The midnight moon hangs in the sky over the small grey tent that Asura had put up earlier in the day, the moon's light shone on his camp while Asura was kept deep in sleep. In his sleep, Asura walked the forest of his mind, it was always dark there and there was always only ever one creature, it wasn't him, but it was what Asura always referred to as Vitra, which was also known to Asura as Vetis, both were strange names but then again this creature was strange itself, it was the darker evil version of Asura that always rested in his mind, only ever speaking out on occasion and never getting control over the body. It was almost ritualistic, Asura would see red glowing eyes in his mind's forest, this would be followed by a creature made out of wood, that looked exactly like he did but spoke with a cold sadistic voice that seemed to almost scare Asura. And when the creature spoke it would forever be the same chilling phrase "Voices twist and turn the mind, changing the way we hear the vines, looking upon the earth below, where our empty beds will grow." Due to Asura's time in Kumo he had become less jumpy then he had been before with sleep, before he would almost always be awoken by that phrase but now he was too used to it, it still scared him but it never woke from his dreams.

Asura slowly woke in the morning, with a yawn he eased his head off of his pillow, his eyes caught the beam of light coming through the crack in his tent, "Ugh, at least the weather is nice today." He spoke lightly to himself before he got himself up and out of his tent. Asura got dressed, getting ready for the day, he was going to go and get a new pen since his broke writing out the first two paragraphs of his book. His hair had grown out a while ago and then was cut, returning it to its ghostly white shade, his hair was somewhat spiky and tended to hang off over hif face a little, barely reaching his forehead. His new look was black jeans with a black kimono over it, he still wore his black boots, the sleeves of the kimono were removed and over the kimono he wore a white coat that reached down to the bottom of his kimono, it was also sleeveless and on the back of the coat was his clan's symbol. On his hands he wore black fingerless gloves that reached halfway up his forearm.

Asura packed everything up again as he did every day, and placed his gear in the same place he put it every day, leaving his book in his bag so that he might do a bit of writing while he was in the village. He started to walk into the village, slowly making his way as he remembered what he had written the night before, the beginning of a tale he was hoping to weave. He reached into his pocket and picked out a piece of paper he was using as a draft, as he walked, he read the beginning out to himself, "The sky was ablaze, a falling star. Bright, bloody crimson, falling from the sacred heavens themselves. The fire, or what appeared to be fire, had dissipated. Leaving a man, a shadowy, burnt husk, falling to his own demise. Falling, hurtling towards the world below. New to the realm of Earth, the world of Man, home of Humanity. Where monsters hide their true forms and the Gods themselves walk. A place where Immortals hide from Mortals, shrouded in false, mortal clay."

"The midnight sky, lit by the stranger's welcome, appeared a cold mix of darkest blue and icy white. Giving off a bright purple glow the full, lustrous moon showing that a God has arrived within the new world. The beginning of a new dawn, maybe an era of war or peace, only the newcomer can tell. Cracking, quaking, the ground itself and the mountains began to shudder, to tremble at the force falling from the sky. With an almighty rush, akin to strong wind in a winter storm, the Immortal collided with the cold hard ground, melting the rough stone and soil of the land, such fiery heat did pour from his flesh it left the earth blackened and scorched." He gave off a light smile as the story almost seemed to speak to him, asking to be told and to be finished. He quickly put the paper back into his pocket as he passed through the gates of the village and started to make his way to the market. Asura was always tall, especially for his age, he seemed to tower over most here and it always made him wonder a little, however he had remembered he forgot to eat and so he sat down on a bench in the village and reached into his bag, looking for some bread.

Lin stretched in the early morning light, got up and decided that she would go to the market today. Gora, unfortunately, had other plans, and being 200 pounds of fur and fang, was laying on top of her. She reached up and poked the giant cat's stomach and Gora let out a grumble. Lin experimentally poked again and it turned into a growl. She knew that she could only get away with this for so long. She then moved to poke Gora on the nose. With that Gora's eyes flew open her pupils slits of lightning, her hair standing on end, her claws digging into the bedding around Lin.

"Where's the danger!?" Gora shouted in her rough and deep voice. Lin giggled at seeing Gora fluff up like this, and ever since Gora was a kitten she had always had a knack for getting Gora's hackles up. "It's morning and you were suffocating me. It's about time I went to the market and got us both some fresh food. I have been eating rice noodles for too long and you're almost out of dried food." Gora glared at Lin and flopped back down, refusing to move. Lin scratched her behind the ear and the big cat rolled over away from Lin for scratches under the neck. With the cat off of her, she slid out from the bed while giving scratches and bolted towards the bathroom. Gora chuffed and lay there grumbling on the bed.

Lin put on her face and put her hair into a braid, making sure to keep her bangs out to hide her scar. All done up and ready, she slipped on a skirt with black leggings underneath and a comfy sweater. She usually was cold throughout the day and it wasn't a heavy sweater so she thought that it would be better to dress warmly than be cold the entire shopping trip. Coming out of the bathroom, she narrowly avoided a pouncing Gora.

"You're going to have to do better than that. I'm going to the market and I'll be back in a while. Keep the house safe, though I am sure that if anyone sees you they'd run anyway." She laughed at the dejected look that Gora gave her and waved her goodbyes.

Closing the door she headed into the market district. She had picked up most of her groceries when she spied a man that was a good foot above the rest of the crowd wearing something that wasn't usually seen in Kumo with fingerless gloves. He looked the sort that was out of place here, and she was naturally curious. She casually kept up with him and kept her eye on him, or perhaps not so casually. When he stopped to admire the market she didn't react quite in time and bumped into his back. Well, so much for stalking the prey like Gora had shown her.

WC: 508

Strange things had been in Asura's mind in the past few days, Vritra had been really quiet, and that sort of thing tends to put Asura on edge. Having your evil side talking to you and taunting you for weeks then going silent for a while wasn’t something to be expected. After Asura finished his piece of bread that he got out of his bag when he sat down, he got up again and continued to walk further into the market, looking for that supply store he had visited before however he stopped for a moment just to admire the look of the markets, it was then when he was knocked into. Asura moved a bit forward and turns around quickly, "Oh sorry, are you alright?" He lowered himself a little so he wouldn't seem so imposing however there was so much he could do without hurting his legs. It was only after he noticed the long hair and the skirt that it jumped into his mind that he had knocked into a girl. "I'm really sorry for that." Asura spoke without thinking, it was just how he acted around others, for some reason girls made this sort of action worse, making him more apologetic and even feel nervous.

Lin realized that she was still wearing her cat-ears and tail that she had received from Mifune, and they twitched at running into him. When he stooped down to get a better look at her and talk to her on her level she took two steps back and still had to look up to meet his gaze, "Err... it's no problem, I wasn't looking where I am going." Now that she got a good look at him, he didn't seem all that imposing whatsoever, and it seemed as though he was a good enough person. Not like the people that were usually his build and stature. They usually were thugs or bullies.

She extended her hand in greeting with a grin, her tail flicking behind her and her ears perking up, "I'm Katonrai, Lin. You can call me Lin, like everyone else does." She offered. She usually didn't go by formalities, and didn't use honorifics unless she was asked to or was in company of someone that commanded her respect. She readjusted her shirt, seeing that it had gone askew in the bumping and wondering if she needed to readjust anything else. She decided to not worry and just keep her hand there until he shook it.

He was a gentle giant, that was for sure. He was apologetic, offered her a smile, and seemed to be all around a nice guy. Perhaps he would want to become friends with her. She enjoyed making new friends, being an extrovert.

WC: 771 total.

Asura watched as she extended her hand to him with a grin, in which Asura smiled and took her hand gently giving a light hand shake, he'd never met her before, the name Katonrai Lin ringed through his ears as he committed it to memory. Moments after she finished speaking Asura spoke lightly, "I'm Senju, Asura, generally people call me Asura, it is a pleasure to meet you Lin." He kept his eyes on her before realising that he was still holding her hand, "Oh, sorry." He apologised again before letting go of her hand. "I'm just looking around for somewhere to buy some writing supplies, do you know of any places?" It had been almost a year since he went looking for any kind of writing supplies, and it had been over a year since he first arrived in this land, he always thought that maybe he should get a house to stay in the village and not have to rely on camping a few miles outside of it by a river. Suddenly another idea came to Asura's mind, another part of a story for him to add, perhaps it could be a continuation or perhaps something completely different, but the idea involved something that had yet to be invented, electronically powered armour that gave special traits, the idea seemed promising to him as part of the story.

Asura, the man's name was, grinned at her and shook her hand... And wouldn't let it go. She smiled, and it turned into an awkward smile, she wondered if she would ever get her hand back before he panicked and spewed out a sorry, letting go of her hand. She giggled, it was cute how sometimes men would forget about handshakes. Though, usually with other women. she combed her hair over her right eye again, hiding the scar that jetted down the right side of her body. She was extremely self conscious of it, and almost missed his question.

