It was some time in the early evening. The Sun had just dipped under the horizon, but still lent its ruddy glows to the clouds both near and distant. At the same time, a few of the brightest stars were visible in the nascent night sky. A salty breeze rolled in off the ocean.

Kaida stood out on the docks, the "ground" slowly swaying as the tides ebbed and flowed beneath her. She was gazing at the moon, which was likely among her top three least favorite things to do. Or, if it wasn't before, it was now. The wait would pay off, though. It would have to.

Around her, dock life ground forever onward. The village dock wasn't the busiest place to be, but it wasn't the slowest, either. People were coming and going, loading and unloading crates and barrels from each ship that came to port. Kaida had been watching them all, scanning the passengers as they disembarked from their various vessels.

Just now, however, there was no ship coming in nor leaving. Just a lonely lull in her days-long stakeout. She yawned and considered giving it up. She could always track this nin again later. She had been staked at this spot for three days, now, and the nin was still a no-show. Had she been thrown off the track intentionally? There was no way of knowing. The ship could arrive any time in the next two days. No, she'd already stood here for three days. Two more would be nothing to her.

* * *

Time stretched on. As another ship departed, Kaida returned to the room she'd been staying at since her arrival here. As long as she kept paying her rent, they didn't really seem to care what kind of business she had on the docks all day, every day.

Or at least, that's what she would have liked to have thought.

Mid-afternoon, the fourth day. The hairs on the back of Kaida's neck stood up as her little scene by the water turned silent. She had suspected this would be coming. Honestly, if it hadn't she'd be a little disappointed in the people around here. A stranger shows up and just stands in place for four straight days? That's got to be alarm bells for someone.

Today, it was ruffians. Men and women, mostly men, in their late teens to early twenties. Nine of them. She took a deep breath and sighed, giving them all a bored, even glare. "A little excessive, don't you think?" she inquired. Honestly, nine was a little much, even if they were just some punks looking for a bad day.

"We just want to make sure we get the message across," someone answered. He was a tall brute of a man, with thickly calloused hands and bound in muscles built up from many long years of hauling crates. From the way his legs moved, Kaida could see that he'd been on his share of ships, as well. "You're not welcome here," he continued, and then paused for a moment, as if judging whether or not he should say it, but he decided quickly. "Freak," he spat, putting a decidedly nasty finish on his introduction.

Kaida shrugged, spreading her hands wide with a smile. She'd been on the other side of this fence, too. "Not a problem. I'll leave; you won't see me again."

"You got that right," the big man said. He snapped his fingers and two lackeys-- they looked like lackeys, she'd say, if you asked her later-- stepped forward. One brandished a metal bar and the other had a length of chain. Kaida swallowed. She slid one foot back, getting ready for their assault.

One of those lackeys-- a blonde woman with the metal bar-- charged first. Kaida's mouth pressed into a line. This whole thing just turned into a wash. Just as the woman swung her bar for Kaida's side, the kunoichi vanished, replacing herself with a nearby barrel in a puff of smoke.

One moment of confusion later, and Kaida was atop the water, invisible chakra streaming from her feet to keep her on its surface. Some of the faces were scared. They had probably realized just who they had picked a fight with, but the green-eyed girl wasn't having any part of it. She knew the odds, and she didn't know all the details. This wasn't a fight she had to face. None of these people had to get hurt, and she didn't have to take the risk.

Instead, she turned left, and beat a hasty retreat across the water's surface, toward the nearby shore. She arrived there long before any of the angry crowd did, and she quickly lost them all in the twisting alleys nearby.

Kaida knew better than to go back to her room. She'd have to lay low for a little bit, return when the area was clear, and re-assess the situation at that time. Until then, she supposed she could watch the moon again. She made her way to the top of a close building and gazed up at its gibbous.

883

It was ironic, really, that the person Kaida was looking for would appear in the port just an hour after the horned girl had disappeared into the nearby town. With a gleeful little hop, the young princess exited the small ship that had brought her from The Land of Wind to The Land of Fire. Her graceful form descended slowly through the air as if she were capable of controlling the effects gravity had on her form. This was a mere remnant from her heritage, granted to her human state. In her true form, she was capable of even flight. Still, she liked doing this ever so often. The looks humans gave her - of mild awe and curiosity - were adorable.

Fāng Cheng'e - better known as Ess - had arrived.

One her shoulders and head were three rather large rabbits, each hanging on to her until she made gentle contact with the docks. "Thanks for the ride!" She waved at the ship captain.

"No problem, young lady. Pleasure having you aboard," he answered. And of course, it had been. Being ignorant of how much the average tip cost - and anything else, really - Ess had dropped a bag of pure diamonds on the deck. Elated, the captain had offered to give her his own quarters. Wanting the real human experience (whatever that was) Ess had declined and settled for a hammock right next to the rest of the crew.

