He sat in the boat quietly, unaware of where he was coming from nor where he was going to but this method of travel wasn't new to him. He could have sworn that his parents were wanderers just as him but he never knew them nor any family members so he was always moving all over the place. He never seemed to be able  to settle in one place for long so he just found it easier to travel all over the earth. The young man had no pattern of traveling, he mostly traveled in the direction of the wind while hoping he would learn something new on his journey. The greatest achievements he could boast of at the moment were the skills and cultures of various people he had learnt on his numerous journey. He was a great adventurer and a skilled fighter in the making. His life wasn't all too hard and to him, this sort of freedom was what anyone could ever wish for.

He lay back inside the boat as the night wind coursed through his dark blue hair and breezed across his face. Soul music blasted through the earphones plugged in his ears as each lyric had an impact on him and all he could do was nod his head passionately. Looking up to the sky as if to count the infinite stars that lit up the world above, his gaze soon shifted to the paddler in charge of the boat. The paddlers cloth seemed to have been swapped or magically transformed as he was now wearing a dark cloak with a hood but Aomine now could not remember what outfit the paddler had on before.

He remained calm as he now began to take in his surroundings for the first time since the journey had started and he noticed that he was the only passenger on this boat. Weird, yes but they were now drawing close to what seemed to be shore yet he wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not. Everything seemed strange but he did not fret.

As the boat pulled up on the wet sand, Aomine came down from the boat, reached for his pocket and stretched out a sum of ten Ryo to the paddler. The man's long fingernails did not baffle him so much but he did not know why the man's face was hidden behind the cloak. Anyway, the journey was done as he turned in the opposite direction. He had taken no more than ten steps when he remembered that he had forgotten his knife in the boat but to his surprise, he turned backwards and the boat seemed to have disappeared. Mysterious.

He shrugged and kept walking into the town ahead. This village seemed different as it appeared as if they were celebrating. There were lanterns, decorations and fun everywhere. It was interesting and he couldn't wait to dig into the fun as he kept looking around.

WC: 500

It was throughout and between the interesting adventures he faced with the Yokai in the festival that Aozukin made a goal of meeting and communing with shinobi from other places. Most of the villages had more strict policies for exploring other lands. Namely rank restrictions barring the newer shinobi from wandering haphazardly into enemy lands or the danger filled lands in between.

This festival held different though. There seemed to be no barred village. Everyone wore all varieties of headbands and some wore none at all. It was all inclusive and that was good.

Aozukin wasn't supposed to eat people from Kumogakure no sato, really.

The Seiko clansmen wondered to himself if he was more like the humans here or more like the Yokai, sometimes described as maneating demons in some lore. He sat at a little bar style counter and ordered some sort of pumpkin spice flavored cocktail, which was promptly placed before him, frothy and orange in color. The bartender here  was another ogre-looking Yokai.

Aozukin had fortunately been dressed rather well for this occasion, as he was often dressed inappropriately for shinobi matters. Adorning the strapping gentleman was a black suit, black dress pants and, you guessed it - Black shoes. All of this ended in a pair of white latex gloves.

At some point one may wonder how it was that Aozukin had been asleep in this attire and how he managed to be swept away to this festival in those clothes. One would never know except for him. He really wanted to participate in the Masquerade that had been planned, but found himself too bothered to press the oni any harder to get what he wanted.

Wondering who might come by and take a seat at his side, Aozukin waited, sipping his pumpkin drink and bantering with the Oni behind the counter. What a strange and wonderful day it was.

WC: 316

Aomine wandered further into the town while taking in everything he saw. Being one with sharp eyes, it didn't take him long to notice that not only humans reside in this town. He had seen strange creatures with human and animal parts and he couldn't wait to explore more of this town.

The wanderer moved through the open space of the town, examine the items for sale and testing out a few. He did see something that fascinated him, a weapon of great beauty, a simple staff. He had been training himself to use the staff for a while and he was already getting a hang of it except for the fact that he was still learning with a stick.

Aomine held the staff firmly and flexed it to the right and left. The weapon had good balance and he really liked it. Aomine was about reaching for his pocket to pay for the weapon when he heard a ruckus few meters to his east. Anywhere there was noise, there was definitely something going on. His body was fast to move and he had no choice but to let the weapon go. He sped towards the location and to his surprise, a small fight had broken out. Exactly what he wanted to see.

A grin appeared on his face as he saw the combatants. One of them looked much like a gorilla and the other, he couldn't describe but he could see the tentacles it had. The gorilla man charged forward likewise the one with the tentacles. The tentacles wrapped around the 'gorriman' and Aomine was quick to clap.

'Jab to the left!'
Aomine shouted with a beautiful smirk on his face. Among the few shops that lined up around the fight area, he spotted a shop and walked over while foxing his eyes on the fight..

'Gimme the finest!'
He said to the bar attendant as he received the cup from him. Taking he sip, he looked to his side to see a young man having his drink.

'Who would you bet on mate.. Gorriman or Tentacles boy?'
He said nodding at the fight..

WC:358