Moth to a Flame (P,NK,IO)

Altar had found himself in the plains once again. He could've sworn that he spent more time out here than in Tengakure itself. He guessed the fact that it was so sirene and quiet added to the appeal for him. It had an almost innate, untouched aura and feel to it.

Sure enough, tonight was a bright night, the moon being as bright as it could be, aiding the soft glow of the moon flowers in their task of illuminating the rolling plains. Altar, however, hadn't been getting much sleep the past few nights, so he was sitting under the tree out in the plains, resting his eyes. To some people, it would appear he was sleeping. However, he was keeping careful watch on his surroundings using his ears.

Youta was out for a night walk with Cael in the fields around Tengakure. The creature actually soared some twenty meters above her clapping his wings from time to time as the steady winds of the plains carried him. The same winds, though weaker by the ground, also blew at Youta's hair slightly, but it was not cold, despite it being dark. The girl now a Chuunin actually hoped to practice under the night sky, but her senses caught somebody some distance away, she would rather quickly recognize the chakra that was Altar's. This actually was a chance for her to ask about his surname and maybe the clan he belongs to, so she would start to go in that direction until she approached him. Cael in the mean time would rise higher until his wind clapping could be barely heard.

Altar was weary, almost falling sleep, when he heard someone walking, somewhat close to him. Opening his eyes, he saw the person was a girl, and looking to the face he immediatly found a name. It was Youta. Altar would blink a couple times, thinking back. He found it strange that somehow she and him had always found themselves together, despite circumstances, but they had never really talked. What the cause of this was, Altar didn't know. It could've been lack of trying, or perhaps she had just never really wanted to talk. He found this strange though, considering she was here now, seemingly for him. Altar would look up to Youta, a slightly confused look on his face.

"Hi, Youta. What...what are you doing out here?" Altar would say, his words coming out somewhat stumbled and hesitant. He had never even spoken a word to Youta, so he wasn't exactly sure how to handle her. She could be friendly and talkative to him, or she could be anti social and aggressive and snap at him.

After speaking, Altar would rise to his feet and lean himself against the tree.

Youta stopped when she could hear him speak. From what she could see in the partially illuminated dark, Altar seemed confused. Looking far out into the plain Youta replied "I was actually out to train, let Cael stretch his wings..." she gestured at the flying silhouette that covered a small portion of the stars. The Chuunin hoped she was no interrupting him. "Mind if I join you?" She would make a faint smile.

Altar's confusion went away as Youta explained she was out here to train her self and her dragon, Cael. As she motioned to the stars, Altar would look up and away towards where she pointed to see a somewhat large figure shrouding and covering some stars in the sky. Judging by the faint, almost inaudible claps of wind, Altar guessed that the figure was Cael.

Youta then asked if it was okay to join him. This brought a bit of confusion back to Altar. What was there to join? He wasn't really doing anything...

"Not much to join, but i'm not gonna stop you. I don't mind, actually. Just sitting out here with nothing to do and no one to talk to can get pretty boring sometimes, so i'm actually kinda glad you strolled along when you did." Altar would say, a small smile of his own beginning to form on his face. He had been looking for an excuse to talk to the girl anyways. He had always wanted to, she seemed intriguing and interesting, but he had never gotten the chance. Despite the oddly semi-romantic circumstance that the plains held, and had always held, this may prove to be his chance to learn more about the girl. Hell, even have one conversation with her.

Youta somewhat relaxed as the Genin gave his couple lines of reply. For some unknown reason she was a bit tense when she asked. "Good." would be all she said as she sat down on the grass about a meter from him. Shigure would be put on the ground next to her. Unless Altar started a conversation there would be a short and possibly awkward pause, as the girl was not sure how to begin. Eventually she went with "...In the tournament. I heard your name was Shinkou... Does that stand for a clan?"

Altar would watch Youta sit, about a meter away from him, in the grass. She had also laid down her weapon, something he guessed she wouldn't need in this moment and situation. Here was too hoping, anyways. There was a brief pause between the two, as it seemed neither of them could find anything to say. Youta was the one to break the silence, asking him about his last name, and if it was for a clan.

"Yes, i'm a part of the Shinkou clan. From what I understand there aren't many of us. At least, I don't think there are. I've never met another Shinkou, save direct family. Why do you ask? Oh, and speaking of the tournament, congrats on Chuunin." Altar would say, holding his gaze on Youta, his smile slowly growing. All in all, this was going well so far. She wasn't at his throat, which he would take as a definite plus.

"Thanks." She would reply as he congratulated her on the promotion. Not actually being weird in nature, being congratulated by him felt a bit strange. For a moment she would think back to the tournament, only now would she wonder why Takeo did not promote the boy as well. He was about as fast as Youta and even managed to land hit on Haru, even if it had no effect. Her own actions or those of Aqua were hardly more successful.

She would then realize her mind got carried away. "Ah, your name intrigued me because my master, the one who taught me kenjutsu, was also a Shinkou. From what I heard she was Haru's superior and possessed a doujutsu of some kind..."

In the mean time Cael would shoot down and crash into a small forest some half kilometer away. He had spotted a boar you see. Distant noise of breaking trees followed as he would hunt in the dark, none of it loud enough to actually disturb the ninja though.

Altar would sit quietly as the girl seemingly got lost in thought, before coming back to the topic at hand. She revealed that her master, one that had taught her kenjutsu, was also a Shinkou. It would appear that she had also been Haru's superior of sorts, and that she had retained her Meigan, as Youta said she had a distinct doujutsu. Altar noticed the use of past tense when talking about Youta's master. He idly wondered what had happened to her.

"Hmm. Well, the Shinkou have a doujutsu to themselves. It's called the Meigan." Altar would say, enunciating this by activating his Meigan for a bit, the crimson eye turning a jade green, before he de-activated it and it went back to it's normal state. "It operates a bit differently from other doujutsu, and has some of it's own special quirks. As you saw, mine turns a green color when activated. From what I understand, that is only one of the paths the Meigan can take, out of a total three at this stage." Altar would explain, looking to Youta to see if she had any more questions of the Shinkou.

The girl observed as Altar demonstrated Meigan while explaining about it. "Amazing..." She would say as he told her that Meigan can take three different paths. She had noted though that only one of his eyes was red and turned green, while the other remained white. She had already seen it times enough to recognize byakugan. She wondered what the story behind that was, but decided to withhold it for some other time. "Does Meigan have genjutsu related abilities? See my master had a unique style that she explains in this book" she would take out a copy of the Bladedancer and hand it to Altar, who probably would have no idea what most stuff in it meant. "...and so far I was out of luck in my attempts to reinvent it. I was wondering if maybe her doujutsu played a vital part in it."