"You said Konoha was in that general direction, right?" She asked. The young dragon had an itinerary that she had drafted aboard the ship. It accommodated her own sightseeing plans and that of her three servants. What a nice little vacation this would be.

"Yes, m'lady, there's a road that leads right to the village. You could also take the train that gets you there two days quicker. Though you'll have to wait for tomorrow. Today's train already left, if I'm not mistaken," the captain instructed.

Ess nodded. She would have to confer with San, Er, and Yi before deciding what to do. "Thank you, sir! I'll be back in about two weeks to sail off again!" She reminded the man. She still didn't know where she intended to go in a week's time, but she would figure that out. Nova had mentioned that Sunagakure still needed help, so she may just go back there. Alternatively, there were still several sights she had skipped over in Kirigakure.

With that in mind, she began walking towards the small portside town. "Now, we could walk there and take a few more days - you know, experience the real forest. Or we could just take the train, that one's pretty new. What do you say?" She asked the three rabbits. As they silently consulted each other, Ess noticed a group of people scrambling around, as if searching for someone.

"She's still in town! She hasn't left yet, Hikaru saw her just now!" A young - man? boy? Ess could never tell with humans - called out to the rest of the group.

For one reason or another, this peaked her interest. "Hold that thought, fam. There might be some fun to be had here," she said to the rabbits. They merely shrugged and followed her lead. "Excuse me, are you looking for some sort of bandit?" She asked the teenager. Judging by his tattered clothes, he was probably one of the local commoners.

"Who the hell are y- oh." He asked, skeptical of the green haired stranger until catching a glimpse of her... assets. "I, uh, yeah, uh... There's this demon around, we're driving her out of town. She's a... menace," he spoke slowly, still quite distracted. For Ess, though, that was enough information. She turned around and swiftly headed down the road, much to the boy's confusion. Only after she disappeared into the distance did he notice a pair of antler-like horns growing from the dragon girl's head. Deciding that he already had enough on his plate, the boy chalked it up to a trick of the light.

"We have a quest, boys!" She said to her servants, leisurely jogging back towards the docks. "Time to hunt some demons!" She said cheerfully, unaware that her target was but a simple teenaged girl.

As fate would have it, luck was on her side. The young dragon didn't have to search much before finding her target. Deciding that a rooftop would offer a good vantage point, the young princess gracefully climbed the side of a nearby building. Two rooftops away was a young woman with dark hair, reddish skin, and a curved horn. Ess clapped happily to herself and high fived one of her servants - the first to catch up. "Gotta go win a fight now, feel free to take the rest of the day off!" She declared. Promptly, the rabbit threw itself over the side of the building.

Quickly, Ess breached the gap between herself and her opponent, jumping across one rooftop to the next. She would smile at the stranger, assuming that she didn't run away. "Sorry about this, but humans here don't quite like yokai. You look like you're from the Southern Kingdom. Care to go back there?" She would ask while assuming a fighting stance about ten meters away. Might as well give the girl a chance to surrender.

[905]

Shifting her focus between the city rats that hunted her and scurried about in the town's alleyways and the moon, Kaida had been waiting for quite a while. This was normal, and probably owed to her strange appearance, but still annoying. She wished people would give up on looking for her much earlier like they would for anyone else. Her hand found the white silken flower in her hair, and she lamented silently about the whims of fate. But, there was no use in fussing over it. To anyone who really took the time to look, her horn was a beautiful part of her body, and it should be treated as such. Or so she told herself. Reality might be a little different.

Out of the corner of her eye, something caught her attention. Another person was climbing onto a rooftop and cast their gaze in her direction. From here, Kaida could see she was... completely inappropriately dressed. Seriously, who dresses like that? It was like a parody or comedy piece but put on a person who seemed oblivious to her appearance.

More importantly, they were jumping from one rooftop to another, making a beeline for Kaida's roof. Crap. Quickly reaching and sharing that roof with the green-clad girl, this new person smiled at Kaida. She had horns, but not like Kaida's horn. These were more like antlers, and they reached up from either side of the newcomer's head. Crap. If there was one thing she had learned about ninja, it was that they were all weird. And usually, the more weird, the more dangerous they became. Funny, that.

"Sorry about this, but humans here don't quite like yokai. You look like you're from the Southern Kingdom. Care to go back there?" she asked. Her tone was sweet, but her fighting stance said she knew what she was getting herself into.

Yokai. That word. Kaida didn't have a hot temper. She could get herself into trouble like anyone else, but there she usually had herself under control. There was, though, always something that could turn a person from cold to hot in a flash. She felt her blood boil. The audacity. The sheer disrespect. Her shoulders raised unconsciously. Her stance shifted as she turned around, and the glower on her face could peel the iron off the side of a ship. There was murder in those green eyes. Her chakra seethed, and small steel scales began to form in patches on her exposed skin.

