Crossing the long bridge and passing under the old torii gate that marked the entrance of Spider Island, Haka finally halted for a first time after a long trek. The swirling road that ran through the dead forest laid bare before them, untidy and leading deeper into the area that could just as much have been the environment of a nightmare. Spider Island, aside from being filled with spiders, was home to the arachnids with good reason. Turning around to face Verdandi, Haka pointed in the general direction the pathway lead.

"Manor is that way."

In the darkness of the dead trees' shadows lurked countless tiny predators of terror, shrouded by the lingering mist that covered most of the area, light blocked to such extend the shadows seemed alive and twisted the very environment into a waking nightmare. Trees danced despite the lack of wind, echoes of skittering resonated and even the most innocent critter appeared like a bewildered figment of one's darkest imaginations.

Haka was home here, used to be among the trees and the spiders alike. What she didn't tell was that even spiders among each other were not exactly buddies. Survival was everything, and most humans who came here rarely returned as they ended up lost and taken down by the car-sized spiders that lurked much deeper in the woods. Like several others of her kind, Haka was that, and more still than the mindless giant spiders. She was Unmei, and the monstrous aura that surrounded was familiar to the inhabitants of Spider Island.

It was now for a first time that Haka came to realise that Miyu had been in this position before. Bringing in a human of her own accord for her own reasons much like Haka did now. While she still didn't know why Miyu did it, she knew her reasons for doing so was a matter of observation. An 'expert' in weapons that could demonstrate her the proper use of human weaponry so that she in turn could figure out a proper counter to it. Perhaps, if she was honest with herself, she also hoped that Sero would appreciate the 'gift' she brought by bringing a human weapon wielder for him to play with - or whatever her Creator generally did with visitors.

"Spiders fear Haka. Better stay close."

Now waiting for Verdandi to catch her breath and her composure after the first impression of facing the truth of Spider Island, Haka would eventually continue down the road unless Verdandi had any questions or comments. The road to the manor still took a good quarter of walking as it was located at the heart of the Island, and then it was a matter still of getting in, dealing with the servants and reaching the armoury. And for one reason or another, perhaps due to her experience with the other guests, she expected Verdandi to ask about the manor itself, which would also require a proper explanation. But were humans that predictable? After Fuyuko and Nova, after the little skirmish with Verdandi, Haka couldn't even be sure anymore.

---

518

Verdandi glared at the scenery like it was cotton candy land. Nasty spiders. Creepy trees. Darkness. Brutal noises of demise and destruction. Survival of the fittest in the bushes. The odd squeeky noises of inferior creatures being swallowed by the bigger ones. It was beautiful. Utterly breath taking. Stunning. Oh she totally loved this place. Yet she probably figured that her smile that went from ear to ear seemed to confuse the spidey companion she had made. It didn't even need her to make use of her unusual empathy depth to figure out why. Dandi had a certain knack, if not even a lyric weakness for scary things. Her fingers were itching. She wanted a canvas to draw this scenery. Mother would be pleased if the ice princess would get her palms dirty with a little paint and return to the fine arts! Yes!

The more she got hyped and motivated, the more confused Haka seemed to be. Taking a deep breath as they stumbled over the intensely long road towards the manor. She closed her eyes. Alright. Lets do this. Inhale the emotions. Set yourself into the other persons mind. You wish to empath with Haka. She's a spidey butt. She likes playing games. Probably likes playing with her food. Wait... am I food? Anyhow... she is curious. Needy to learn. Yet seemingly ignorant to the fine wonders of human society. Such outcast. Such rebel. Awww such an adorable thing <3

Dandi shook her head. Opened her eyes and realized she almost fell into a pit of spiders. Haka seemed somewhat annoyed. Dandi's strange behavior obviously didn't fit her expectations. Which seemed to confuse her again. Anyhow. Eyes closed. After... making sure to be on path. Inhaling deeply. Concentrate. Setting yourself into the mind of your target of empathy. Spider. Cold. Simple. Fun. Joy. Curiosity. Greed. Hunger? But a seeming lack of anger. This creature was certainly more instinct driven. Which explained it's general lack of interest or show of emotion directly. Interesting. This was odd, so exhilariting and the best part. The road towards the manor was clean, aside from some spiderwebs and dust... no mud, no dirt that would end up sticking to clothes. Ah it was a beautiful day.

