The smell of sea salt tingled her nostrils and the caw of seagulls circling the docks made the white haired woman sigh softly letting out a cool breath into the humid evening air as she sauntered off the plank of the small fishing boat, the rancid smell of tuna clung to her clothes making her eyes narrow in annoyance after her foot first made contact with the ground, onto the small island, one of the lesser ones surrounding kiri and a part of the Water Daimyo’s territory.

She had been following a few leads and after finding out about Suutei’s task, she realized recently in the past year the area has been plagued by vicious pirates, a few of which had names far too familiar for her liking and with the time on her hand she decided to investigate. Unfortunately the captain of this vessel landed on the wrong port. Her primary destination were on the complete other side of the island which would take a good while to get there and she was not in the mood to get through hazardous swamp territory. Jet clicked her tongue in annoyance, as she surveyed the area. Tch, idiotic old man. Once the sailors finished docking the ship then began to unload their fresh cargo making fish oil grease their fingers and their companions cry in appraisal at the haul, it seemed they made a good haul this time even though it were a short trip. Well short enough for Jet as it were only a day or two since she came into contact. She had been on a different boat, a simpler one for just grazing against the cool waters of the sea, not a longer overnight trip like she intended. The engine also broke down once it reached nightfall and she became stranded and while she was confident enough in her chakra control to supernatural walk across the water, the ocean waves could be unpredictable and she had no clue of what creatures lurked beneath the water nightly shroud.

Luckily enough after some hours a fishing ship was getting close, eerily close, close enough that she didn’t notice they were going to ram into her and destroyed her little ship. Thankfully she was used to making split second decision like this and managed to grab her gear and rub up the ship’s hull onto the main deck once it came crashing into her little toy she had been renting, perhaps the owners wouldn’t mind she hoped. It was not a welcomed meeting and she was met with screams and several crude weapons, even fish, being thrown at her in fear she wear a pirate out to get them all. Of course she couldn’t kill them all, she was a guest in their country after all, so she disarmed them and knocked them out as painlessly as she could before going over to the captain and talking it over and now here she was.

And it seemed they were quite eager to get rid of us, Jet observed as she grabbed her traveling backpack and slung it over my shoulder; and, her thoughts continued, the looks she were receiving were not the kindest in the slightest at all. She was not openly dressed like a shinobi or any sort of notable figure, only in a plain white muscle tee, slimming suede pants and matching geta sandals. Nothing out of the ordinary aside from the looks she was receiving from the penchant around her neck, it was that of a rabbit’s head with a swirl in for eyes and mouth. It was a small insignificant pendant tied to the leather choker, one handcrafted piece of jewelry she received as a gift on her sixteenth birthday in Iwa from Maki. That Uzumaki, it’s been quite some time since the two of them had last spoken to each other. Of course it wasn’t like she didn’t know what the woman was up to. Her contacts kept her regularly updated on her and others persons she had been keeping an eye on. But now she had eyes on her, ever since she had stepped foot on this port town she has felt like she was being watched and closely. Perhaps this place was worth investigating she thought as she set off to explore.

728~

As she walk around, her eyes scanned the port town, taking it its cobblestone streets and colorfully detailed architecture. It was sunset when the boat dropped her off and now some stars are peaking out of the darkening sky, streams of dark purples and blue stretching across the sky as night began to fall. It was now time where she needed to find an inn unless she suddenly decided she would be comfortable being out in the open when she was being watched. No? Then alrighty then. Jet knew from her history of traveling that in order to find the best place to stay for the night would be to speak to the locals and see what she can find out from them and by the look of the place, they weren’t a tourist destination so she can’t expect anything extravagant which was more than fine with her. It only took a moment for her to find her target and decide to speak to them. Jet walked up to a group of five teenagers or young adult giggling and smiling, two girls, three guys, whom appeared well dressed and were most likely out for a night on the town. She tapped one of the boys on the shoulder and he jolted in shock, having not sensed her presence as if she was an otherworld ghoul that floated into existence out of nowhere, truly ghostlike the Yuurei were. He turned to her surprised obvious on his face when he saw me, and almost wary as if he didn’t know how to respond to this situation, though more than once his gaze fluttered more than once to the pendant as if creeped out by it.. He had short, dirty blonde hair that matched well with him emerald green eyes. He was pretty cute by conventional standards but judging from his reaction time and structure, he was average, basically weak and most likely like the others a civilian.

Shrieking in surprise he jumped a bit in fear before looking around or anywhere that wasn’t Jet’s glowing blue eyes."Eek! W-what the hell? Who are you?"