"What did you call me, wench?"

428

Wench? that was rude. Ess was confused. Oni - that was what this girl was, right? - were temperamental, but she had never seen one get angry at being called a yokai. In fact, most of them were proud of being what they were. This must be that new wave of self-hatred Ess had heard about. "I called you a yokai. That's what you are, right?" Ess said. Her tone was honest, if a bit confused. "Don't tell me this is one of those internalized racism scenarios." The young dragon pursed her lips in consideration. If that was indeed the case then this situation made sense.

Already Ess was constructing an entire narrative in the fraction of a second. Here was this poor misguided yokai girl, fleeing from her family and duty in the Southern Kingdom because she was ashamed of what she was. And so, she fled to the human world to establish a new life where she could maybe pass herself off as human and pretend to be something else, maybe even fool herself into believing it. However, things were not as she idealized them and turned out quite the opposite. Now humans chased her down and all that was left was to bask in self-hatred. Poor dear.

A thought occurred to Ess. "Are you here legally? Where are your papers? You know you need a permit to travel to the human realm," she pointed out. Of course, she was exempt from having to carry documentation by virtue of her social status. She was a princess, after all, free to do as she saw fit - that included traveling wherever she wanted to. Albeit, that was only on paper. In practice, she was still beholden to what her parents let her do. Violating protocol was scandalous and though Ess greatly enjoyed stirring up controversy, it was sometimes more trouble than it was worth.

"If you're here illegally, I'm gonna have to drag you back. There's a portal in Suna, yeah?" Ess said. At this point, she had all but convinced herself that her very elaborate - and very wrong - story was the truth. Best to take charge, in that case, especially with those things appearing over her skin. They shone in the moonlight, softly reflecting it. It looked like some sort of armor. No matter. Her voice could bypass that.

She laced the palms of her hands with chakra. With ten meters separating the two of them, it shouldn't be too much of a problem for her jutsu to take effect, she thought. "Lets get started then!" Ess asked and clapped both hands together. The motion itself was little more than a trick, a way to conduct chakra towards her intended target. The waves would travel quickly - at 35 m/s - towards the yokai girl, attempting to trap her in a debilitating yet somehow refreshing illusion. If successful, the girl would begin to feel dazed and confused. Soon enough, overwhelming happiness would take over. If this worked at all, Ess would prepare to transform into her true self. If not, she was ready to try to dodge or deflect any incoming attack.

[528]

Chakra: 280/300:

"I called you a yokai. That's what you are, right?" Ess said. Her tone was honest, if a bit confused. "Don't tell me this is one of those internalized racism scenarios." Kaida nearly staggered. Interwhatnow? A thought occurred to the other girl and blurted out, "Are you here legally? Where are your papers? You know you need a permit to travel to the human realm." Kaida stopped momentarily, confusion registering briefly on her face before she remembered how easy it had been for this girl to leap from one rooftop to another. She could be in danger, here.

"If you're here illegally, I'm gonna have to drag you back. There's a portal in Suna, yeah?" Ess said. At this point, she was essentially rambling, off in her own little world. That made Kaida nervous. Her stance shifted, getting ready to engage her if necessary, and her body began to generate the preparatory doton ores. She slid evenly-heated katon through the ores, and a sheath of steel slid out from her skin, covering her entire body in a sheath of flowing steel.

With only ten meters between the two of them, Ess laced the palms of her hands with chakra. "Lets get started then!" She exclaimed and clapped both hands together. Waves of chakra exploded at Kaida, their speed eclipsing fifty meters per second, and quickly overtook her. When they collided, the effect was negligible. Just a little shock. That was the first thing that worried the young kunoichi. And then... it just didn't.

There was nothing to worry about. She wasn't in any real danger here. This girl's jutsu, technique, whatever you wanted to call it, had just had no effect on her at all. A little static shock? She almost felt bad for this fresh Academy graduate. Kaida was accustomed to pushing her weight around a little bit, but occasionally she had to bring down the hammer and remind people that she was the top bitch. And today, she was perfectly fine with-- no, happy to do it. A sadistic smile spread across her face and she giggled, charging straight for the other girl, her body wrapped in heavy steel.

She didn't have to seriously hurt her to get the point across, she was sure. And the other girl would have the reflexes to block a single attack from Kaida. She lead with a jab from her left, and concentrated koton in her right hand. Additional steel slid out from her wrist and flowed over her fist, giving her extra heft on that hand. That's where the real attack was coming from. A steel-coated straight cross to lay her opponent out.

She didn't have much more of a plan from there. In fact, she was feeling so good, it was hard to string together any more thoughts than that at all...

