Water and Earth [NK, Kuro, IO]

Standing there was the young lad Laz as he would look at the hot springs he had seen from earlier when he entered the dragon cave. The springs had produced a warm and even a little misty atmosphere but it didn't bothered Laz one bit. Sure he should be training right about now but relaxing was probably better or is training better? He was quite puzzled over this, should he train or relax. He was still dressed in his usual black jumpsuit and wore his lucky white scarf so he wasn't really dressed to go in the hot springs. "Training it is huh." He mumbled as he would walk away from the hot springs. "Maybe later" he said as he would sit on top of a rock. "Hmm what should i train then? new jutsu or something else important..." He said as he looked at his metal arm which was still covered in bandages from shoulder to the tip of his fingers. "So no one is around I guess i could try that for now." He said as he would place both of his hands on the rock he was sitting on. Laz would then begin to focus his chakra through his body to his hands and then to the rock. He would then continue this procedure for the next five minutes or so still coming up with little to no results." Thought this would be easier than it seemed guess i was wrong." he thought to himself as he would hop off the top of the rock. "Maybe i'm doing it wrong? I don't know what i'm doing actually" He said as he would look at his hands and place them on the rock once more. He would focus his chakra to his hands again but he would try to force it in rather than letting it flow through."Become one with the earth, I can do this!" he yelled as he continued to force his chakra into the rock but from a distance it would look like he was actually trying to push the rock into the hot springs which would be idiotic. "Why won't you break or something!" Laz would then remove his hands from the rock which was 4 ft tall. "I need a change of tempo maybe a water jutsu or something else" He said as he looked over to the hot springs. Laz would then jump on top of the rock to scout the area to see if he could do anything else and if there was smaller rocks he could break.

Still scanning the area Laz would fine the perfect rock which was sticking out of the steamy hot springs. "Looks like I get to go in there after all." He said as he would remove his jacket and tie it around his waist. he would then proceed to take of his boots but kept his shirt on. He couldn't allow anyone to see the metal arm which now he thought about it the bandages could get wet if he where to go into the water. Sighing once again he would put his boots back on and his jacket. "Stupid arm and leg" He mumbled as he zipped his jacket back up. So he would go to an alternative and sit done criss cross apple sauce style on top of the rock.Placing his hands on his knees he would close his eyes and take deep breaths, inhaling through his nose and exhaling through his mouth. Why was he doing this? well he was trying to get a connection to a earth spirit of course! These are one of the few tricks his dad and mom had taught him but he never tried it tho. A few minutes had pass  until he opened up his eyes grinning as he had got the answer to his problems. He needed to do something else! Like seriously needed to do something else since he was kinda getting absolutely nowhere. Jumping down from the rock again he would walk a few meet away he would then run towards the rock focusing his chakra in his hands again but this time instead of trying to force it he would let it flow with this there was little success but it worked. Leaning his back against the rock he would slide down to the ground in a sitting position. and wave to the near bye dragons. "So what's next on the to do list?" he asked himself.

[748]

Kuro was at peace. He had found his new happy place. The hot spring. He was able to relax in it like no other. While people could say they felt like they were melting in the incredibly warm and relaxing water, Kuro WOULD melt. He didn't even have to take off his clothes either, though he still hadn't gotten a new coat yet so there wasn't as much to take off if he wanted to. Kuro hadn't removed his clothing however, and simply allowed his body to melt away, every bit of his body being comforted by the hot spring as he became one with it. He thought he felt some movement in the water, but ignored it for now, simply staying one with the warm water.

Vixie walked to the hot spring with a hunk of meat in her mouth, a small portion of a snow rabbit she split with one of the young dragons. While she was suspicious of the gift at first, she determined that the dragon merely wanted to make nice after having tried to jump on her from behind. She stopped just next to the hot spring, meaning to offer a bit to Kuro, but found him to have vanished and instead there was a strange new boy, seemingly attached to a rock. Since Kuro wasn't in sight and she was still hungry, she quickly finished her meal and licked her lips in satisfaction, keep her eyes on the boy throughout. After watching him for a few more moments, she decided to take a page from her master's book and approached Laz, her tail gently moving side to side in a show of friendliness. Once she got closer she would start sniffing at him to see what she could learn.

[274]

As Laz was stilling sitting on the ground beside the rock from earlier. He was more lost in thought to notice the dark green fox approaching him or even how close it got for that matter.  It was until then he starte to feel the breath from the green fox touch his skin when it began sniffing him. Jumping up quickly he would back up a few feet from the green fox not knowing what to actually do since this was his first time ever seeing a green fox. "Look buddy i'm not food, I'm just a regular person uh..wanna play fetch?" Laz said as he would grap a stick up from off the ground and wave it in the air so the fox can see. "So there are not only weird and overgrown plants and huge dragons but also green foxes here too?" Laz thought as he would toss the stick to his right which would land a few feet from the hot springs. If the fox would had went after the stick Laz would return to his rock and start again at focusing his chakra into his hands and placing them on the rock. He would also still keep a look out if his mystery green fox friend would return with the stick in its mouth. Laz would still be pushing the rock as he would wait for the fox to return.

[235]

Vixie watched the stick as it sailed over head and watched it clatter to the ground. She then turned back to Laz and resumed swishing her tail with no idea why he threw the stick or why she was supposed to go get it. The stick DID however succeed in making enough noise to get Kuro to stop bring a lazy liquid and look around. He rose up from the surface slightly and looked at the stick, sliding up on land as a liquid before solidifying to pick it up. Wafting some steam out of his face as his body cooled down and stopped steaming, his chest and face were a bit red from the heat but would slowly return to their normal shade of white. Kuro saw Vixie looking at Laz and tossed the stick back, scaring Vixie and causing her to jump as it landed next to her. "Vixie! You're supposed to get stuff when people throw it like that!" Kuro laughed as Vixie sat down and pretended to not have been startled at all. Kuro then waved to Laz and hurried over. "Hey buddy! I see you've already made friends with Vixie. I found her in the jungle. She likes jerky, but judged from that bit of red on her fur I'd say she found something to eat all ready." Kuro rubbed her head and grinned. "Good to see you are also not dead. So far everyone I find has been alive, so I'm hoping my luck holds out."
[252]

Like he has been for the past few minutes then again has it been hours? Anyway the green fox who name is supposedly Vixie stared at Laz at confusion when he threw the stick. Well whether he cared if vixie went to go fetch the stick or not wasn't the issue, he was far to busy to move or break or whether he was trying to accomplish by putting his chakra into the rock. Then again Laz attention would turn towards the semi familiar voice. Looking at him Laz would remove his hands of the rock and would scratch his head as he was quite puzzled who had called his name and called him buddy. The guy had white hair so going with that speculation he would grin and begin to think that he was Mugen. "Yo Mu- wait..." Still being confused Laz would walk towards Kuro and stare at him for a long time. "Ok this might be rude and all but do I know you? It's like I sorta remember you but don't really...ugh it's so confusing sorry to bother you, uh uh uh? K-k-k-k. don't help me your name is K- yeah you got to help me." Laz was still puzzled who this guy was then again it was probably for the best if he didn't stress himself out with this and let Kuro help him.

[230]

Kuro crossed his arms and pretended to be offended. "Aw come on, you don't remember me, uh..." Kuro then realized that he ALSO did not recall the person's name. He'd only called him buddy because he recalled seeing him in the Echo group. This revelation caused Kuro to drop his fake upset frown and burst out laughing. "I don't remember your name either! Heheh, sorry. I'm Kuro Hozuki. We made the trip to Taki with Echo for that 'special training' " Kuro made air quotes with his fingers at the mention of special training. "But then stuff happened. Aaaand Taki got messed up. I got lost in the jungle for awhile. Barely made it back to Yuki territory with my sanity intact. But I found Vixie and made new friends, so it all worked out in the end. One of the friendly dragons was patrolling around while I was training Vixie to deal with snow and he brought me here. Anyways, how did things go for you after the group split up? Anything neat or awesome? Something to do with that rock you seemed to be focusing on? I hope Vixie didn't interupt your focus while you were doing something important." Vixie had grown bored of their meeting and began sniffing at the rock Laz had been practicing on, just to see if there was something special about it, though she highly doubted it would be important.

[237]

Laz would extend his hand out towards Kuro with a grin on his face. "Kuro that's right your kuro, I'm Lazuru Farunata pleasure of officially meeting you." Laz would then think about what kuro said of what happened in Taki and the jungle, "A jungle you say?, I always wanted to visit a jungle that's not fair if only aah never mind. Well for me? I never made it to taki due to family problems along the travel..I got separated from you guys when we left The blizzard changed my direction and I fell into a river soon after but hey I'm alive an well I guess were both lucky then huh?" At the mention of the rock Laz would look over to it and then to his hands." No she didn't interrupt, I was training or was trying to I was getting bored of it anyway....hey...you wouldn't mind helping me train would you? If it's too much to ask I would understand." Laz said as he would shrug. He would then walk back over to the rock and continue to focus chakra through his hands and through the rock. "So how bout it?" Laz said as he was waiting to here Kuro's answer.

[207]

Kuro grinned at the mention of training and gave the extended hand a firm friendly shake. "Sure I'm up for it! I was just napping in the hot spring anyways. And as for the seperation, that's really unfortunate. But turns out that place was super dangerous and just... not the best place to train exactly." Kuro withdrew his hand and scratched his head while pointing Vixie to a spot a short distance away. The fox obediently moved out of the way and sat down to watch her master until he required her assistance again. "All right, I'm ready to help out with whatever you need! Water man Kuro is at your service!" Kuro stepped back and gave a quick mock salute and waited to hear or see what Laz wanted to do.
[132]

"Alright!" Laz yelled as the rock would begin to crack. Grinning with satisfaction he would turn to kuro with a smirk on his face. "Are ready? Are you ready to face a future dragon rider in a fist fight! Cause im not. Yo kuro what elements you have? Kinda need to learn some jutsu." He said as he would scratch his head on what he could learn and what Kuro can teach him. 

(Sorry for short post, had to post from phone)

(It's K. 90% of all my posts are from phone.)

Kuro tilted his head slightly as he looked at the suddenly cracked rock and wondered to himself, "how he do?", before answering the question with a smile. "Well... all Water man Kuro knows is water... a little bit of basic medical stuff too but that's not really an element. As for Jutsus, I think I've got a tidy little collection. Water Clones, Hidden mist, Water needles, and one of my personal favorites: the Snake mouth. It's usually my starter since it makes a big water source I can use if there isn't one nearby. Anything sound your style? Cause if not, I'll just have to try out something new on you until I find a new thing you like. Soon as I figure out how to work em anyways." Kuro twisted his torso back and forth as he stretched his body a bit to regain the feeling he'd semi-lost as a pool of water. "I think I might start learning more about medical stuff later... I haven't really met anybody to train me in it, but that just means I need to get better at it sooner. Who knows, maybe I'll actually get to use it some day and help one of you guys out when you're down." Kuro smiled as he finished stretching and stood ready.

[217]