The roof of her room in the hotel was beige, and the very first thing she saw when she woke up that morning. Sleeping was rough in such a foreign atmosphere, where the air itself had a very different taste altogether. Perhaps it was the fact this place was further north than home. Perhaps the different altitude. Or perhaps, completely different to this, was the sheer hostility she felt. Her arrival was still stuck in her mind, and as she woke up, the girl took a quick look around the room she was in. It was somewhat worn down, and not the largest room in the building. She was only here for a brief time, and in her mind, it was better to get the cheapest room, just in case she needed the ryo for emergency purchases, or a technicality came up that required her to stay longer. So, rubbing her eyes, the girl got up, stretching out before going to get ready. She only had the one set of clothes, but thanks to the skills of the Sangotatsu, she could wash and dry them easily – slowly, but easily.

She went over to the mirror and sink, in the same room as the bed due to the nature of the room, groaning as she looked at her hair and arm. It was a mess, but, so was the day prior. And there she saw her horns. A reminder of her abnormality – and her situation. Alwen let out a quiet sigh, looking directly into the reflection of her amber eyes before focusing chakra through her body and forming the seal for the transformation technique, poofing in a cloud of smoke, before transforming into a version of herself that was exactly the same, but without the horns. Taking a moment just to reaffirm and remind herself that this was reality, Alwen sighed, and opened the door, and heading down to the foyer of the hotel as her mind ran through the events of yesterday, waving to the attendant there before walking out and into the streets of this foreign village. Apparently there was a festival that was to happen later today, although Alwen had no intention of going and risking getting caught or attacked. Her ninja tools, and her forehead protector, were all back in the room that she was staying in, hidden in one of the pillows in case someone came in and checked the room. She had to be careful after all, as a Kiri ninja in Kumo so shortly after Kiri invaded.

Yet, Alwen had no idea what to do with the day. Her intention was to wait until night, and find Maigo who was supposedly in the same hotel as her, but that left the entire day to spend. She only had so much ryo, so it wasn’t like she could just do a spending spree and go shopping. Perhaps it’d be a better idea to get a look at her surroundings though. It was her first time out of water country, and while perhaps she would have preferred to have such an experience be less violent, or in a country where she’s not an enemy, it was still a new place to explore. So, clad in her basic, grey and black silk and cloth attire that she had worn when she first left Kirigakure no Sato, Alwen went off, heading down the least busy route she could find from the hotel, and just seeing where it went. The sky was relatively clear, unlike yesterday, but puddles still existed on the ground from the rain last night, reflecting the light in the sky.

Not caring if she stepped in a puddle or no, Alwen walked forward and around, amber eyes scanning the surroundings. It seemed the security was on high alert, on duty shinobi at one point or another on every street. She mused that it was due to Kirigakure’s recent invasion of Kumogakure, but that wasn’t something she had any information about, aside from that it happened, and there was no casualties on either side from what she knew. Then again, stupidly, Alwen never thought to ask any questions – she had full faith in her nation. Yet upon entering the village hidden in the clouds, even though she was here by accident and held no weapons, the hostility was apparent as soon as she walked through the gate. Whatever happened between Kumo and Kiri, it hit hard. Even Lin, the ninja that had healed Alwen and set her up at the hotel, was quite clearly hostile about Alwen being a ninja from Kirigakure. She furrowed her brow, looking down at the ground in thought.

After half an hour of aimless walking, Alwen found a place to perhaps spend some time and wait – a small pond, near the edge of the village, which was likely a part of a park of some description. Flocks of various water fowl swam through the pond, their feathers leaving streaks and ripples in the water as they manoeuvred with eloquent elegance around the somewhat average sized pool of liquid – to Alwen it was small, but she was from the land of water, so that could be seen as her own bias. She simply watched for a moment, almost mesmerised by the dances and movements of the birds, before taking a seat on a bench, sighing as she let herself relax. This walk was probably more trouble than it was worth, and even without her horns, given the dye in her hair, and the amber of her eyes, Alwen still stood out like a sore thumb. But, she needed to get out of the hotel for at least an hour or two. So, out of the hotel she was, wasting time and just doing nothing, at least until something happened when it inevitably did.

971

Chakra: 185/190 (Chakra is at -10 due to being outside of Kiri/ not near a large pool of water) (-5 for transformation technique)

Jutsu used:

For Uta the day started as it always did. Wake up, eat a healthy breakfast, read more of his medical books, say good morning to the neighbors, and set off. A simple start to the day, and as many would view it a respectable one too, however in his eyes it was the calm before the storm. The storm that was his HEFTY daily excersize regiment! He went to his room, preparing himself visually before anything else. The pink in his hair, his trademark quirk to try to get people's attention, followed by a small... Well, vain period of eyeing his body and self-gracing his muscles before he was dressed and prepared to set out. As always, he would walk outside, take in a very long breath before shouting loudly. "Good Morning!," as loudly as he could. If people weren't awake yet, they were now... And some weren't entirely pleased with that, as a band of swears and some small thrown objects followed in his path as he began his jog.

For him, the routine was simple. A jog around parts of the village, waving hello to people and making a show out of his precense, trying way too hard as always to bait in conversation that never met fruition. Then it was off to the park for a quick breather, before he would begin a set of sit ups, pushups, jumping jacks, and if he felt he could get away with it? A few laps around the lake that resided there. Of course, today wouldn't follow that same routine. Normally he didn't catch strangers out by the lake on special days like today, with the festival preparations going on. But as he stepped closer it was hard not to notice the woman sitting out by said lake.

"Hoyyyyy!" He shouted out, his jog slowly moving to a walk, before he'd stop beside her. His breath heavy as he tried to relax, smiling over to her. His look wasn't anything out of the way, a man in black kimono with unkept black hair (pink streak of hair to the side kept in some braids), and the obvious signs of a man trying to show off machismo despite barely being stronger than the average genin... The only part that stood out for most was his complete lack of physical scar or blemish. "Enjoying the park? Always peaceful this time of day, no?" Laughing softly as he spoke in between breaths. He hadn't picked up on her as a "guest" from another village yet, more just seeing her as a normal girl. Well, normal being subjective here...

435 words
50/50 Chakra

Silence. The park was nice, and quiet. Perhaps everyone else was truly busy at a different part of the village, and Alwen would have the time to just contemplate – before she could finish that thought, a noise came out from the side, startling Alwen and causing her to nearly fall off the bench from the suddenness of the sound. Specifically, someone shouting out a greeting, Alwen turning to face the source of the sound – a fairly, almost too much so, plain person, with a streak of pink in their hair. Alwen had to admit, the pink was cool, given that she herself had pink and blue in her hair. He was out of breath, and dressed in black, so if Alwen had to guess, he was training, or exercising for the sake of exercising. And now he was next to her, talking directly to her as if she was a normal person to see here. Given her personal predicament, this was… Well, not desirable, so it was time for Alwen to put her acting skills to use.

As he stated how nice it was here, Alwen smiled, closing her eyes as she nodded simply. “Yes! It’s, well, definitely nice out here! I wouldn’t really know what it’s usually like here, because, um, I’m from the other part of the village, but, well, it’s certainly pretty here! I love the… Water! Yes, the water! It’s so… Wet, and water like! There aren’t really lakes over on the other side, you know?” she grinned nervously, looking from side to side. Her reply was about as smooth as a porcupine, and the temptation for Alwen to just get up and leg it was very, very tempting. But, she was trying to be inconspicuous, so, perhaps it was time to go on the verbal offensive in this conversation! “So! Do you come to this part of the village often? I can’t say I recognise you, so, I could just be taking a guess, but, I’d say yes?” she laughed nervously, rubbing the back of her neck before continuing. “Say! Why are you out of breath? Doing training or something?” phew, nailed it Alwen. Completely dug yourself out of that one.

Except not really. Alwen was still, what is known as, a social idiot.

379 + 971 = 1350