485/1796

Chakra 230/250

Jutsu Used:

Ess watched as joy and confusion took over the yokai girl. The reaction was interesting. The sheer euphoria seemed to overpower the disorientation, leading to a manic state. Fascinating. She would have to jot that down as a side effect of her spells on the Oni race. She shoved the thought to the back of her head, classified under Things That Need Further Research." For now, there were other things to worry about. Namely, said Oni girl changing the composition of her skin to look like hardened steel. The young dragon knew that yokai possessed different abilities. As a warrior race, it stood to reason that Oni would have something combat related.

The demon girl charged towards Ess, fist raised. Now, the young dragon knew that her current form was, well, weak - for lack of a better word. While her true form was strong and durable, her human self was... soft and squishy. The ledge of the building was only a step behind her. Before Kaida could close the gap completely, Ess took a large step backward. One meter away from the ledge, she would have started to fall, but a bright light enveloped her, remaining suspended in midair. With her previous genjutsu still in effect for a while longer, Ess hoped that the light would serve as a further distraction.

The light seemed to emanate from within Ess herself as if the rays had burst from her very chest to wrap around her. For the brief moment it was there, the cocoon softly changed colors, starkly contrasting the night's sky. As quickly as it appeared, the light began to take form, becoming melding into the young dragon's new silhouette - her real self. The light burst outwards violently, each ray condensing into a shard akin to a scale before they were launched away from her to reveal a silver dragon.

White scales glinted in the moonlight, mane dancing in the wind among . Blue eyes stared at her opponent, sharp fangs bared and claws at the ready. Her tail whipped around behind her, launching her forward and back onto the roof. Ess's large form would land a meter away from the Oni, facing her directly. While she now occupied a good portion of the roof, she felt confident that she could move faster and glide from one rooftop to the next with little issue. The young dragon roared loudly and reared, ready to defend herself and counterattack.

[409]

Chakra: 250/300

Dragon Form:

She'd never seen that color of blue outside of her paintings, before. So pretty, Kaida thought to herself, giggling at the dazzling appearance of the dragon before her. Was this an illusion, or was she truly facing a real dragon? She couldn't tell, but regardless of whether it was real or not, her fist was raised, and that usually meant she was in a fight. Or about to be. Hmm, yeah. The way her skin was clad in steel, and the way her Imagination Forge rippled over her fist seemed to confirm that.

Where was she now? A rooftop? She glanced around briefly, catching sight of the stars over the ocean. It was truly beautiful, each little point shining more brightly tonight than they ever had before. The brilliant moonlight sparkled off the dragon's scales. Its mane flowed in a breeze that her ears could recognize, but her skin did not. It was so surreal. And when was the last time she had the opportunity to paint something? Other than cookies, as much fun as that was. She'd have to recapture this feeling later.

The dragon roared, bringing Kaida back to reality. A primal feeling filled the horned girl. She roared back, her voice tiny and tinny by comparison, and then launched herself at her opponent, suddenly switching from straight cross to a series of jabs. The idea was there, at any rate. In her excited state, Kaida's fist speed and execution could have used some serious work. She lashed out violently and repeatedly, pushing toward the dragon despite their disparity in size, always on the offensive, defending only minimally, banking on the concept that her skin of steel would soak any retaliations.

Against such a fantastical enemy, Kaida's assault would take any ground it could gain. She would often switch from attacking the dragon's face to one of its claws, seeing an injury against her opponent's ability to attack as equal to any other type of injury she might muster. If her opponent fled from the roof to another, she would follow as closely as possible, always keeping the pressure on.

Here in this moment, there were no consequences, only joy. A cascade of stresses, little and large, poured off Kaida as she attacked the dragon. She laughed and cried freely as her brain switched from one topic to another, never able to capture any lasting concept but that she was fighting for her happiness. "Hey," she blurted out between attacks, "isn't this fun?" Somehow, she managed to nearly choke on the last word as some secret sadness bubbled its way to the surface, and then disappeared again, swept away in the waves of elation that overtook her.

458/2,254

Chakra 230/250:

Ess was proud of her true form. It smooth and lithe, graceful in every way. Her mother had always told her that she reminded her of the moon itself - otherworldly and elegant when viewed from afar, ever changing, ever bright. She told a different story when viewed up close, however. The young dragon was fearsome and powerful. Royal markings covered her body, designating her as a princess of her kingdom. For a dragon, this was enough to make any dragon of lower status back down from a fight, bow their head and beg for forgiveness. Other royals oftentimes saw it as a challenge. Her scales provided a good deal of protection compared to tender human skin. Her claws and horns were weapons in their own right. Her tail was bound in muscle, whipping back and forth around herself. Her form barely fit atop the building, but that mattered very little. If she wanted to, Ess could glide through the sky with little effort.