"Oh, if you're looking for writing supplies, I couldn't recommend anyone better than Asahio in the textile district of the market. I am here because I have two... or more sometimes, mouths to feed at home. Tonight it is just Gora and me." She nodded, she had been headed to the food district when she had seen Asura in the crowd. She was glad that she had been a bit curious as to what he was up to. Grabbing the front of his shirt she pulled him along behind her, humming a tune. She didn't ask permission, she didn't say follow me, but she expected it. He was in good hands, capable ones... if not a bit overzealous. She enjoyed meeting new people, and this new person seemed like a good person to have met.

She walked in and out of the crowd, weaving as she went, and probably dragging Asura around, unless he did something about it. The way lead east, and sure enough, after about 5 minutes of walking, they came to a shop called, "Calligrapher's Corner" It was a shop that was set up in a tent, and had beautiful Kanji poems written all over the outside. Once Lin had spent an entire day just reading the poems and contemplating their meaning. "I hope you'll like it in here."

WC: 1106

Asura listened to her talk, it seemed nice to him, he rarely got the opportunity to speak with people and even then it would be just to buy something, small talk wasn't his strong suit, but then again he didn't really know what was, all he ever did was train. He was snapped out of thought when she grabbed his shirt and started to pull him, Asura was at first somewhat surprised but he didn't put up a fight and just walked with her listening to her hum. As they passed by crowds of people he could clearly see that the book store he visited last year was getting more and more popular, he had found his grandfather's book about a fictional war that he claimed was real, there wasn't anything Asura could ever find in the history books about such a war, so Asura dismissed it was a story to tell the grand kids that would make them look up to him. Asura kept a mental track of where he was going with her, he realised that he approaching the textile district, it never appeared to him before that it would be here, he normally got his pens and equipment from his brother's store back in Konoha. Once they stopped Asura carefully read the sign and gave off a light laugh, "Thank you." He replied to Lin as he went over to the person to purchase some writing equipment, he mainly gathered a few pens and some pencils, and a sketch pad too, after all he had to design the front for his future book. He paid for the equipment and then returned to Lin, "Thank you for showing this place to me, I just needed some things so I can continue my writing." He smiled before the thought came into his head that he still needed to find a place. "I'm sorry, can I ask for one more favour? Do you know anywhere which typically shows off and sells homes? I've been living outside the village for the past year and it only just dawned on me that I actually need a place to stay." He spoke softly as he put his bag back over his shoulder.

Watched as Asura bought some pens, pencils, and a notepad, or what seemed like a notepad. She decided to pick up some good letterhead for if she wanted to make her father a poem. She knew how to do calligraphic kanji and she wanted to show off for the winter feast. Her father was an authoritarian man who was a guard at Athos' keep. If Lin could describe him in one word it would be "Honorable". She wanted to make him proud and that is why she became a ninja in the first place. Her mother had been a guanyin medic, but didn't make it past the academy, and so she had little knowledge of her own ninjutsu. Her father, on the otherhand was part of the Katonrai clan, a clan that was all about duty, vigilance, and blowing people sky high with their jutsu. He was not flashy, dressed in all black, and had a scar, similar to Lin's that traveled from the crown of his head, around the left eye, across his nose and over his mouth and then down into his shirt.

Come to think of it, she had never seen her dad without anything less than a long-sleeved shirt and dress pants on. It was odd, but true. She also picked up some dark red ink for her brush back at home. She wasn't a poet, she wasn't a writer, but she would try to make her dad proud anyhow. Maybe this man could help her out with the poem.

"Well, when I was getting my apartment, I found that there is a lot of ads for homes in the records right next to the Raikage's estate. They have homes, apartments, leases, and other things that you can purchase to live or do business out of." Lin nodded, "Some people even rent out a space above where they work so that they can live there and just get up and work in the mornings. I know a coffee shop that has a woman that does that. She seems happy enough." She rambled on a bit and then stopped, sighed, and smiled, "Sorry, I can show you to the place." She would start to go towards the Raikage's estate, making sure that he was following. If he did, she would take a corner left and out of the market. The people thinned out as did the air as they climbed up the slope of a mountain and finally came to Kumogakure's record and real estate center.

"This is it." Lin smiled, looking back at him.

WC: 1554

Once Asura had asked her he listened carefully to her reply, listening to her talk about where he could find a place to rent, when she mentioned that some even allow people to do business out the house, it occurred to Asura that perhaps he could find a way to make more money than just doing missions while he is here, but what could he do, sure he writes every now and then but he wouldn't be able to open up a book store like his brother. Regardless he wanted to focus on that later, as Lin continued he smiled while he looked at her, still carefully listening to her, once she apologised he instantly responded lightly, "Thank you" as he followed her while she started to walk towards the area, "Sorry about this, I'm actually a ninja from Konoha, I came here last year and I've been living about two miles out by a river." He followed her closely before they came across the record and real estate centre, with hearing her confirm the location Asura started to look at some of the places, mainly the ones which could also be used as a shop, he mainly looked for one with a garden. Asura was a Senju, he always liked the idea of having a nice garden, full of flowers. It finally occurred to him, he could sell plants and trees, he had the ability to make them but it never dawned on him that he could sell flowers. After a few moments of looking through the images of the homes he quickly turned back to Lin. "Thank you for helping me." He placed one hand over his other and then slowly removed it to reveal a large stem growing out of his hand, slowly flowers grew from it and bloomed into a white Orchid. He picked it from his hand and handed it to her, offering it as a gift, it seemed to match her hair, "Here, as a thank you." He smiled before continuing, "If you want, we could do a sparring session at some point, I can give you some directions to the river I'm staying near, it has always been a great place for training."

Lin looked with bright eyes at the gesture. So he was a senju after all. She had heard of their wood-making techniques, and had seen Syn perform a jutsu that made vines grow up and out of the ground. She was impressed by it at the time, but didn't know what it was. She assumed that all senju were the same, able to make things that were big, but to be able to make something so delicate as an orchid... and how did he know that her favorite flowers were orchids!?

"Th-thank you." She stuttered, she hadn't been given anything before this from someone that she had just met. It was something quite new to her. She smiled at him and put it into her hair. She knew that Orchids didn't even last a day here in Kumogakure, but she enjoyed them just the same. The weather was just non-conducive to their living habitats. They usually lived in humid climates such as rain forests. Generally, they are found in wooded areas with an appropriate amount of light, while still being shaded by the trees and protected from harsh winds. However, they are not only found in tropical climates and various species actually are found native to the Land of fire. While the temperature climates may be different, wild orchids are found in locations that look very similar in nature. Wooded hillsides seem to attract wild orchids more so than any other location in the wild.

She knew that one of the tentamount problems with orchids is dealing with the changes in the soil. Orchids may be hardy plants, but adaptation in the species takes some time, so a lot of the orchids that were in bloom in the flower shops never bloomed again, or if they did, it took 5-10 years.

The most rare Orchid that she saw was on top of a mountain once. The green shoot of the orchid was poking out of the first snow of the season, and it had a lightning blue color to it, almost as if it had captured lightning in its petals. It certainly caught the sunlight and turned it into a dazzling display worthy of being called a lightning bolt.

She loved them so much that she had studied their exact habitat and knew where they thrived, and where they struggled. They enjoyed shady places with sparse sunlight. She had tried to grow an orchid, putting it in her closet at night and bringing it out in the afternoon, but it unfortunately died due to over watering when she had left her house in her father's care for a week. It hadn't bloomed and she wanted it to, but after that she swore off of them, they were far to hard to care for, and she didn't need something besides herself to care for.

That is when she found Gora and well, she couldn't just abandon the little timber Jaguar like that.  Or that is what her species was called, she thought. She actually hadn't seen anything like Gora. She was a white Jaguar, her spotting indicated she was a cub, and had been seperated from her mother. She was able to talk, for some reason just like Gin's cat, and she told her that she had gotten lost from her mother and her brother who were on the mountain. Lin had searched for weeks before giving up and returning to Gora. Gora happily accepted that her Mother and Brother must have moved somewhere else and thought of Lin as family. It surprised her how fast Gora had grown in the past few months, and she hoped that Gora wouldn't get any bigger, but she knew that if she did, she would always care for her, no matter how much lighter her pocket became with her around.

She was so surprised that she had studied it for about an hour before she noticed the time and had to head back down the mountain. The mountainous terrain in Kumogakure was treacherous in the afternoons and downright dangerous in the evenings, but by the morning it would be safe to traverse again. It was like the mountains themselves had a temper. They were morning people, just like the people that hiked them, and couldn't be bothered by trivial things such as who was on them in the afternoons. They enjoyed to get up early and sleep early, and if anyone tried to hike them after-hours, they were unforgiving in their temperament.

Perhaps that is where Lin got it from, but she didn't know.

She wondered if he had come from a place with orchids or if he had just seen them in flower shops. It was hard to transport them, and even harder to get them to bloom, so she thought the latter. They are succulent plants, after all. The one that he produced wasn't one that she could transplant, but perhaps she could ask him to do that another time. Noticing she hadn't said anything in a while, she cleared her throat and nodded.