Jet was only a bit amused by his antics. Okay maybe a bit more than that and decided to tease the lad making her voice coo at him as if reliving an inside joke only she were aware of "We believe it is common courtesy to give your own name first before asking for another's"

"O-Oh um I'm Jaken...so um who are you?" His posture was terrible and he feared looking straight into her eyes although he wouldn't be the first, but strangely his cheeks were a light pink, as if they were a blooming rose One of the girls, small red haired girl, was glaring at the nonchalant Jet, her eyes burning with jealousy as if wishing she would combust on the spot, whilst the other cowered behind the other boys as if uncomfortable with the woman’s presence or pendant...why was it that these people acted like something was wrong with it. The intensity of the watch on her deepened and she felt like wrapping this up as soon as possible.

“We are just travelers wandering the nations and need to find a place to stay for the night. Do you know anywhere with an affordable price?” He was shocked by how cold or detached Jet’s voice was but she did not care. This was when one of the other boys spoke up. He had blonde hair with light blue ends and was quite short for a male as well as looking particularly feminine, but his attitude and facial expression was masculine enough to make up for it.

"I'm Chloe, it's spelled Chloe but pronounced Cole. And to answer your question the nearest inn from here would be the White Lotus in just a few blocks from here. It's pretty cheap and it's a family run business. Nice lot they are. You shouldn't have a problem finding it" Without a word Jet nodded her thanks and headed off to find this White Lotus inn, mentally creating a map in her head as she walked so she couldn’t get lost. She was glad for their departure unlike Jaken who was distraught at her departure from them but Chloe calmed him down with a reassuring hand on his shoulder saying it wasn’t worth getting involved with them and as if a secret understand was reached between them, the the lot of them headed inside the glass doors they were in front of and into a bar. Having heard their conversation she couldn’t help but feel weary, as if she should’ve spoken to them some more. How particular she didn’t but no matter, she had a book that was more important than them to read while she searched and she turned the page to page 10 of ‘Introduction to Sealing Arts’. It was a book she had found while walking around the city at one of the shops in the street. The woman selling the books was being avoided like the plague for some reason but she was very kind yet quick to give her the book, and for free...

1612~

The searched was unexpectedly longer than she intended as Jet had become quickly absorbed into her reading material. Who knew the sealing arts was such a flexible subject? Much more than medical ninjutsu which had caught her eye some time ago, of course she needed more experience in that sort of expertise if she wanted to expand and get better at her experiments, particularly so they wouldn’t die so easily when she abused them, still that can be saved for later so she was in no rush. Sealing arts right now had her current attention. She was already almost done with the entire book because of how quickly she had become absorbed in it. So by a few more hours, already well into the night did she arrive at the White Lotus easily as just as the boy said, well perhaps not if something incredibly interesting did not delay her.

Pushing along a rather worn thin wooden door with white paint granted her entranced to the inn and once inside, she was greeted with a warm, inviting atmosphere along with a lingering vanilla scent in the air. She took a deep breath in and taking in more than the vanilla and felt at ease now that the presence watching her had suddenly disappeared when she entered the establishment. She walked up to the front desk and tapped the bell. The ring alerted someone in a back room as soon enough a middle aged man greeted me. "Good evening there young miss, I’m Takeshi and how may I help you?"

The man had this mature but cheery aura about him. A gracefully polite smile graced her features and she shook the man’s hand in greeting, making sure to keep up a good appearance as it wouldn’t do to be rude "Pleasure to make your acquaintance. We are Yuki, just travelers and are looking for a place to stay tonight. One of the locals said this was a good place to be?”

The man nodded. He asked for seventy ryo but a hundred if she wanted the breakfast in the morning. Feeling curious and in no rush at all she took the hundred ryo offer. After confirmed the transaction and wrote down her fake name into a small red leather bound book besides the bell he took the money and called out for someone named Mizuki. And soon enough a young man who looked like a younger version of Takeshi descended down the stairs. He had short, chocolate brown hair that was a well maintained and equally brown eyes that were adorned by a pair of thin rimmed glasses. He wore a white and blue striped shirt, black skinny jeans, and white toms. He looked very mature but also playful. Truly father and son these two. "You called father?" He took a look at the newest guest and her features before a sly grin appeared "And who might you be?" he flirted.