As she seemed to find simple joy in her newfound insight about her companion and the situation Haka had gotten her into. She yet felt compelled to explain her odd behavior to her guide.

"Verdandi likes what others fear."

It seemed to most appropriate way to explain her joy for horrific environments. And short sentences that get to the gist of whats up seemed to be Haka's way of communicating. Say why not follow foot? Still highly pumped she'd watch the nasty spiders of various size glare at the duo from their trees and bushes. Indeed they seemed to remain at proper distance. It must be due to that nasty aura Haka emitted. Was this the reason she had this aura in the first place? An instinctive way of self defense in an environment that demanded the strong to survive and the weak to perish? So romantic. Dandi sped up her steps to make sure she could keep up with her guide. It's most certainly gonna be a great day.



550

The human was not quite as the others. Others had remained cautious when walking here, fearful. This human seemed to smile so brightly it was almost frightening in its own way. Haka cared not though. If the human enjoyed the place, then perhaps she would stand a chance when she was by herself and possibly flooded by a horde of bitey beasts. Maybe she would survive, maybe not. To Haka, this human was just another member of the unevolved species she disliked. One that wielded the 'claws of man', and seemingly liked the place. Certainly the girl had seen nothing yet, as the Spider clan's true home was one where only the strong would survive. Spiders were oddly merciful in their brutality, as playing with food was generally not their way.

For the first time, the girl mentioned a word Haka was not familiar with. 'Verdandi'. She already knew every human had a name, and as such she had copied that habit by giving herself the name 'Haka', but with the human revealing her own name Haka could now label the human properly much like she could identify Sero, Miyu, Fuyuko, Nova and Chigetsu in a proper way. Now she could add a 'Verdandi' to the list, even if Haka was unsure what she would be doing with the list of named humans stashed in her memory.

Walking along the path, the spider-nin caught the words chittered from a distance. Human. Prey. Food The spider's speech was her native language, but she paid it no heed. She had but one goal at this point, and as long as her lesser siblings remained at bay no deaths would follow. And no deaths followed, as the manor doomed up like a bad omen in the distance. The plain grey stones that formed its walls seemed to blend in with the mist that lingered around, its tall windows  darkened from the inside by curtains and lack of light. The black oaken front door, build in a victorian style, looked worn but served its purpose even now, thick and heavy, refusing to let anyone in who did not have the key.

"Manor of Sero Osada", she spoke, bringing the attention to the ever-nearing construction, her voice as soft and quiet as the very mist that enshrouded the island. It was quite a while away, it's presence seemingly chasing away hostilities. Unlike Haka's aura, that was most likely because of the reputation Sero Osada held, both as the apathetic shinobi he was and as the right-hand man of the Mizukage. To wander in his domain and displease him equalled a death wish, for he had done atrocities few dared to whisper, his presence like a mere ghost in an abandoned manor.

Haka wondered if her Creator would appear before Verdandi like he did with most of his guests.

---

480
Total: 998

Verdandi could feel both Haka's surprise but also her almost nihilistic ignorance towards anything the princess seemed to express. She couldn't really put the finger on it wether Haka was interested in Dandi at all, just saw her as a lunch pack for later or simply followed a more robot designed purpose with allowing her to visit this place. It did not escape here empathy that a lot of the lesser creatures in the bushes seemed far more hostile then Haka herself. In a simple attempt to understand the workings of this area, Dandi would concentrate for a while and then try to emit a similar aura as Haka. In the end it was an emotion, one that was naturally expelled by Haka, for the creature it seemed not a choice but part of her existence. Exhaling a sort of chakra aura was yet nothing unique to the spider folk. Verdandi just wasn't sure if she could get it right and emit the correct kind of emotion. If he ever wanted to leave or return to these plains on her own accord she needed the ability to get past the lesser creatures. Despite them not seeming very strong or harmful, in their masses they could still be deadly for a green-nosed shinobi as Verdandi.

After explaining herself about her previous behavior, Verd would notice that the spidergirl seemed fascinated by her name and yet immediately made Dandi realise... she didn't even introduce herself yet. But it seemed that the creature going by the name Haka, didn't seem to mind the failure of paying proper respects at this point. She seemed generally very ignorant to any kind of normal human behavior pattern. Deducing this and the previous empathy Verd had gotten herself clear with. She started to think she was understanding the basic nature of her new 'friend'.