"I am always up for a friendly spar with another ninja. We could also spar here in the village. They have rings made specially for people to spar in. That way we don't tear up the countryside when we don't need to, making more work for you." She toyed with a strand of her hair thoughtfully, looking toward the Battle Plateau. It was quite well known within Kumogakure, but she didn't know if Asura knew about it or not. She shrugged to herself and turned back to him. "It really is up to you, though, I am comfortable sparring anywhere." She simply smiled and waited for his response.

WC: 2535

((OOC: Sorry it took so long to post))

As the words 'thank you' reached Asura's ears his cheeks became a little pink, he quickly responded with what words he could to clear the air. "Sorry, I thought it might suit your hair, you looked like Orchids were a preferable flower." He watched her put it into her hair, it did seem to suit her, perhaps Asura might have been right. He listened closely to her words as she agreed to the spar, she suggested that they spar in the village which was a better idea in case anyone got hurt, Asura hoped that wouldn't happen but if something bad were to happen to someone in a fight, it would have to be him, he never liked hurting people.

After she had finished Asura responded after a few moments of pondering, "Yeah, your idea is a better one, sparring in the village is a much better idea. Besides, I'm going to be trying to open up a store near here." Asura pointed one of his fingers at a poster for a home above a store, it had a nice oak look to the building with glass windows in the upper floor. It listed that it had a bathroom, a bedroom, a living room and a kitchen, it also listed how big the front of the place was, it seemed to be perfect to Asura for being a florist. "I'm going to try and get it open soon, and then you could stop by whenever you want some more Orchids." He smiled, letting out a light smile.

Lin patted the flower tenderly to make sure that it was still there before beaming at his "Sorry". He seemed to be the over-apologetic type and it was actually kind of cute. It didn't suit his seven foot tall stature at all, "Orchids are one of my favorites, thank you." She bowed at her waist respectfully. She didn't know this man's rank or anything but she enjoyed the company of gentle people.

"What will it be called? I'll look for it. Orchids are hard to care for, and knowing a senju it might help to bring them in once in a while to have a little help blooming, or if my 'green thumb' wrecks them again." Truth be told, she was a terrible keeper of gardens and plants, but she enjoyed them all the same. She knew that it was about time to be getting back to Gora, so she waited for the conversation to end with a time and a date for them to get together for their sparring session. She knew that it would be fun and exciting to see how this person handled duels. She cocked her head to the side and gave him a genuine smile. "I have a kitty to get home to in the meantime, but I can already tell that we're going to be fast friends Asura-kun."

WC: 2778

|exit thread|

Using post to train..
Cat's Paw Palms 1500/1500
Raiton: Piercing Senbon 1000/1000
leftover:278

Cat's Paw Palms:

Raiton:

Asura gave off a light chuckle at the last part of her comment that it might help knowing a Senju, he looked down for a few moments trying to think of what to call it, he had several options, but only three stood out, one which was painfully obvious, one which would be somewhat funny, and one which would be a little delicate, he couldn't seem to choose from them. After she spoke about her cat and that the two of them would quickly become friends, Asura smiled, "I think we will, as for what I'll name the shop, I'm stuck between three strange names. Asu's Plant Emporium, The Classy Ass Flower Shop, or The White Rose. I'm leaning a little more to The White Rose." He looked up a little, "I'll have it set up properly within a few days so keep an eye out for the store, perhaps we can spar the day before I open up shop to the public. I plan on heading to get a lease now, so if you need any floral help, just stop by, you'll always be welcome." He gave Lin a full vertical bow, "I'll see you in a few days then." He smiled brightly before walking off in the direction he thought was where he was supposed to go, but a few moments later he realised and started walking back in the other direction.

A few hours after Asura had left Lin, he had already obtained the lease for the apartment/store, giving the store the title of 'The White Rose Flower Shop', he was on his way back to his camping location to collect his things so he could move in. When Asura arrived at his camp site he collected his bags which he always hit under a few rocks, no one really sparred by the river, and the only thing that made Asura uneasy was the idea that the river could flood and soak his stuff, luckily that didn't happen. He started to make his way back into the village, keeping his bags close by as he made his way to his new home which will soon become a store selling all kinds of Flora. Asura opened the door to his new home and tossed his bags to the ground, closing and locking the door, he took in a deep breath, the smell of a new home. He went to check all the rooms in the house/store before moving his stuff upstairs where he set it, it was strange having a proper bed again, it almost seemed too soft for him.

- Exit Thread -

Training Jutsu: