1 Chasing Cats [Private] Fri Dec 29, 2017 3:36 pm
Izumi
A-rank
It was a cool morning in the desert, the soft breeze and 17C air saw to that. Izumi had woken earlier than most today, in time to watch the striking desert sunrise. This morning when she walked out into the village from her humble apartment, it was almost empty except for the expected patrols. "Another morning in paradise.", she said watching the sun paint the sky into a prism of magnificence as it rose into the cloudless sky. Pausing for a few more precious moments to absorb the beauty of her home, she could hear the wind whistling in the distance her own body protected by the walls that rose around the village. The whistling clearly came from the gates, but why were they open this early? Leave that to the patrols, Izumi. Today is for training, not childish inquisition. Izumi grinned with determination as she set out to her favorite spot to train, a small neighborhood in an old part of the country that had been abandoned for newer, more suitable buildings. While dilapidated and outdated the buildings had many handholds and unpredictable unplanned alleys between the buildings. The sandstone buildings that towered around her would be perfect for today's planned practice, free running. Wasting no more time with the silly machinations of a young woman's mind, Izumi found a handhold on a nearby building and began to climb to the well perforated rooftops. Once reaching the summit of her climb, she broke out into a sprint. As soon as the cool air began rushing around her beautiful form, a smile appeared across her full lips. If there's no deserts in heaven I want to go where they went. Deftly avoiding the holes in the roof that would lead to a sprained ankle or worse should she misstep, she leapt from rooftop to rooftop doing acrobatic stunts in between, showing off for no one in particular. A flash of black in the corner of her eye caught her attention, her head turning towards where she thought she saw it in an instant. Izumi would look over just in time to see a fluffy tail descend over the side of roof to her left, belonging to an impressively sized cat leaping to the dusty alley below. Not a stranger to furry visitors during her training in this rundown neighborhood, she knew exactly what to do with the feline interloper. To an observer the game of cat and mouse soon to begin would be strange, especially since the mouse was actually a cat and the cat a woman. Izumi however, had a purpose for it seeing as cats are famed for their speed and agility why not use them to train these abilities for herself. Dashing towards where she last saw the cat, she leapt off the roof taking advantage of the curved wall across from the building she was currently mounting to slide down to street level. Izumi checked left then right, looking right just in time to see the wisps of the fluffy tail to once again duck out of her view. Sparing no time for breath, Izumi took off in the direction of the cat sliding as she took the sandy corner at speed. The cat quickened, hearing the steps of the kunoichi in hot pursuit. At first the cat tried to outrun her, however it found this venture fruitless. Izumi was gaining on it, the clever feline sensing her pursuer hot on her heels began taking evasive maneuvers, cutting right down a short alley. Unfortunately for the cat, his first choice for direction wasn't the best. They had reached a dead end! "I have you now!" called out the unjustly triumphant woman. In her hubris Izumi forgot that the roofs weren't the only thing filled with holes around here. The cat finding an opening in the wall ahead of it, broke through only to be followed by Izumi who dove and rolled through a window just above the gap the cat shambled it through. Izumi left came out of the roll just in time to see the cat soaring through the window on the other side of the room she was in. Using a warped stool and an old desk she vaulted herself after the cat once again. Coming out of the window the cat was standing at the end of the alley licking one of its paws. "Always my greatest challenge, aren't you old one eye." The cat unsurprisingly unable to understand human speech hissed at her before attempting to bolt past her. Izumi's hand shot down catching the cat by the scruff of his neck. "Gotcha!" The move proved foolish as the cat became a whirlwind of claws and yowls. Izumi cried out as the claws dug into her, she dropped the cat in surprise who ran off not to be seen by Izumi for the rest of her training day. Examining her bloodied hand, she resolved to wear the pain for the rest of the day, a reminder of the price of pride.
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