The evening air was crisp and cool, caused by the mist and the slow drizzle of rain that had settled over the village during the day, washing over it from the sea and leaving a salty aroma. It was always this that made him wake, the sleepiness he had from only waking up moments before being driven out of his body by the cold air crisp air. Choosing his own time to wake and walking was an enjoyable way to be woken compared to the years of either his father yelling, or his brother jumping on him while he was still in bed like some stupid animal like the dog that they had once had. At least he didn’t have to deal with that sort of life anymore. Yes, he still lived with his father, but the man was almost never home and when he was he was asleep. And that was where he had left him without a word.

His old man had just come back from a mission and Shou hadn’t wanted to wake him, not that he ever wanted to communicate with him in any way. He and his father hadn’t even said hello to each other when he had returned in the night. The relationship that he had with his father was strained at best and it hadn’t been a gradual thing, even when Shou was a child their relationship had been relatively difficult. Shou’s brother, Shouta, had been the daddy’s-boy while Shou had been the mamma’s-boy to a point, both of his parents had loved Shouta more before both his mother and Shouta had died. So, both had just gone to sleep after a long night; Shou in preparation for the training and exploration that he would be doing.

Exploring the coastline was something that Shou always found entertaining, but tonight he had more of a purpose to what he was doing. There was something about peering into crevices that other people probably hadn’t had access to that intrigued him because it meant that they probably not been copied too much. And the ones in the pirate cove were just perfect to explore because sometimes one was able to find loot left by pirates.

Shou didn’t go over land to the pirate cove this time. Not really at least, sometimes he had hopped onto the rocks that littered the coast, but for the most part he had gone straight to the water and swam most of the way along the cost to the cove. It had been a long exhausting swim but it was still nice. A little breathless, Shou lay on one of the large rocks and closed his eyes lazily as the spray of sea foam washed over him from the crashing waves around him. Most people would think the brutal waves around the area dangerous, but Shou was one who wasn’t afraid of even the most dangerous waters. He took an unusual amount of pleasure in being coated by the salty water. And then the birds came.

The birds always had to ruin his most pleasurable moments by bothering him thinking that he was some washed up dead person or something along those lines. “Fuck!” Shou screeched, pushing up and jumping backwards a few feet away from the bird who had picked at his hair and onto the sandy beach a snarl curling his lips. Animals. It was always animals that got to him. Why? Because they always did things like that to him. Shou couldn’t count the times he had been attacked by animals on his hands anymore. Animals just didn’t like him for some reason. Maybe it was because he related to his primal side that lusted for blood the most? “Stupid bird!” He yelled at it, half tempted to go after it and snap its neck for being a nuisance. Shou stared at it for a few moments with a huff of air before turning away and walking down the beach to explore.

Strafe's eyes opened slowly to meet a volley of sun rays crashing through his window. He smiled as a yawn escaped his mouth as he rose up and stumbled over to his closet. A sea of white and blue filled the space as he rummaged through clothes and slipped on his usual attire. He turned to his door, walking over to put on his sandals. He grabbed his ninja tools and headed out the door, striding down the hall and descending the staircase to the main room of the house. His mom had already left, leaving him a note on the table stating she left to get groceries. Strafe threw the note away and opened the door. He stepped through the threshold to find Momaru waiting on him as usual. He smiled and immediately jumped on his back. The gigantic lion then turned to exit the area at a casual pace. "Any plans for today?" He asked simply as they continued to roam around. "Let's head down to pirates cove for some training." Strafe answered with a tone of excitement as they headed in that direction.


They got in a reasonable five meters and stopped. Strafe gave a warm smile as he spoke. "My name is Strafe Aisu and this is Momaru." He stated with a friendly expression. "We were just about to do some training. Would you like to join?" He finished with a nod from Momaru following. He was curious as to the rank of the stranger, who seemed to be as young as Strafe was. He would guess he was genin or Chunnin based on looks, but looks could be deceiving, as Strafe was a prime example of this. He was a Jounin at the age of 13, which was almost unheard of. 

