Racing Dusk [training]

As the soft golden shell of sunlight waned low over the distant horizon, Reika’s form lay in patient wait on the rooftops of Kumokagure. The harsh slant caused her to brace herself firmly to deformities in the roofing and to the natural dips and edges of the buildings’ edifices. A harsh wind blew; the sweet smell of mountains and icecaps hit her nose and she knew that she would ready to take on the night. The race would begin any time now.
 
Abruptly, a black shadow sprung up from the unseemly crevasses of the lower regions of town. Its pair slunk next to it, followed by a third and forth. In time, a herd of wispy shadows gathered to line the streets and rooftops on the mangier side of Kumo. She smiled anxiously, pearly white fangs glittering in the fading caress of the sun. Almost as with a singular, universal breath, the sun’s warm gaze was no longer turned upon and Kumo and all was dark. In a flash, the race had begun.
 
Each of the individual shadows flitted from each rooftop or from each of the lower perches closer to street level. The ones from the street had traveled upward, knowing full well within their treasure trove of knowledge stored within their heart of hearts that this race wasn’t won by staying low, but by being vicious and cunning. With a chuckle, she flung herself after them, bidding her body to chase the shadows that her eyes could barely follow and catch up with them. With every leap she grew closer until she was well among them, finding her own way and even weaving her way to the front of the pack. All of the roves disappeared behind them as they steadily made their way toward the city gates.
 
All of the shadows, by some unspoken consent, halted at the gates and milled around on the edges of the rooftops, looking down at her from her spot on the ground. She panted, exhausted, as she looked up at their lithe bodies that seemed unaffected by the marathon at top speeds she had just endured. Their metallic eyes stared down at her with the same intensity that the rising moon showed as it grew to full height behind their small forms. As the moon’s silvery light found the shadows, it highlighted the dark mass of muscle compacted into a smooth gait and knowing, reflective eyes. The head cat, calico with piercing green orbs augmenting his handsome face, pounced down by her side and curled up happily next to her. She smiled at him and traced her long fingernails over his spine. He responded with a purr, and his back arched in response to her touch. A few others approached and rubbed their cheeks against her clothing, at which she smiled down at them and rubbed her thumb in circles beneath their boney chins. A black cat, one ear bent as if he had involved himself in a street tussle, approached her directly and curled up on her lap, his sleek tail placed daintily over his nose as he purred and closed his crystalline blue eyes. This one had startled her a bit. The belief that black cats spelt bad luck rang through her head, but she threw the idea out almost immediately. The thought of any cat bringing bad luck was preposterous. Cats of all shapes and sizes were awesome.
 
As if the ceremony were completed the head cat stood and looked to her with his knowing eyes turned tail and departed without a second glance. A cat’s pride was one of the things she liked most about them. Directed by their leader, the few cats that had dared to join her rose to follow their leader except for the black one who remained stationary. Curious, she peered down at him and saw that his eyes were still closed. However unwilling as she was to wake him, she felt anxious to resume her training now that she had caught her breath. She woke him with a soft brush over the crown of his head which rose and turned to look at her, as if questioning, “And why have you woken me?” She smiled down at the feline, saying, “Well, aren’t you the personality! I think you deserve a name.” After thinking a second, and observing his tattered and slender appearance, a fitting name occurred to her. “Aieu?” she inquired. He looked as if he understood, his tail twitching back and forth in imminent satisfaction. She smiled down at her new friend as he stood from her lap and followed her out past the more rugged buildings of the city and onto the training grounds.
 
There, in the full light of the moon and her adjusted vision, her eyes fell on the slew of practice dummies she had come for. Aieu slunk lazily by her side, his soft meow inquiring as to her purpose. “I was gunna practice my Chakra Scalpel on one of the dummies,” she explained to Aieu. “This technique takes perfect accuracy. And I really need to work on that.” She smiled earnestly down at Aieu, to which he responded with a passive meow and a slow retreat to about 10 feet away.
 
The control of all of the chakra paths of her body was something she had mastered long ago. She had her family’s Medical Ninjutsu history to thank for that. But, she decided it was high time to explore the combative side of medical ninjutsu and how far she could ride it before she had to learn other skills to improve on herself. Self-improvement was really her only goal right now, anyway. With a reassuring “mrrow” from Aieu to egg her on, she advanced to about 5 feet in front of the training dummy. Gathering chakra into her hands with ease, she focused on forming the chakra as it exited her body into the sharp form of the Scalpel. She concentrated the chakra onto either side of her hands to allow her to hit more places with a smaller amount of rotation; increasing the speed her attacks could hit the body. With a huff, she threw herself at the dummy and launched her right hand at the location where the main muscle conjecture would reside in a human’s left arm. Severing that section in the dummy, theoretically doing the same on her own imaginary opponent, she switched hands and aimed her blow at the veins and tissue in the human neck. This would sever their connection to the brain and/or cause such a massive amount of blood loss that her opponent would be incapacitated. Turning from that blow into the next, she shot her hand toward the back of the right knee which would cause her opponent to lose control of that leg.
 
She released hold of the jutsu and felt the chakra flow slowly away from her hands and continue its normal flow throughout her body. Looking down at the ragged remains of the dummy she felt victorious, yet unsatisfied. This wasn’t enough. The races with the cats every night was something she liked doing, and would continue to do because of how it helped increase her speed, but she saw no end in sight for the use of such a powerless attack. Its only strength was its malleability to a wide range of different attack strategies and situations. She digressed. It was somewhat useful. But she would need something stronger than this if she was going to get anywhere in this world.
 

Of course, she didn’t really know where she wanted to go. Yet.

[WC: 1270]

Approved
+12JP
+6 Stats