to this point, only larger. If it was a simple contest of strength, they doubted that their beast form would be able to be beaten by Suki, but who could tell what kind of secret chakra abilities she had inside her. It was that unknown potential for power that was what really scared him about the people in this world, what you see is definitely not what you get.

I'm... It's hard to say.
Apparently there was the odd animal family in Konoha but it was mostly human but many have animal allies. Maybe this is the right place for me. Maybe I can find a place in this village. Tenzo had asked if they would want to come but they had been too scared to accept his offer. They had to sort their head out first and try to make sense of everything. Life was confusing at the moment, he had to sort his stuff out before he could think about what his priorities are and what he could do about them.

The beast turned and walked to the left. Suki. It was nice meeting you but I feel I can't reveal myself just yet.. I don't have an explanation for it I.. Maybe we will meet again sometime. We are both males by the way. Suki would probably be confused at their last sentence, not knowing that they were two separate entities combined into one to metamorphose into this animal form. An orange tint lit the sky above them. This was their signal to leave and start heading back home. They liked being safe and cozy in their nest in between the roots of home tree. The beast turned and walked a few paces back the way it had come, hesitating as it looked back at Suki. One last glimpse of the strange new creature and then he left. Off through the forest again. he combined pair once again barreled through the brush, the meeting had stirred up their minds and into a confused jumble. They had to sort out and find themselves. This was all too confusing for the young man, he felt drained from his experience.

Well, he thought it was the experience but what he didn't yet know was that the joining they had was draining his chakra. And for him, this took a physical toll on him greater than mere tiredness. The nature of his bond worked his body to the point where he grew ill. This was something they had not realised yet as they tested out their abilities.

It was a short time that they had spent with the one called Suki, but who knew, maybe they would bump into eachother at a different time. It was a wild world out here, and the two linked companions were just starting to understand that.

[686] /2021
~exit~

Training:

Suki smiled slightly while she watched it. She looked towards the sky and the oncoming sunset. The time was coming. She would be finding her way home in the dark soon. Suki didn't mind that, due to her ability to see in the dark, but it was best she start back soon. Regardless she didn't want to just head off, that would be really rude, and she had no desire to do that. It wasn't just that this thing was bigger than her, but more that it was worthy of some degree of respect. The silence seemed to drag on for a moment as she stopped thinking for a moment. There was, for her, a moment of silence. But it spoke then, and what it said made her question it's answer in her mind. Why couldn't it say? Was it not a binary gender? Ie neither male nor female? Perhaps it had no gender? Most likely, in her opinion, was that was something it didn't want to say. Why would one need to keep their gender secret? Perhaps it was simply being cautious. Clearly they had never met, and it seemed vaguely understandable to keep such things to yourself. That said, the world she was in was a highly gendered society, to not know another's gender and how to refer to them was.... Uncomfortable and slightly awkward. Fortunately... As an animal herself, and she hesitated to say that, it was different, though not necessarily better. For many animals it was simply about smelling pheromones, where for humans it was more easily hidden.

Suki didn't have long to think, however, as it turned a bit and spoke. It couldn't reveal itself? Yet? The yet implied that there would be a time coming where it could. Then it didn't feel safe to at the moment? That made sense. Perhaps the most interesting bit of information was that they were both male. Both male.... Plural. He wasn't a single entity? It had moved from it to they, an unexpected twist.  "Okay... It was nice to meet you.... Two? I hope we do meet again."

[Exit]

Word Count: [362]
Total Word Count: [2,158+362=2,520]

[Sorry, my muse is misbehaving, and to is being a pain.]

Training the 2 C rank jutsu from this topic:

http://www.narutosaga.com/t16525-suki-s-new-jutsu-jutsu-registration