She had to suppress a giggle when the Yokai girl roared back. The sound was feeble, at best. Still, a good effort. It was like a puppy trying to be intimidating. Honestly, it was adorable. Would’ve been more so if she were a human, though. Her movements were still violent but predictable. Her stance could use some stability, but Ess attributed that to the effects of her own technique. Briefly, as she expended minimal effort to dodge, she wondered how the Oni fought under regular circumstances. The young princess leaped backwards to dodge the flurry of blows and raised her head outside of Kaida’s reach when the girl aimed at her face. Being five meters tall had its advantages. She dodged the jabs at her claws and swiped them at the yokai’s stomach in a counterattack. Even if the blow hit, all it would do was send small sparks flying as sharp claws clashed with metal.

The young dragon looked for an opening and found one when the Oni beamed brightly. She didn’t need to be told that the girl was having fun. The look on her face was enough to come to that conclusion. Euphoria. A common side effect of her technique. Mixed with an Oni’s natural affinity for bloodlust, it made sense that this was the result. As she spoke, Ess would swiftly wrap her tail around the girl. She would hold her arms down and restrain her movements.

“Alright, dear, that’s quite enough,” she would say if her tail wound tightly against Kaida. “Alley oop!” And with those words, Kaida would be thrown off the side of the building, dunked onto the ground, creating a shallow human-shaped hole in the ground. “Ready to go back home?” Ess would ask.

If this maneuver didn’t work, Ess would remain on the defensive, counter attacking and looking for another opening to try the same thing again.

[502]

Where had she just been? On top of that building? Her skin of steel had absorbed some of the force from the impact, just as it was designed to, but that didn't mean this wasn't a surprising turn of events. She had covered herself-- her entire body-- in over half a centimeter of steel. It wasn't exactly the lightest material, and yet her opponent had just picked her up and flung her at the ground. Like a rag doll.

Kaida groaned, slowly picking herself up out of the cavity she left in the not-so-soft ground. Her head spun, her ears rang and she tasted blood. She moved slowly, shaking it off and looking back up toward the roof. Yup. Just as she thought, that was an entire dragon. A mythical creature the likes of which such little nobles as herself would never hope to see. She blinked several times, taking a carefully metered breath.

Had she just been fighting that thing? Person? What do you call a dragon? Why would she do that? What kind of moron fights a dragon? Wait, when did that girl turn into a dragon? How was that possible? How had Kaida missed... no, she hadn't missed it at all. She just didn't care. Why didn't she care? The girl had called her yokai, and Kaida lost her temper-- much to her own embarrassment-- but she wasn't stupid. She at least knew that much. Her own thoughts echoed back at her and multiplied. She had to shake it off. Why wasn't she focusing?

She wasn't focusing.

Her tutors and the man who took her had taught her about this, too... from different angles. She tossed the off-handed thought aside and knelt down slowly and deliberately. This dragon was talking to her, making suggestions, and being exceptionally patient with Kaida's loss of self-control, even if it was genjutsu-induced. She put two fingers up to her neck and pushed a refreshing, correcting surge of chakra back into her own chakra system, clearing her mind of any lingering effects, but found no resistance there. Whatever the effect, it had already passed. A genjutsu had run its entire course, with Kaida none the wiser. She was sheepish and chagrined but forced herself to look around and gather facts again.

Her head swam with new facts and observations, but she tried to recall the comportment lessons from her childhood. It wasn't a matter of whether or not she could win. It was a matter of respect for her superiors. "Please pardon my insolence," Kaida began, using her most even and clear tone, "I apologize and can only guess at the reasons for my rash behavior. I am at your mercy." She took a breath, allowing her steel to seep back into her skin, and went on. "My name is Horikita Kaida. I am a genin refugee under the employ of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. If you are here to deliver me home, I need only make the journey to my current residence and make a formal request to leave."

She had no experience with them, of course, but in all the materials she'd read, dragons were referred to as wise and civil creatures. She hoped her appeal to civility would go over well with this one. Of course, if it didn't, she was out of options. She had even surrendered her defenses to commit to this approach.

586/2,840

Ess swooped down gently, gliding on the light currents of wind that lifted her hulking form with little effort. It was as if she were weightless, drifting downward like a feather. With equal grace, the dragon princess landed next to the girl. The alley she had landed in was a little cramped, but Ess would make it work. "Feeling any better?" She asked, still wary. She knew her technique would start wearing off now and wasn't sure how her opponent would react.

She was taken aback by the girl's sudden change in attitude. Sure, she knew that her technique had altered her behavior quite a bit, but even before the young dragon had used it, the girl had been completely different - aggressive, offended, ready to fight. Now, she was nothing if not respectful and formal. Ess grinned widely and let out a hearty chuckle.

"You don't gotta be so formal," she started. Ess had never liked the formalities that came with her station. Being addressed by her title was alright, she supposed, but the rest of it was boring. It built quite the buffer between herself and other people - be they humans or dragons. It was lonely and isolating, both of which Ess greatly disliked. She thrived when surrounded by people. "Just call me Ess, yeah?" She instructed.

Truth be told, Kaida seemed harmless now. She described herself as a refugee. Why would an Oni be a refugee? Nothing had happened to the Southern Kingdom to warrant such a status. Ess tilted her head curiously. Her antlers hit against the side of the wall, leaving her at an odd angle. "You're not a full-blooded Oni, are you?" She asked, almost sure of the answer now. "If that's the case, I'm the one who should apologise." She lowered her head so that it was at Kaida's level. She didn't like having regular conversations while looming over people. She found it quite rude. Still, her head was almost the size of the girl. Her antlers grazed against the buildings on either side. She had to force herself a little lower. Once again, her head was at an awkward angle. All of this could have been solved by turning into a human again, but why bother with the easy solution, right?

"You see, these villagers I ran into said there was a demon causing trouble and I thought that might be you," she explained. "So there's no reason for me to drag you somewhere else. Just a case of miscommunication!" She concluded. Her expression softened as much as her current bone structure allowed. It was hard to seem sympathetic with a smile made up of large fangs and sharp teeth. She knew that Kaida was exactly who the villagers meant to drive away, but thought it best not to bring that up. Interesting as humans were, Ess had learned that they had a knack for disliking and mistreating their own kind over the smallest of differences. Not only that, but this was someone who had just recently lost her home. She needed something to act as a positive distraction. That was something Ess could provide to make up for the little scuffle.

[539]

Kaida looked up as Ess spoke. No need to be formal? That meant they were peers. Or something like it. She could handle that. Maybe. She tried to relax. "Yeah, I'm the one they're after alright," she admitted. Her left arm rolled in a disinterested shrug and she gestured vaguely. "But they came for me even after I told them I'd leave. And I'm not a yokai." She looked back in the direction of the docks. There was no salvaging this operation. It was best to move on. She looked over her new acquaintance and hummed quietly.

She first took a moment aside to consider the absurdity of this exchange. She had never taken time to consider that she could one day meet a dragon, and yet here one was. Maybe it was time to consider this other possibility. She thought back to the days just after it happened.

Kaida was so confused. She went to bed one night with a gnawing pain around her eye, and when she woke up the next morning, the horn had begun to poke through the skin. It came in over the course of the next month or two, and with each passing day, as it became redder and more prominent, her mother's glare became more cold and constant. As though she had done it on purpose. As though it were an act of rebellion. It wouldn't take days for the rumors to start among the servants, and before long, Ichika's feelings were common knowledge. Her daughter's greatest failure.

Kaida paused, looking down and to the side. "...as far as I know," she finished, trailing off.

She looked up, noting the sounds of people approaching. Their voices echoed off the nearby alleyways as they began to converge on Kaida and Ess's location. She turned her back to Ess, taking stock of the situation. "More importantly," she admitted, "I'm not going to be welcome in this town anymore." Kaida had a lot of reasons to be confident, but there were always such things as consequences. Could she take on nine small-town thugs? Obviously. She was a ninja, even if she was just a genin. But that wasn't the point. This was a small town, and these people had jobs and places in their community. They were the backbone of the nation, to whom Kaida was indebted. If she could help it, she would not harm them.

The chakra within her core still seethed and bubbled; it would still be a while before she could use those techniques again. She glanced back at Ess with genuine curiosity in her eyes, her disinterested effect suspended for just a moment. "I don't want to hurt anyone and I still need to pay my rent. Any ideas?"

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Ess listened to Kaida speak, nodding as she did and tsking when appropriate. "Oh you poor dear, Ess said. She would have shaken her head in disapproval if she had had the space to do it. "I know how humans can get. Granted, I don't live among humans for long periods of time, but I've seen them get quite rude. I don't know why they dislike differences so much," she said. As she spoke, she extended one clawed finger and gently tucked a strand of Kaida's hair behind her ear. There was a bit of doubt in her voice, as if she were unsure as to whether she actually was a Yokai or not. Ess considered for a moment. She had some of the features that were common with Oni - her reddish skin, her curled horn. Maybe her nails were a little sharper than the norm, but overall, she seemed more human than anything else now that she could look at her more closely.

It was normal for humans her age, she had surmised some decades ago, to go through a sense of "Well, if you ever want to figure out, I can take you to the Southern Kingdom," Ess suggested. Her eyes brightened up as they idea played out in her head. "You can learn about your heritage, meet some Oni, meet more dragons - you'll have lots of fun, I'll take you with me, yeah?" She said. Her tone gave off the impression that if she hadn't been in an alley, her tail would be wagging. She kept to herself the fact that dragons very much disliked visitors. She liked to annoy her fellow kin and make a mockery of their traditions in subtle ways. She found it entertaining. She wouldn't tell her that in case it would put her future guest off of the idea. It's not like they were going to harm someone that a princess from the Dragon Kingdom brought along. At this point, she wouldn't take no for an answer, but didn't quite want to leave the Land of Fire just yet.

She could see the look of concern on Kaida's face, the slight hesitation in her voice. Still there was something more behind that. There was a creed, a sense of pride. What was it that shinobi had called that a few centuries ago? Right, it was a nindo. Ess's heart swelled. This girl was adorable - and looking for a job! "Well, you just happen to be looking at soon to be international pop idol sensation, Ess!" She said, puffing up her chest with pride. "So if you're looking for a good salary, you can make bank by just moving stuff around and helping me set up the stage. I plan on hosting a concert in the Hidden Leaf at some point while I'm here," Ess explained.

She closed the palm of her hand and opened it again. In it was a small pouch - tiny looking, considering her current form. "You can take this as an advanced payment," Ess offered. If Kaida looked inside the bag, she would find it filled with diamonds, emeralds and sapphires. She would look at Kaida with a big toothy grin, still completely unaware of the exchange rate between her currency and whatever it was humans used. "That looks good, right? And hey, since you don't want to stay here, just hop on my back and I'll fly us over to Konoha," Ess offered.

[592]

Kaida smirked to herself when Ess called her a "poor dear," shaking her head slowly. It had been a long time since just her appearance made her a poor... anything but tenant, maybe. Seriously, the cost of living around here was ridiculous. On the other hand, she was tutored in the finances of the Horikita household, and she knew why her family sold clan items to wandering or missing nin. Maintaining an entire family's monetary needs wasn't exactly easy. Had it not been for their illicit business, the family would have had much less clout in Sunagakure, and Kaida's childhood might not have been so comfortable.

It was true that for most of her life, Kaida was given everything she could ask for, usually before she could ask for it. She was being groomed for a position at the head of the house. They couldn't have her having things like wants or needs-- those might distract her from her duty. If only they had understood at the time exactly what a powerful sense of duty they were instilling in her. She lived her life for the family.

Her paintings were the exception. She had always had a knack for it, and when Ichika paid for an art tutor by the name of Asumi, she'd said that Kaida just seemed to have an intuitive knowledge of the brush and her medium. Her tutor was very excited to see the green-eyed youth pursue her talent... that was the last she saw of Asumi. She was still permitted to paint and develop her skill, but no tutor was ever again permitted to speak on Kaida's future. She was pursuing a lark. That was all.

Why was she thinking about this again? There were armed thugs approaching them from all sides. Across town, there was an old woman who owned the kunoichi's little room. She still needed to be told the horned girl wouldn't be coming back. No, word gets around these small towns quickly. Kaida was sure she'd know soon enough. And she had the powers of delegation. If she were really so worried about it, she could have a courier run back down to the dock town with her rent and an explanation. She considered her options.

As she did, Ess made her some offers. Travel. Fame. Money. She had aims to be a pop star. That made Kaida smile. It certainly wasn't anything she'd ever heard before. This was something new, something adventurous. Her eyes glittered with her grin. The dragon girl offered out a bag of what Kaida guessed was money. Taking it, she looked inside and frowned. It was filled with gemstones. Something wasn't right about this, her eyes rose up to meet the dragon's, but she'd seen that look before. Blithe innocence. Great. Ess had no idea what this was worth. She took out what looked like an emerald, closed the bag and pushed it back toward its owner. She knew that the whole thing was intended as the payment, but she wasn't so heartless.

"No one has pointed out to you what these are worth," she observed aloud. "I don't know what money is to you, but it's a whole lot more than that to us. We'll have to figure out how to translate values on the way back to my place," she explained, climbing up onto Ess's back. "And maybe you can explain that genjutsu you used on me earlier. How does that even work? I've never been under such a subtle effect." People were beginning to arrive, but not even one of them had poor enough sense to attack an entire dragon. Kaida shook her head at them and found her balance. Her visit to this little town had been long, boring and ultimately disappointing. It was time to move on. Her mind was already elsewhere, leaving this place behind.

[EXIT]

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Indeed, no one had ever explained to the young dragon how currency worked among humans. She was simply using what she would have at the Northern Kingdom, where jewels of all kinds were common as grains of sand in the desert. What she was giving Kaida was a minuscule fraction of what she had brought with her. To be fair, she hadn't had much contact with regular humans who would take the time of day to explain to her how the modern economy worked. Ess had been much too preocupied with cultists and missing rabbits in Sunagakure. That, and the subject just hadn't come up. Her Darling probably knew more about it, though, seeing as he was under the employment of Kirigakure. She stared at the pouch in her hand, mostly full save for the emerald the human girl had taken. Ess's large shoulders shrugged awkwardly in the tight space. She closed her palm once again and the pouch disappeared. She would have to convince Kaida to take it some other time. "You know, I have literal tons of those with me here. Are they really worth that much?" She asked curiously. This merited some investigation.