As the manor came closer, Verd's eyes would slither up and down the beautiful structures that were ahead of her. Engravings on the door seemed to be ancient. Not sure when the manor was built though. Maybe the island just naturally caused any structure on it to slowly waste away until it looked like an ancient gravestone. Interestingly enough, the designs seemed to very much fit Verd's taste. Comparing this to the flawless carpentry work that went into her parents house seemed to make no sense. The creators of these structures seemed to have very different goals with their creations. While Verd's rich ancestors were busy on making things looks aesthetically pleasing and structured well to serve as a stable protection against the snow. This manor looked more like it was built to intimidate anyone getting closer to it. Naturally, Verd was intensely amused and hyped to see more of this nasty place.

Stumbling past the squeeky door into the manor, Dandi would make sure to stay close behind Haka. Eventually wondering who this mysterious proprietor would be. But since Haka's feet didn't seem to stop yet, Verd would just silently glue herself to her guide. Inhaling the creepiness of the manor like it was the must fun thing she did within the last ten years.

"That's one huge manor for one guy.... or do you live here too? Haka?"

550 / 1100

Did she live here too? A question that seemed rather complicated to answer to the spider. She had always lived on the island, and these frequently found herself in the manor sleeping wherever there was room to do so. Bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen. Any place was fine since she still held up the habit of sleeping in her natural form rather than her human form. Sero would probably have wished it differently, but unlike the guests she was yet to be appointed a room and so she simply claimed a room to her liking. Such a lengthy explanation was not quite what she'd be giving Verdandi, however.

"Yes. Many live in the manor."

With the many being mostly the 'guests' of the manor, invited by Sero or simply travelling to meet her Creator. The man was said to hold up a lot of reputation, several names, titles and wealth, but all of that held little meaning for the spider. His denying strike, on the other hand, was not one she would forget as easily. Of course, one day she would make that strength her own just like she ended up dominating everything else she encountered. It was simply neither the time nor the place.

Reaching the double door, Haka placed her hand on it, calling upon simple fuinjutsu principles to 'unseal' the door. Hearing a click, she pushed open the heavy door just enough for herself to get through and waited inside for Verdandi to step inside the dimly lit room of the manor. The hallway was not very different from the outside. Grey walls were apparent, covered in plenty of webbing in the corners from the many spiders that crawled in and out, or simply lived here. The few windows that allowed light inside were made with coloured glass depicting scenes of war, their pictures inching towards the gruesome rather than the chivalrous. Two large stairways lead to two different sections of the next floor, its base positioned to divide the hall in such way the doors leading to the other areas also created two different sections.

"Plenty of rooms. Verdandi needs a bath?"

It was more an assumption based on the habitual washing she had noticed from humans and even the human-shifted spiders in the manor as they kept up the semblance of humanity. Haka had tried out baths before, both the cleaning and the healing kind, but found the water generally... well, she was not sure what to think of it. It didn't feel bad to have water washing over her body, but neither was she really bothered with it being dirty. It was what it was.

---

442
Total: 1440

Verd noticed that it took Haka longer to think about her question. Her eventual answer was short but not surprising. Haka had mentioned her.... senpai? Many times already. He seemed important. Not just to her. In general. Owning a place like this, while it didn't impress the rich girl in size it certainly impressed with it's interior. A lot of handiwork had be woven in these structures. Details were to be found in every corner. Walking past the hallways Dandi's eyes would follow the gruesome tales of war depicted in their glassy artistic frames. It was beautiful. The only thing what was missing was some very very old vampire looking dude suddenly popping up implying that he was thirsty. Verd chuckled silently to herself at the idea.

Despite the many that seemed to live here. Verd had only seen spidery things so far. Not sure if they were too shapeshifters like Haka or just the natural inhabitants of this place. Aside from enjoying the dark environment her little fetish for clean and shiny things made her occasionally shudder at the amount of dusty webs adorning the rooms. If this was her place she'd Futon the whole place with so much wind none of these webs would remain. But considering the amount of spiders living here they seemed to have a certain priority over the spoiled guest.

Passing through the rooms she was yet surprised at Haka's offer for a bath. Verd nodded with a smile. "Hmmm that sounds like a good idea..." following after Haka until they would reach the room in question. As it seemed to be unusually clean in comparison to the rest she had seen so far, she didn't even regret her decision. The pipes for the warm water were quickly turned on. The door closed and while Haka was still standing there Dandi began to casually undress. From all beings that could be embarrassed in such a situation she was pretty sure Haka wouldn't be the type. "You coming as well?" she asked casually. As the bathing pool seemed to have space for multiple people anyhow. It didn't matter if Haka would join or not. Dandi's robes were quickly dropped. She yet couldn't leave them unfolded. Placing them neatly aside along with her shoes and weaponry. Untying her hairband and sliding, foot ahead, into the pool. Certainly welcoming the feel of warm water on her skin as she slowly dived in.

415 / 1515

The baths looked pretty much like an indoor swimming pool considering their Roman style. One large pool had gathered most of the water in a stone basin, the room itself kept rather sober and simple. In a side room, coal served as the fuel to warm the baths in an old fashioned state, providing both warm water and warm air if so needed. Verdandi, unlike the other guests, didn't seem to be affected by the spider's presence, undressing where she stood and stepping into the baths without worry. Haka could only tilt her head as she wondered why Verdandi was about the only human so far that didn't feel awkward at this point, going so far as to ask Haka if she would join.

The spider already knew about the human ritual of bathing, but disliked cold water and instead opted to call for a maid to warm up the baths. A female maid appeared, bowing slightly to the two before Haka pointed at the side room. The maid nodded, but instead of warming up the bath first went to get some proper clothes for the both of them. As she did so, Haka undressed as well, throwing her clothes in a bundle on the floor and sinking into the water until only her head stuck above water. Her hair floated on the surface, amber eyes peaking from under its tendrils as she soaked herself in the baths.

The baths here were warmer than Sero's healing baths, but the spider still wasn't fond of being this deep in water. She wouldn't drown in here, probably, but the memory of being in the baths with Nova and having seen the world spin around after that swig of fruit wine had not been the best of experiences. The human girl had loved spiders, but the drink had simply been too much 'humanity' for the spider. Eventually, both had parted ways.

Now here she was again, sharing a bath with another human, wondering how this experience would end.

---

341
Total: 1781

Verdandi was getting a weak spot for her new friend. She chuckled to herself thinking of how they met. She would still be wary of this whole deal here until she eventually figured out what those Unmei were or who that Sero guy actually is. Her worries over Haka yet had subsided. A little voice in the back of her head figured that if the spider woman had planned all of this to lure Dandi into a weird sense of security just to betray her... as she was thinking it she'd look at Haka, or the few parts of her head that remained above the water surface. Seemingly afraid from the water itself. Verd shook her head. It was too ridiculous to remain that suspicious. But the empathic feels allowed her some minor insight on Haka's behavior. She must connect some sort of ill feels with the bathing experience. She probably never had the pleasure to let herself go like Dandi did on a weekly if not daily basis.

While the servant seemed busy with their replacement clothes and tending to the heat of the water. Verd would move to the corner of the pool and grab one of the water buckets. Filling it and moving up behind Haka, carefully pouring it onto the girls head, slowly as to not startle her. Filling it for herself as well, pouring it over her head and letting the water slowly culler over her frame. Repeating it a few times until she would hand the bucket to spidergirl so she could try it herself. Finding herself a corner to sit down and simply enjoy the warmth of the bath she'd watch Haka and wonder if she could answer some of the remaining lingering questions after all.

"Haka" she started as the girl seemed to have become busy figuring out how to use the bucket. "What exactly are the Unmei? You don't seem to be like most girls I've met in Kiri.... to say at least."

337 / 1852

Without any movement, Haka observed the human in front of her, watching how she stepped out of the baths to take a bucket. Knowing that the servants often used it to refill up the baths, she had expected Verdandi to do the same thing. Instead, the human poured out the bucket over her head. The water hit her head, flowing down through her long hair and rinsing away the dust and dirt in it. Much like Nova's patting on her head, this was an unfamiliar ritual of which the spider wasn't sure what to think of it. It wasn't a bad feeling, but neither could she understand the meaning behind it.

After Verdandi poured out the bucket over Haka and then over herself, she handed over the bucket to Haka. Feeling no need to pour even more water over head, she put placed the bucket behind her on the floor and listened to the question that was asked. What were the Unmei? Haka could give an entire explanation of what they were, of the evolved spider species created by Sero's chakra and the Sage animal known as Momma which, in her eyes, were superior to the human species that had ceased to evolve, favouring tools above their own power. But she disliked talking in the ugly language of the humans, and therefore disliked the thought of having to explain all of the Unmei in said language.

"Unmei are Sero's creation."

How they came to be was beyond this little spider, but she had experienced the evolution from a tiny spider into a giant wolf spider and further into the human species so as to be able to mingle with them, learn their about their weaknesses and take them out without them ever knowing the predatory instinct of the wolf spider. The real reason for Sero to create the Unmei was beyond Haka as she had only briefly met her father, their relation hardly the typical father-daughter relation of humans, and in that brief encounter it had mostly been him telling her to learn about 'humanity' and teach her the basics of fuinjutsu.

"Sero can tell all about Spider Island."

With that said, Haka took the soap and started to wash her body like she had seen other humans do. The scent of flowers hung richly around her after that, even if the spider cared little for such scents. She found it merely remarkable that the women of the human kind always took products that had this kind of scent. Airy, fresh, flowery. Always something light and pleasant, never something as heavy as dirt or blood. Why this was the case was, of course, beyond the spider once more.

After she finished, she walked over to Verdandi to hand her the soap in turn, upon which she would return to her place to rinse out the soap from her hair with the bucket she had placed behind her. By the time she had finished rinsing herself, the maid would have returned with proper clothes, offering a soft kimono for both of them to wear, bowing briefly before she departed to tend to other duties. Haka would wait for Verdandi to be ready to pass the bucket back to her, all the while asking her a question in turn.

"Are you Kiri-nin?"

---

557
Total: 2338

Verd chuckled a little to herself, she couldn't help but enjoy the absence of the usual human behaviour patterns. To see Haka lost in every situation that seemed rather common to the princess. It was kind of cute. Maybe a bit creepy to think about why that is so, but still cute. Verd would playfully splash some water about. As usual to Haka's complete ignorance of it. Nothing seemed to prevent the princess from enjoying herself as desired though. Time would pass as they kept talking. Haka spoke of Sero as their creator. Verdandi didn't grasp the respect she had for him until she started to figure that the strange shapeshifters were deeply connected to this man’s whims and desires. Verdandi's empathic instincts could feel a maternal connection even. But it didn't cross Verd's mind to really see him as a father to his spiders. Immediately she started to wonder how many of them were on this island. The little wildlings outside the manor couldn't naturally be part of them too now, could they?

The thought made her shiver, the amount of spider she had seen on the roads to the manor were endless. To think of all of them becoming as intelligent and humane as Haka was kind of a scary idea. Verd grabbed on the soap and scrubbed it into her skin. Coating herself throughly on every limb and curve, stepping to the corner of the bath to take care of her legs as well eventually finishing with the bucket as intended. Dandi enjoyed the smell that came along with the soap. She was actually a tad surprised that something like this would exist in this manor. Which reminded her that there was something in her pouch that would make an interesting gift for the pretty spidergirl.

As they finished up, she wondered how to answer Haka's question. Naturally she'd have to just say yes. She had the forehead protector to prove it even. But for Verd it felt yet still a bit hard to identify herself with this village. "I used to be a Yuki-nin" she mentioned. Not sure if the neighbouring country of snow was something that Haka was familiar with. "But now I belong here.. to Kiri.. yes. I'm a Kiri-nin." she said, ultimately unable to deny that this has come to be. Not that Verdandi didn't like the village of Kiri. "I just moved here a few weeks ago... I yet have to become familiar with Kirigakure at all... But it seems like a nice place." Verd didn't seem to find it necessary to mention her blood relation to the kage. She was her own person and wouldn't be defined by her royal ancestry or her connection to powerful houses. Her parents being of blue blood and her aunt being kage were yet two very different things. Pretty sure that Aya's family branch had never seen any kind of royalty in their life.

Verd kept her lips sealed. She wanted this to be authentic and knowing Haka the spider would probably not care much for human things like titles or bloodlines. After using the complementary towels to brush herself dry. Verd slipped into the clean kimono, stuffing her own, dirty one into her pouch, eventually remembering that she had something in there for Haka now. Waiting until the spider would finish getting dressed, Verd would slip a little wooden bottle from her pouch into Haka's palm. Bowing before her and smiling. "Take this as thanks for offering me a roof and a bath." she said, moving on to the hallway, guessing Haka would lead them further off. Giving the Unmei some time to figure out that the contents of the wooden bottle were nothing else then a flower scented perfume with a little cherry touch.

648 / 2500

Verdandi revealed herself to be a Kiri-nin, meaning that Haka was not to hunt down this human. It was one of the many rules that regulated the human society, a real drag in the eyes of the spider-nin, but since such were the expectations of her Creator, the spider-nin complied. For now. However, she had also mentioned to be a former 'Yuki-nin', a term Haka was no familiar with at all. Though the word hinted at another sense of affiliation, the lack of worldly insight from the spider made it hard to pinpoint what sort of affiliation these 'Yuki' or perhaps these 'Yukigakure' could be.

"What is a Yuki-nin?", she asked the girl. Since she had left Spider Island to explore the world, filled with much brighter places than she was used to, the spider had been quietly impressed with the size of the world outside. For a long time, Spider Island formed the entire world she knew, but the world outside offered so much more in terms of perspective, knowledge, games and hunts. It was so large that every Unmei could easily claim a spot for their own and evolve beyond what they were already were - Potential ripe for the picking.

Stepping out of the baths, she didn't bother to use a towel like Verdandi did. Instead, she used her suiton affinity to draw all water clinging to her body and shape it into a small blob of water which briefly gained a face before she threw it back into the baths. Instantly dried this way, she proceeded to slip into the provided kimono, brushing her hand through her hair so the white would drape over the deep purple fabric. At that moment, Verdandi offered her a gift. A wooden bottle like she had seen other women use before, filled with some scented liquid. It smelled flowery and fruity, but quite different than the fruit wine she had tasted before. Holding the bottle into both of her hands, being given a gift didn't trigger the emotions of gratefulness which was typical to humans, her amber eyes looking at it with apparent confusion as to what she was supposed to do with this.

"Is this fruit wine?", she tried, already knowing that this wasn't the case. She knew it had to be sprayed over her, but she failed to understand the benefit of this ritual. Still, she would tuck the bottle away behind the ribbon wrapped around her kimono to make sure she wouldn't lose it, intending to study or use it some other time. And after Verdandi had replied, perhaps explained the use of the bottle of perfume, she would exit the baths.

"Haka will bring you to Sero now."

Sero was most likely already aware of the new presence, if he was around. It was just a matter of finding him back in this large manor, for the man vanished like the mist and honoured the reputation of being a 'ghost in the manor' rather well.

---

[EXIT]

Training:

507
Total: 2845

As expected Haka didn't really know much about the word Yuki-nin and to be fair with her. That term didn't exist anymore. Maybe it did a long time ago. But what was left of their prideful ninja army had long been swallowed into Kiri. Verd wasn't too familiar with the whole history or the deeper politics between the two countries and or villages in that case. "Yukigakure is a village in the land of snow. There aren't much ninja left though. It belongs to Kiri. It is a part of Kiri. But then again it still is its own country of sorts..." Again, Verd didn't had any ill feels towards Kirigakure. She could eventually be persuaded that this was really her home now. But for now. She still had to get used to this new life.

Watching Haka do that weird trick with the water, Dandi's jaw dropped for a second. She could feel a voice in the back of her head scream 'baka' to herself. Why did she never think of that? To be fair, her actual abilities to control the ninjutsu she used were yet to be refined. Previous attempts sometimes turned out to backfire. It'd probably be better to feel safe with her skills before she attempted to draw water off her skin. Still... this trick would be duly noted down to be remembered for the future.

"It's a perfume silly..." she chuckled. Seeing yet that Haka had figured it out on her own already. Not sure whether the spidergirl would come to like subtle things like the perfume. Maybe.... Verd wasn't certain that the girl really had no interest in becoming more attuned to her human side. They would probably find out eventually.

Strolling after Haka, Verdandi would realize that she might finally meet the mysterious father figure of all spidergirls. This might end up becoming more interesting than initially expected. Despite already having a thing for Haka's company and the wonderfully abstract and bizarre environment.

"Alright, let’s go."

[EXIT]


345 / 2845

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Training: