Kiyomi took a deep breath to steel herself and firmly pushed open the well worn door to the Shushaya pub. She paused for a moment after crossing the threshold to let her eyes adjust to light, the setting sun had left her eyes maladjusted to the dimness within. It was uncomfortably warm inside the large building, and the smells coming from the kitchen were not mingling well with the smell of sweat and smoke coming from the pubs patrons. She breathed deeply again, trying to clear her head of the background noise that were her anxious thoughts; What if someone is looking for me here? How can I defend myself if someone attacks me? How can I escape quickly if I need to?. These thoughts started out, years ago and with the best of intentions, as a mental checklist in order to keep herself safe. Over time however they had become near obsessive and occasionally, like today, were difficult to push aside.

Her eyes having nearly adjusted to the new level of light Kiyomi glanced around the room, pausing a moment to appreciate the lights above her that, if you squinted just so, almost looked like stars floating in a wooden sky. It was just past dinner and not quite time for raucous parties so there weren't many people lingering about which she was quite glad of. She carefully measured in her minds eye the distance between each available seat and the exit and decided that the most efficient route of escape would most likely be from the bar. It was further than other seats from the front doorway but it had little in the way to block her path and she was a decent sprinter when necessary. Satisfied with her practical choice she strode confidently up to the bar, her clothing making the tiniest whisper of sound as the leather on her arm brushed against the lace on her hip. She looked down at herself for just a moment curious about the effect of the tiny lights on her feather mantle, and was not disappointed as the green and blue shimmer of the feathers glittered as they reflected the artificial starlight. Kiyomi gracefully swept her short dark cape to the side as she carefully eased herself onto a bar stool, aided greatly by the extra height of her heeled boots. Not that she normally had trouble what with her impressive stature but she was trying to remain unnoticed and the easiest way to do that was to move fluidly, or so she had found.

The clearly overworked bartender came over as soon as she found her perch and asked cheerfully for her drink order. She studied him briefly before answering, she could see dark circles beneath his eyes and tiny wrinkles starting to form around his mouth and along his forehead. She noticed two small cuts on his hand, probably from clumsily handling a piece of glassware, and her heart leapt into her throat. The familiar itching in her hands returned along with the bluish haze that started creeping over her vision, her heart quickened as she got lost imagining herself continuing the pattern of small cuts along the bartenders hand. She thought that with enough time she could probably create a pattern like dragon scales over his entire body, she could do it quickly of course, but she wanted him to enjoy it. Kiyomi shuddered in delight and revulsion at the notion and abruptly became aware of the bartender staring at her with both curiosity and annoyance. She felt heat rise into her cheeks and, feeling annoyed with herself, raised her chin to better match his gaze and replied to his cheerful query coolly, "A bottle of sake. Thank you."

She absentmindedly scratched a fingernail from her right hand along the palm of her left, the act calmed her nerves somewhat though the haze was still in her vision. Most likely it was merely her own minds way of interpreting her distracting desires, but to Kiyomi it signaled the need to begin her ritual of cutting to help relieve her anxiousness. She felt along her forearms where her scars were and whispered "Soon my darlings, but first an evening with a bottle." She straightened her spine to sit at her full height as the bartender returned with her sake and she reached delicately for the glass taking the bottle from the server and pouring it herself. She placed the glass to her lips, breathing in the sharp scent as she tipped the liquid into her mouth. It burned as it slid down her throat and burned hotter once it reached her belly, she smiled happily as the painful burning turned into glowing warmth. This was Kiyomi's favorite part of drinking alcohol, and she savored every drop of the delicious rice wine as she drained her first glass and poured herself a second. "Ah, I've missed you." she said fondly to the liquid she swirled lazily in her glass. She could feel and hear that more patrons were entering the establishment, but she paid them little mind as she focused on her warped reflection in the bottom of her glass.

864

So, this was Konohagakure no Sato, the great Village Hidden in the Leaves. If Devha had to say it, he was quite impressed with the appearance of this place. The tall buildings of the village, the large amount of people bustling through the crowded streets, the vast number of shops and such that filled this place was amazing to him. While he knew this place to be one of the major economic centers of the world, he still did not expect it to be quite this large...

Quick steps carried him through the village hidden in the leaves, his head on a swivel as he looked about, attempting seek out a place to have a drink and a bite to eat. The young man had been traveling for a long time, and while he did have something to eat that morning, it was getting about that time to get something on his stomach or else he would be a grouch for the rest of the day until he actually ate something. There were many signs about that advertised places to eat, each one boasting about the chef's speciality or the 'special' drinks that they served. Devha moved passed all of these establishments, heading to a certain one in particular. In the distance, he could see it; a sign which read 'Shushaya pub' -- a colorful decoration, and upon which sat a particularly colorful bird. A small spark of happiness would cross Devha's face as he spotted the bird, and he bagan to move a bit fast in the direction of Shushaya Pub; it would seem that his friend Valor selected his place to eat. He would reach the pub in just a short amount of time, and push open the door to let himself inside.

The inside of the pub was very quiet, compared to the din of the world outside. With his head still on a swivel, the young male took in the tasteful theme of the pub; admiring the decor that the owner must of painstakingly put alot of time and effort into. But, he was not here to admire the decoration; he was there to eat! According to the sign, he was to seat himself, so he would take up a position at the bar, two seats down from another woman who was being presented with a bottle of Sake. As he sat down, a menu was placed in front of him, and the young man would take a minute to look it over before deciding on his order; some traditional curry and noodles, along with a bottle of ramune. He was not here for something heavy, just something to keep him going. He would figure out something heavy for dinner.

453

As Kiyomi drained her second glass of sake she took notice of the young shinobi sitting at the bar two seats down from hers and watched with  interest as the lithe figure happily drank a soda while waiting for their food. It was insulting to see such happiness sitting there and so she endeavored to do something about it. Emotional suffering in some ways could be more delicious that physical, if done correctly, and exuberantly happy people were in her opinion simply asking for people like her to challenge their perfect view of the world. As Kiyomi sat there pondering the complexities of human emotion the front door to the pub would slam open suddenly followed by the obnoxious sound of high pitched laughter and inappropriate guffawing. Kiyomi would let out an audible groan of disapproval as she was dearly hoping to avoid this type of frivolity in her evening, and turn to pointedly glare in the direction of the disturbance. Making their way towards a table close to the bar were two men and two women, all four were drunk by the looks of it, and had likely been so for quite some time. The men were well muscled and looked as though they were laborers of some kind, their skin was quite tanned and their hands calloused. The women on the other hand were very pale and elaborately dressed, with extreme makeup and fanciful jewelry and hair, geisha she imagined. The slightly larger man caught her eye as she glared at him and smirked as he pulled 'his' date closer "What are you looking at, you jealous or something?" She would stop glaring and merely stare at the man blankly, trying to puzzle out whether or not she was actually jealous, after a moment or two deciding she was not, she would turn back towards the bar.

Kiyomi would raise her index finger to the bartender to capture his attention. "Another glass please." and upon receiving it would stand, taking both glasses and her bottle of sake in hand and would move down the bar to the new arrival. She looked down at the tiny shinobi's mass of short black hair and while she briefly considered asking for permission to sit beside the man, decided against it in the end and slid smoothly onto the stool directly beside him without a word. She would place the two glasses in front of her and pour sake into both being mindful of which glass she had already used so as not to pass along a dirty glass. While she did want to cause harm, she was not interested in being disgusting, that was for the low born thugs of the world. After ensuring there were perfectly equal portions in the glasses Kiyomi would slide the clean glass over her prospective victim for the evening. "Good evening my friend, my name is Kiyomi Yamada. I'm new to Konoha and could use some friendly conversation for the evening. I would greatly appreciate it if you would join me. Would you?"

1374

"Another glass please."

Typical bar talk. Devha was paying no attention to his surroundings, really. He was lost in thought somewhat, attempting to mentally decipher what Valor was attempting to show him in the village of Konoha. The bird never did anything without a reason, and was never without a lesson for the young man; it was how the male discovered his affinity for wielding a spear, as it had been Valor that lead him down the forest paths that allowed Devha to bump into his future Soujutsu teacher. It was also Valor that showed the child the way to the Village Hidden in the Leaves, to Konohagakure no Sato. The child trusted the great bird complete, even if it did not seem like any one else could see him at times.

The male turned his eyes to the female, blinking slowly as her form slid over towards him. Who was this persona, what did she want? Questions buzzed around in the male's head as she moved closer, settling herself on the stool next to him. He stared blankly at her, waiting for her to speak. As he waited, te female would pour into a second glass from her bottle, and slide one to Devha.

"Good evening my friend, my name is Kiyomi Yamada. I'm new to Konoha and could use some friendly conversation for the evening. I would greatly appreciate it if you would join me. Would you?"

For a long moment, Devha merely blinked, look between the filled glass and the female whom offered it; he was unsure of what to make of the situation. The young male had never been in this sort of situation before, and was not quite sure of how he would respond, if he even should. However, there seemed to be nothing wrong with having a drink with a persona, especially one as pretty as this one. He nodded to her, offering a small awkward and lopsided smile in response to her request. "My name is Devha. I am knew to Konoha as well, and I would not not mind joining you." Mentally, the male was cawing and screeching, but somehow managed 'normal' speech for once.

The male would reach for the glass, lifting it up in the fashion of a toast. "To new friends, I suppose!" A chuckle followed, and the male lifted the glass to his lips to drink from it. The rice wine went down easy enough, and had a wonderful taste to it: something like a plum, if he thinking of the flavor correctly. As he set the now empty glass down, he turned his attention to the female seated next to him. "So, Yamada Kiyomi, how are you on this fine evening?" A question of inquiry was common custom, correct? He was not sure; the male was one for social interactions with people. He tended to avoid most people if he could, unless Valor happened to draw his attention to them in such a way that Devha knew that the person contained something of value to him, whether it be knowledge or simply directions to a new location.

513 | 975

As the young man sat there blinking at her Kiyomi wondered if perhaps she had made an error. There appeared to her to be understanding in his eyes, so at least he was not deaf, but perhaps a mute, or silenced in some other way. The awkward silence went on long enough that it was minutely startling when the boy did speak, his speech was somewhat halting as though searching for the correct words. The smile he graced her with was charming in an innocent, harmless way which she graced with one of her own, broad and (hopefully) disarming. She had no intention of intimidating this young man, Devha, just yet. That would come later. It was much like the large cats that prowled in the mountains, she could wait for days if necessary, making her prey feel comfortable and sedentary. Only when her victim had been lulled by soft words and comfort would it be time to teach it who was in control.

Kiyomi would raise her glass in a toast along with Devha and grin as the man drained it. She had a head start, but it appeared that she also had a challenger. She would take a small mouthful of the sweet rice wine before setting her glass aside and turning her body to face his. Placing her right elbow on the bar and leaning her head on her hand casually, she ran her left hand through her raven feathered mantle absently while considering her answer.

“Kiyomi. You may call me Kiyomi. And as for this evening… I’m well enough I suppose as such things go. I find myself with no one to lead me as of late however… and am trying to remedy that. However all in all, the sake is truly wonderful and so I am at peace.” It was a lie of course, she was very distracted by the noise of the two men at the table behind them. She was only catching snippets of their exchanges but it was enough for her to piece together an opinion, and so far she was not impressed by their delusions of their own self worth. Useless scum, they were hardly even worthy of owning shoes let alone thinking they owned the women they sat with. She would brush her hand lovingly across the senbon inside their leather case on her thigh, grinning seductively at the larger man before turning her attention back to Devha.

Kiyomi would lean over, hoping to carefully move some stray hairs out of Devha’s eyes, before taking his glass, refilling it and then sliding it back over to him. “You know Devha, you have beautiful eyes. You remind me just a touch of myself when I was younger… except for those.” Her hand would move up to her face, to her own honey coloured eyes, where the tiniest pricking had started in the outer corner. It doesn’t matter anymore, you are who you are, who you were made, you are free… The blue haze of her loyal companion Pain crept in and mercifully chipped away at the pricking of Sorrow and Kiyomi would lower her hand, calm again. She would look down as she saw her fingernails digging their way into her leg, and would shrug and smirk before continuing her toying.

“Friend Devha,” Kiyomi would drain the rest of her own glass before pouring herself another as she spoke, “if you had to pick any one thing, what do you value most?” She was expecting Devha to say something like love, or honour, or maybe family. Some ridiculous concept that held no real meaning at the end of one’s life, when Death’s cold and grasping arms pulled you in like a possessive lover to cradle you in its bosom for eternity.

635/2009

Devha would take notice of the female's change in position, her right elbow being set against the top of the bar, her head leaning against it, using it as a form of casual support for the noggin. Running her left hand through her feathered mantle, clearly displaying some form of care with it, hinting at how much she most likely endeared having such a weird attachment to her clothing with her. She would introduce herself as Kiyomi while she offered a gentle care to her mantle, explaining that as for this evening, she is well enough, though is trapped in a similar position of finding herself with no one to lead her as of late, though she is trying to remedy that situation.

Devha found himself in a similar situation of sorts, where he himself had only recently came to this land, and couldn't find any which he can display his prowess with magic to. Ever since his master had died, he had been all but lost, a wanderer of sorts, trying to figure out where his path will lead him to next. He did agree however with a nod as the female would speak of the sake being truly wonderful, breaking him out of his current thoughts and back into the present, where he heard her speak about how she was at peace. This led him to think of her as someone that was accustomed to being in places such as this, as the two men at the table behind them were being obnoxious and extremely loud with their conversation.

He had never taken much interest in the arrogance of man or rather, the delusion of arrogance. He himself had been taught well at the monastery, and he had seen how truly meaningless it was to believe oneself to be so high and mighty. Everyone dies sooner or later, and no matter how powerful one may be, age and sickness never discriminates, whether poor or rich, whether young or old. Devha was someone that didn't care much for the boasting of others, as in the end, while they're too pathetic to see how far they have left to go, he himself would be standing miles ahead of them, taunting them from a distance.

After seeing the female lean over, apparently doing some meaningless task, she would take his glass, refilling it and sliding it back to him, allowing him to drink once more. As he did just that, raising the glass to his lips with his right hand, he would hear the female compliment his eyes, calling them beautiful and informing him about how he reminded her of herself when she was younger, save for those same eyes. These were odd compliments to be handing out a stranger for sure, and as that liquid moved down his throat, offering a satisfying, light burn, he would raise an eyebrow in confusion as to what she had said.

This odd female would continue, calling Devha "friend" as she drank the rest of her glass, pouring another. She asked him a most peculiar question; if he had to pick any one thing, what would he value most. A simple and yet enlightening question, one that helps one gain a deeper insight into another individual than most others. Honestly, he didn't know what to say at first in regards to what one thing he would want. He didn't have much, especially since he had been a fairly new arrival here, but he guessed he would have to pick from the little he did have.

"My humanity, as within it stores the message of peace I'd like to spread to all the corners of the earth." He would respond as his eyes dropped down to his cup, staring at it blankly for a few moments, his vision slowly changing to the point where he begun to see double, and his speech would slur slightly. "Ssshoot, I need to go to the bafroom." He would say as he felt his insides turn suddenly, making him hastily attempt to get up from his seat, only for his right foot to be caught on the leg. Drat, of course it would happen at a time like this where his senses would be dulled.

All he could think about at this moment was how he had just embarrassed himself in the middle of the bar, and wondered what exactly would happen next. No doubt the two men that sat behind them would be laughing their asses off, meaning that if Devha was going to get up to go to the restroom still he would have to begin with teaching them both a lesson. A punch to the mouth for both, a kick to the groin for the one that acts the most angry, and a glass to the head for what's left. He knew he could do it, and in his intoxicated mind at the moment, he felt he could do it before he shat himself, but fate had a different plan in store for the stumbling male, and fate, as everyone knows all to well, was nondiscriminatory as well, always deciding when one's time would come to an end, whether they were a young child or an ancient creature, and it seemed that this stumble, this drunken mistake, was what triggered this cruel event for Devha.

Alas, before he could correct this mistake, Devha was already caught off-balance, and as he begun to stumble backwards, he would fall, the back of his neck striking the edge of the table with the two large men, letting out a sick crack as both the motionless male and the table would fall over, creating an even larger thud as both the table and Devha's head hit the ground, and hard, cracking his skull as well, allowing trickles of blood to come out. He couldn't feel his legs, oh god, he couldn't feel his arms. He couldn't... he couldn't see or feel anything. It was if a candle had just been blown out, and as all sound had begun to fade away, all Devha could think was how he should've gotten a sandwich before he got up.

1048 | 2023

-Thread Exit-

Kiyomi was taken aback by the young man’s answer. She had not been expecting something so philosophical. It gave her pause, and would have held far more weight had it not been followed up by his eyes glassing over as the too quickly consumed sake hit its mark. She watched in fascination, her head cocked slightly to the side as, his speech slurring, he made to get up from his stool. She assumed he had said to the bathroom, though it was fairly difficult to make out the words and she smiled in pity at the beautiful creature. She raised her right eyebrow as he stood, his right foot still caught in the leg of the stool. It was surreal to watch as the healthy man fell forward, his neck striking firmly against the edge of the table causing the table and himself to drop suddenly with such sickening force that it seemed even time took a moment to collect its thoughts. She walked up to Devha and knelt beside his still slightly twitching body, cooing softly to him as she reached a hand out to stroke his hair. He had but a moment, and she was not needlessly cruel… not always. She sang to him, watching as the light faded from his grey eyes leaving them like small grey pebbles covered in sand worn beach glass. She would gently close his eyelids with her finger tips, and brush the back of her hand down his cheek before leaning in to leave a soft kiss on the slowly cooling flesh. “Now you are free Friend Devha, and I will take your humanity with me and use it to help free others, in honour of your memory.” Before standing Kiyomi would sit back on her heels and gaze lovingly at the young man and the halo of life blood spread about him on the pub floor. She would reverently reach down, placing her right index finger in the crimson pool and use the small bead to draw a single tear on her own cheek. She would remember this young man fondly… and her promise to him.

She closed her eyes a moment committing his face to memory and then would rise to her full height, a look of venomous disdain upon her now blood marked face. She would allow her gaze to pass slowly across each of the assembled patrons, measuring their worth, before finally allowing her attention to settle on the larger or the two belligerent pig men. “Take care of this.” she said as she would gesture to the broken body at her feet. Her lip would raise in slight snarl as she spoke, she did not like the idea of this useless bag of meat touching such a lovely creature, however he did not seem good for much else. She would soften her intensity only slightly as she turned her eyes upon the two women. “I could own you… if you find these boorish excuses for men deplorable enough, come seek me out.” And with those words Kiyomi would leave. Her long legs crossing the room in only a few graceful strides, her head never turning to engage the curious whispers or hateful stares. She had to get out, she had many lost souls to set free…

{Exit Thread}

550/2559

Stat Training - PER E-0 > D-1 1075 words + 25 ryo
REA E-0 > D-1 1075 words + 25 ryo
END E-0 > E-2  225  words

184 word left over