People were approaching from both sides of the alley. This would make taking off a little complicated. Ess initially planned to turn back into a human, leave the narrow gap between the two buildings and then transform back at her leisure. The gathering mob, however, meant that she would either have to transform back and fight her way through or just power through this and likely cause structural damage to the two buildings currently squeezing her. She sighed and again, would have shaken her head if she had had enough room to do so. Oh well. It couldn't be helped.

She let out a loud whistle, calling out to her servants. They landed on top of Kaida, having jumped from one of the nearby roofs. All three were secured, scrambling to get comfortable on Ess's back. Now for take off. The dragon's limbs tensed, gathering strength and power. It all released in a fraction of a second. Her lithe body rose towards the sky, her horns tearing through each of the walls that had kept her so tightly confined just seconds ago. Windows shattered and walls fell apart, but the dragon and her companions were unscathed. However, as she flew, gems rained down from Ess's body. Rubies, diamonds, emeralds, sapphires - all fell towards the ground as payment for the ruined structures. Even though the townsfolk were assholes, she didn't know who lived in those buildings she had just partially ruined. Maybe they were nice people. Fine jewels continued to rain from the dragon princess as she flew higher and higher, gaining enough height so that everything below seemed tiny and insignificant.

"You wanna know how my technique worked, right? Well it's not far off from how most of what I do works," Ess said, addressing her new companion's question.

At this point, lights would begin to appear in Kaida's vision - a little cartoonish outline of a brain dancing back and forth. This was Ess's preferred method of explaining things. It was like having a portable diagram, except better. She could make it look like anything she wanted. "Well, it's simple when you break it down! You see, my techniques work on sound triggers, yeah?" She began explaining. A little radio appeared next to the brain with colorful sound waves emitting from it. "The sound can be just about anything. I could sing or just say something, depending on the context. I try to keep it subtle y'know? Anyways, I lace the sound with ki - you guys call it chakra or whatever," she continued. At this point, the waves coming from the radio turned into musical notes that headed towards the unsuspecting brain. "That's when it gets a little tricky."

The drawing shifted into a much more detailed diagram of the brain. Each area was labeled by lobe and colored differently to make a point. "You see, each part of the brain takes care of something different. Humans and dragons aren't much different there, lucky for me. Otherwise I'd have to change how shit works depending on who I'm fighting and that would just be a pain in the ass, don't you think?" Clearly, the young dragon had a habit of getting side tracked during long explanations. "Anyways, I tailor the chakra I use to affect different parts of the brain and then I send it there. In this case, we have two areas affected," the brain now zoomed laterally and split in half so that the core was visible. "So here's where your brain makes dopamine - that's the chemical that makes you happy and rewards you when you do something your brain things is good. This technique makes those little reward centers work on overdrive. That's why you feel giddy," she stated. As she explained, little smiley faces went from the center of the brain to the rest of it. The brain now became whole again and shifted to show the left cortex. "Now this side over here is short term memory processing. Chakra jams that up so you don't remember anything clearly." Confused little faces dotted the area Ess spoke of.

"It's all tied up by a fancy illusion and ends with you feeling like you just snorted dragon powder!" The brain zoomed out to it's initial cartoon drawing with the radio. Now, however, it seemed tipsy, confused and euphoric. Just like they had appeared, though, the little drawings Kaida saw went away.

As they flew in the air, Ess smiled. She always enjoyed flying, but doing so over the human world was a special thing. The landscapes shifted and changed often. One moment, lights would dot the ground bellow, mimicking the stars in the sky. The next, lush forests dense with trees filled the area with nothing but the small stream stream of a silver river crisscrossing in between. While the moon had its own beauty to behold, it was never quite like this. She let the sounds of rushing wind fill the comfortable silence between her and her new companion. She took in the fresh air and let herself relax. "You'll have to show me around Konoha when we get there. I haven't been in about seventy years or so," she mused. As she spoke, she wondered how much the village had changed since then. Seventy years meant very little to her, considering how long her lifespan was - near infinite, compared to that of a human. Still, to them, it meant that an entire generation had gone by and with it, the habits of old. How quickly humans changed. Their cities evolved with them, hand in hand, shifting and transforming on a whim. Konoha was likely no exception. Besides monuments with emotional and historical weight to them - Hokage Rock, for instance - were likely to still remain unless a large catastrophe had hit the village. With excitement and curiosity, Ess wondered what awaited her there.


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