Not in the slightest attracted nor instantly disgusted,she took it in stride and ignored his behavior. Perhaps if she had retained that mask she kept in her earlier years in Iwa, perhaps she would have played along with him and allowed him the pleasure of her company but that time was long gone and she no longer slept around as much. Don’t her wrong, she wasn’t no saint. She only slept with others if they were a valuable asset/ target or actually earned her time and those who qualified were far and few in the making. And while Jet was not bothered by the boy’s behavior that showed he was definitely a ladies man considering how he greeted her, Takeshi irked at his son's behavior on her behalf before resigned to it as he was far too tired to reprimand him too much, then sighed which suggested this way how he usually greeted female guests. "Mizuki, behave would you. Don't need you scaring away the young lady." Takeshi scolded him in an exasperated tone before returning his attention back to Jet. "I'm sorry about his behavior. This is my son Mizuki."

2304~

Mizuki chirped when his name was called with new vigor, ignoring the light scolding he gotten from his father as if he had never lost face and gave short bow to Jet, failing to hiding how his lustful eyes gazed for a moment too long at her chest as if imaging their soft supple touch under his hands, measuring them with his finger tips and more before he caught himself and have a closed eyed smile at Jet, making him seem as if what he had just done could be brushed off "Hello Miss" he called, his voice too polite and too sugary. It was evident he was trying too hard to come off alluring and mature, as if this had worked dozens of times before. His face was nice but honestly Jet had seen and done better. He was not worth her time. With a nod of greeting she closed the book in her hand, having read it while speaking from the corner of her eye and held it down to her side as she readjusted the canvas strap of her backpack.

Takeshi sighed having caught the perverted action his son had just committed but pretended it or rather hope she did not and instead resorted to smacking his son, upside his bushy head, and gave him the keys to my room. “Behave will you brat. Now go take Miss Yuki up to her room, 210 and try not to be rude” He scolded his son but it went through one ear and out the other so he sighed once more and decided to give up for now and began cleaning up so they can lock up for the night. Once more the man turned towards me with a smile of warmth and embarrassment at his son’s disrespectful nature “Apologies Miss Yuki, and have a good night”

Jet simply smile, saying it was alright before she followed Mizuki down a narrow hall passing a few closets and parlor rooms until they reached the stairs. All the while Mizuki wouldn’t stop blabbering and running his mouth off about the town and himself, as if trying to sell himself off to the highest bidder as he was some valuable golden prize. Oh how he could wish. Instead Jet listened with a hanging ear while she surveyed the inn. The smell of vanilla and candlewax paired nicely with the sea salt dancing along the wooden window panes and created a warm inviting atmosphere as the worn wooden steps creaked softly along as the pair ascended up the stairs to the second floor. Here the larger suites were at and it seemed that her own was towards the back, farther from the others. The glow of the oil fed lamps made their shadows dance along the fading grey walls and the owl eye tick serenely as if going along with the beat.

Finally as if a long journey had passed they arrived at her doorstep. A white washed door with a golden knob and matching numbers nailed to the door read the number 210 now had an piece of paper sheet paper that had occupied written on it and smiled through the foggy glass insert beneath the room number. Now here at their final destination Mizuki turned towards Jet with a seductive smile that was starting to grate on her nerves “Well then it seems we have arrived at your suite, room 210. If you ever need anything please ring bell D inside by the coat rack if you need anything and I’ll drop everything just for you”And as if possessed with a goal in mind, dangerously close to achieve he dared to close the distance between their two warm bodies, hovering over her and whispering cooly into her ear "I even offer night services" It seemed as if a piece of sanity, just one cable snapped and she was done playing games for tonight. As if sensing something sinister the flames of the oil fed lamps were snuffed out by a sudden strong gust of wind and her electric blue eyes glowed ominously forcing the lad off her and down, looking down on him as if a higher being was glaring down to an insect, someone she could easily squash beneath her feet and a simple move of her lips was enough to make him jump in fear, tossing the set of keys into the air and ran like a phantom was gnawing at his heels.

Finally now the peace had returned, the suffocating tension dripped away from the air into the seams of the floorboards before disappearing entirely. So the woman turned the key in the lock and opened the door, eyes adjusting to the darkness before locking the door behind her as she grabbed a pack of matches. It seemed that the room she was staying at tonight was a loft. A coat rack and set of bells framed the narrow entrance and up the slender stairs before the roof seemed to expand. There was a sea foam color bed off in the middle of the room with a small chest by its side. A scrawny desk and foot stool on the far side next to a door that most likely led to the bathroom. With snap she opened the box of matches and turned it calm wine red tip along its rough edge making it spark to life and with it, she lit the candles around the room, even the ones of the window frame that had a spectacular view of the docks, the ocean glistening like jewels in the moonlight. It seemed as if the room was brightened by the soft glows like will o wisp dancing, although it was already illuminated enough by the otherworldly moonlight feeding in from the large french window and the skylight above her.

3279~

Afterwards she left towards the bathroom and got out her toiletries from her backpack. As the deep claw foot tub rushed to fill itself with water, she took it upon herself to inspect her features while brushing her teeth. Sometime during her journey her cheeks had turned a rosy red, irritated from the painful whips of sea salt air and harsh winds. A bit of warm water and soap would be enough to put them to rest. Once she felt the tub was getting full she shut off the water and slid in, her clothes disappearing as she did so. There was no warmth in the water just like herself it was freezing cold. A cold that was frigid and dark like a endless winter night. There was no summer for her, those times long since forgotten, just like her past selves, the died the night her parents and herself did but it was also the first time in awhile she was alone. The past few weeks did not count since she was either guarding Akira and doing missions or obtaining some information and teaching a young kiri fellow after her brief meeting with another but now all she had to herself where her thoughts alone.

It was peaceful wasn’t it, being alone with nothing to worry or fret over. For once there was no one trying to swindle her, thrust a rusty blade through her bosom, or patronize her with useless dabble. She had no screams to listen to nor the rotting iron of blood wafting through her nose. Her kage was as safe as safe could be and Suutei had yet to get himself killed. Maki had yet to send someone after her and her business partner didn’t bother to show himself. So yes in all honestly it was peaceful, but it was also empty. They say you are never truly alone when even you’re left with yourself. Perhaps it was more true in her case than anyone else. As she floated in the bath water, allowing sud soaps to crassess her worn skin, making scars, both young and new, fade away under the bubbles into water depths that cooled her feverish skin. As she folded her arms and leaned on the bathtubs edge, the gentle breeze of the night air made the thin flimsy cotton curtain flutter from the small crack in the window and she felt herself drift away into her memories as consciousness began to fade.

Birds chirped alongside crickets and African beetles hissed. Harsh grunts and skin cracking against skin from the fight in the alley down below. A woman whimpering and crying as a venomous voice spew hateful words at her, of contempt and deceit blaming their misfortunes. This was from a memory from long ago from when the green hair miss was just a young girl. The only one in her world. Her parents coming and going but never staying. It was here she lived and dwelled, in the Sand Dune Slums. Nothing more than a beast in the eye of men in the wasteland. Her hope to be seen more than that was dwindling but something inside her told her not to give up, to not lost hope but it was a struggle. All she had to call her own were not her parents whom were slave to her work but this body. This small, fragile body that easily tired out. A body that she could not to with as she please so she was locked away by her mother, into the darkness of her closet, as if forgotten by the world around her. Not even her father had enjoyed looking at her lately although he never had. Perhaps the whispers, the rumors, were right. Perhaps she was a monster. Afterall why else could no one love her besides her mother. Her mother’s love could not count if there was no warmth in it. She could not speak as she please or leave her tiny closet without facing her wrath. But now she was gone, and left the poor child alone with her thoughts. Thoughts that grew darker with each passing minute. Was that why her father didn’t return home often? Or the smile on her mother’s face did not reach her eyes? Why people ran away or spit at her in the streets? Her hair a bright green of forests, mocking the desert’s decrepitude. She didn’t even have a shadow in a place where the sun always shone or was easily forgotten unless she spoke, her footsteps gliding across the ground. Her friends disappeared after the first couple meetings, never appearing again as if spirited away. All she had in the world...was herself, as it always has been...


4080~

A warm ray of sun bled through the window, past its driftwood pane and caressed the pale woman's cheek. Tingled and burned by the sudden lighting of room she awoke in a daze, eyesight foggy before it readjusted and blinked allowing herself to get her bearings. For some reason, she had fallen asleep, in the bathtub of all things. It was odd and not something she often did thus made her wary yet only, just only, for a moment before it disappeared and she returned to being nonchalant. Pulling the plug and turning off the water she rinsed herself off before the suds ran down the drain. Afterwards she dried her pruned body with a small towel and shook the water out her hair before commencing with the rest of her personal hygiene before she got dressed.

After the woman had gotten dressed she slid on the same shoes she had worn the day prior and slung her bag over her shoulder before leaving her room and descending down the stairs, passing by Mizuki who was flirting with a young girl with a basket of bread by the entrance until she turned left and walked down a short narrow hallway into the dining hall which only catered to a few early bird occupants, a young couple, one elderly man sipping coffee, two hungover middle aged men, a mother and her young rambunctious child, and a maid cleaning off the desk who chatted lighting with the bartender polishing glassware.Finding plenty of tables full of space she opted for one in a corner against the wall so no one could sneak up on her and away from all windows making the area almost shadow but light enough she could still be easily seen if you were in the room itself so as she went to sit down on it she grabbed a breakfast menu from the hostess stand and looked at what they had for breakfast. Hm, it seems well priced and there were plenty of options, mostly seafood and eastern style dishes though, not typically her preference as her favorite has always been middle eastern cuisine as it reminded her of the few times her family could afford a good meal at one of the tents around the market place when she was a small child, one of her few happy memories. A few moments later, a young girl stopped by her table dewy eyed and holding a small notepad and matching pen. "Hello Miss. What would you like to order?"From the way she looked she was most likely Mizuki’'s sisters considering they looked each other. Perhaps she wondered, if the mother was the same. The only difference the girl had was instead of   brown eyes, she had pale blue eyes with flecks of gray, most likely from the mother.

Despite the warm greeting Jet hardly acknowledged as while she waited to be served she had taken out a sheet of white paper and a pen and had been doodling different seals, and theories she had from what she had gotten from the book she read the day prior, already having a intermediate level of understanding of it now and had accomplished in understanding the meaning behind each stroke and how to apply it, hence the various sealing and barrier seals she had drawn onto the sheet of paper while perusing the menu. Of course she wasn’t about to leave the girl high and dry so with a lazy lone eye she raised her head a bit and pondered what she wanted before listing it all down “Some fresh baked pita bread and hummus. Baba Ghannoush and foul maddamas. A couple falafels and one hard boiled egg. Mortadella if you have it, just curious since we don’t see it on the menu and labna and feta. Oh an a arabic coffee” A bit caught off guard with what typically seen as a large break she blinked in surprise then wrote it down and left to tend to her food alongside everyone whom’s order she had taken. Five minutes later she returned with Jet’s coffee which she sipped tenderly whilst scratching off notes for a potential new seal idea and tended to other customers.

Ahh creating sealing ideas were much harder than she thought. By now she already understood the concept and history behind the general order of each stroke and had the basic type of seals down as they were commercially made but for creating her own, she was lost on that. While the book had mentioned how to do so it was in a short segment on the last page saying she needed the next volume. Great...

4865~
Learned and Trained Fuuin
Nothing - D - C (4500/4500)
365~ Remaining

Nightfall

This morning had seemed like a dream compared to now, when she was waiting for her breakfast, doodling seals and relaxing, just a normal morning for any traveler like the type she had seen before yet couldn't be. It was so damn peaceful so how could she have been naive. So stupid to not notice how off everything seem. No looking back she couldn't have foreseen what would have happened. Still, wow how things escalate in a few hours but now, now things were vastly different. Very different. Shit how the hell she get into this mess. How did the threat get so large. There was something, something she was missing but what. And did her team know this, was that why he was sent to the border? To investigate. Or was this another problem entirely that was lurking in the shadows of the discord. Possibly...no definitely. She won't underestimate them now. That was her own fault and she can't go whine about it now. No she cannot. What she needed to do was get as far as she can from this island now. She needed to get to Kiri, and quick. To warn them. Or did they already knew about this and it was all a trap? Shit, her thoughts were becoming blurry and she was being delirious. This place was making her go crazier with every minute. So with new found vigor she ran, as much as her legs could take her. Ocean spray cut into her skin as her drenched hair clung to her skin. Her eyes were wary, careful even of her surrounding. She hadn't expected a chase like this from people like them. Heck she had gotten used to being the thing people ran from not the other way. A quick sidestep and she dodged an arrow aimed at her head. A second longer and that arrow would've impaled her instead of the tree instead. Damnit she was wasting time and wasn't thinking rationally. It might have been because of the tanto lodged into her side and the blood loss. Honestly it would be better if she wasn't running and take a rest so she wouldn't be losing so much blood but she can't stop now, not even close, she had to keep going. She had to, not for the sake of her reputation, the village or the god forsaken alliance but herself. She refused damnit. She refused to die in a place like this. In the middle of a hurricane in some far off island. Shit was she seeing dots, no...wait. That's light! Thank goodness. She was reaching the town! Never in her life she was so happy to see a town! Maybe if she was careful, she could shake off her pursuers!

She just.. had to.......keep....go...ing. Wow. She felt really heavy right now. And tired. The pain was still there but it was solely going away. But now she felt a pressure on her chest. And...around....her throat. What...was going...on. All of a sudden it was getting hard for her to breathe. Jet was down on the ground, her life getting squeezed out of her and it was growing dark but of course with the luck of the devil someone came in the nick of time. The last thing she saw before she passed out was a lock of green hair...

945~
Trained PER B-B1 (700/700)
245 remaining~

[EXIT]