Ice Style: Ice Spears Training: 429/1000

Tashima stood on the other end of the cove, the foliage and rock formations masking his presence to the naked eye. He stood silently looking out at the rolling waves and cloudy night sky. He leaned against the rock wall at his back his arms folded taking in a deep breath enjoying the moment of solitude and serenity. His cold icy eye stared down at the waves foaming as they churned blanketing the wet sand before kissing his feet and retreating into the sea. His eyes followed the water as it receded to its main body the waves swelling with the incoming tide and the gaining force from the seas natural breeze. "You can feel it too huh?" he said softly at the water before him.  Tashima hadn't trained or even sparred in a long time since the accident took place. His body begged for action and being a ninja, it was used to violence and being pushed. This leave of absence served only to increase the urge to fight. The waves looked the same. Tashima knew all to well that the sea's storms can be more brutal than most powerful of jutsu and the waves rolling onto the coast were a constant remind of natures mercy towards man.  

The original plan was to come out here and just relax a bit before training his jutsu.  Tashima felt like he was getting close to understanding how to improve THAT jutsu.  The jutsu that was his and his alone. He closed his eyes letting his mind survey what he had learned letting it brainstorm and try to devise a way to make the jutsu more powerful. Something that unfortunately at his current level, may very well be impossible. 

His trance was broke by a loud obscenity. He looked up at the birds circling the air and gathering on the other end of the cove. "Hmmm?" he muttered as he kicked off the wall and slow walked towards the other end of the cove.  He stopped watching the boy chase after the bird like some child. His eyes immediately noticed movement in their peripheral, another boy and... a lion!? Tashima stood watching sizing the two up from the distance.  The one making noise didn't look all that strong, perhaps genin rank judging by his size and the sound of his voice. Then again several ninja had been popping up around that ones age with far more power than to be expected, at best chuunin.  The other one however. He had an air about him, it spoke in his body language, the way he walked, the look in his eyes. He was definitely up there in the power scale. Could he really be a jounin? That kinda of demeanor is saved for the more experienced and mature ninja. Tashima continued to let his mind guess while keeping a distance watching the scene play out.

At the sound of the call, Shou stopped in his tracks, straightening and turned to look at the boy who had called his name. He wasn’t too enterly pleased that his row with the bird that ha picked at him had been seen, but what was he going to do? Shou’s arguments with animals were a constant occurance and it wasn’t like they were going to stop any time soon. Animals just didn’t like him; probably because of his more primal way of thinking and his want for bloodlust. His brow creased when he saw that it was a kid who was probably around five years younger than he was. However, the kid did seem to carry an air of power around him that was a little disconcerting for his obviously young age. Then again, had he not quit being a genin almost as soon as he had left the academy, Shou probably would have managed to be a jounin at around the boy’s age too. Shou had however enjoyed watching his twin brother continuously fail when it had come time for the boy to finally take the chuunin exams. Besides, Shou was going at a rapid pace now at eighteen that he was content with, becoming a chuunin after only a few weeks of actively going on missions.

“My name is Shou… Hozuki, Shou.” Shou replied in answer to Strafe saying his name a little hesitant, frowning a little bit in reply to the wide smile that he was given. The boy was being awfully friendly which was a little odd. Not many were too entirely friendly to one such as Shou, and it made him slightly suspicious of the boy. Not that he was ever really relaxed around other people. People just weren’t Shou’s thing unless he saw a reason to like them. They had to have originality to them and not mimic or copy things, like his brother had been a constant reminder of. He was glad that the boy was dead so that he could be a truly original person now.

Shou paused at the question posed to him about training with the pair. Training with others? He’d never really bothered to do so. Sure, he had trained with his father, and his mother and brother when they were alive, but really, unless he had been forced to at the academy, Shou had an uncouth tendency to remain solitary in his training. It was how he had developed his bloody pin mist technique.  However, maybe it would be interesting to train with the younger boy. But, the lion.  The bloody lion. Shou’s brow furrowed in slight distaste as he looked from the boy and then to the lion that was standing there right beside him, anxious, his hands twitching a little at his sides. He had seen some strange companions for shinobi over his lifetime, but a lion of all things? Who in their right mind would make a lion their companion? Though, he supposed, it would be a useful creature in a battle. But, on the other hand it was an animal and animals didn’t have a tendency to like him in any way shape or form and it bothered him. He didn’t want to be mauled to death by a lion just because he had agreed to train with the boy.

“If you promise that I won’t get mauled by Mamoru, sure. I’ll join you.” Shou said, voice halting a little on the name of the animal nervously. His sharp teeth flashing underneath his lips as he looked at him and then did a quick once over of the cove before looking back at Strafe and motioning in the direction of the second boy who was watching them from a distance. Shou’s eyes narrowed, “Looks like we either have someone spying on us, or someone else wants to join too.”

Strafe eyes immediately moved from the boy as Tashima got within a noticeable distance. He noted the familiar face, thinking maybe he had seen the young ninja on a previous occasion. Momaru did not move his eyes from Shou, as he didn't want to leave the pair defenseless. Strafe's eyes cut back to Shou as he introduced himself as a member of the Hozuki clan. That was one clan that had always interested him, but he had never had the opportunity to observe one before. The way the boy spoke hinted at a slight bit of embarrassment as he said his name. Strafe saw no reason to be shy or ashamed, as all clans were equal in Kirigakure.

He listened as the young boy responded to his question with an amusing answer. Momaru chuckled deeply as Strafe gave a genuine smile before speaking to the boy. "There is no reason to worry about Momaru. He's not your average animal." He said patting the beasts head. Shou also brought up the arrival of Tashima. At least he knew the boy was observant, which was necessary to survive as a shinobi. "I'll keep an eye on her." Momaru spoke as Strafe nodded to him in sync. Strafe slid off of the lions back before stretching for a few minutes. "Im training the Ice Style: Ice Spears Jutsu, so I need a sparing partner to practice on." He stated before moving into an offensive stance. "Don't worry though, I won't hurt you and I'm a medical ninja if anything does go wrong." He would wait for the boy's response before proceeding with the training.

Ice Style: Ice Spears Jutsu Training: 708/1000

Suddenly, Strafe's eyes moved to the right as an unexpected presence entered the area. His body took no not time in reacting as his hand moved up, creating six spears of ice behind him to protect him. He slowly turned around to look at the advancer only to see that it was a Kirigakure shinobi that held a scroll. He was middle-aged with blonde hair and a slender build. He looked quite shocked at Strafe's response, or so it looked based on the sweat rolling down his face. Momaru simply chuckled at his young comrade as Strafe smiled with an apologetic expression. He bowed and released the jutsu, causing the spears to crack and shatter into countless harmless pieces of ice. "Sorry to surprise you, what do you need?" He asked kindly as he walked over to the shinobi. "This was sent to you by your sensei." He said kindly before bowing and taking off with impressive speed. Strafe rolled the scroll open to see that he had been assigned a mission.

He smiled before turning back to the young Hozuki ninja. "Well, it looks like our training session will have to wait. Feel free to find me if you want to train in the future!" He said smiling and bowing with manners. He then turned to Momaru and jumped on his back. "Let's go see Bonreu to see what he wants." He said with a smile. Momaru simply nodded and turned to the direction of the village. He took off with incredible haste, causing Strafe to chuckle a bit. "Showing off?" He asked with a joking tone towards his unique friend. "Just a little goodbye present for the kid." Momaru said with a smile. The two raced off until they were out of sight.

-Exit Thread-

Ice Style: Ice Spears Training: 1007/1000 Completed

Strafe's Chakra:

((Neither of my thread mates have posted for close to a month, so I decided to exit the thread. This thread was also started when I was a Special Jounin))