[Training] The Fast and the Vaguely Grouchy

The sun was setting quietly over the horizon, disappearing behind pine-needled trees and leaving trails of red in its departure. A small gust whispered by, rustling leaves as it left behind an unshakable chill that seemed to seep into her very bones. Despite wearing her signature red overcoat, she found herself shivering in the cold. She pulled it closed with her left hand, eyes narrowing in disagreement with the atmosphere. In her right hand was clasped a yellowed scroll, an antique old thing that was given to her by a disabled former ninja. The symbols scrawled across its fine parchment were barely legible, but not completely unrecognizable, and there were numerous diagrams depicting chakra flow, as well as proper posture and good foot form. If Shika and her intuition weren't mistaken, the scroll she was holding taught a modified version of the Body Flicker Technique. Being admittedly fond of cross-country recreational activities, she couldn't wait to get started.

Once she came to the pinnacle of a hill that was relatively devoid of obstacles, she delicately pulled open the scroll, as not to tear it's contents. Her eyes pored over the characters, and after a good fifteen minutes of silent reading, she put the scroll upon the ground as she copied one of the foot forms displayed on the scroll. Supposedly, if you did it the wrong way, you could get seriously injured, so she had to make sure that she got every minute detail correct. She opened up her chakra pathways a little further than usual, focusing on spreading the energy to her legs and feet.

She looked at another hill, a good hundred feet away. That would be her target. Her eyes narrowed in concentration as she began to lean forwards. Without warning, she took off, leaving a deep indention upon the mud covering the top of the hill. She was traveling faster than she ever had in her life, and it felt empowering. The wind whistled by her ears, sending auburn strands of hair flying behind her as she sprinted forwards. Her eyes began to dry out, and she found herself involuntarily tearing up as particles of air and dust flew into her eyes. Perhaps a pair of goggles would be a sound investment...

Suddenly, her lungs began to sting with the bitter cold air, and she halted in her tracks. She nearly fell over with the momentum of her run, but she caught herself just in time. Damn, she thought to herself, lungs getting colder and colder with every intake of breath. She massaged her ribs, and looked up. She was exactly halfway to her target destination, and positioned in the shallow valley between the two hills. The grass itched her ankles, and she got the impression that she'd need to check for ticks the instant she got back to the main village.
Scowling, grumbling, and in general, cursing, she trudged her way through the bitter cold back to the apex of her hill. She rubbed her throat, trying to channel a small bit of chakra to keep her body temperature a little higher there. She re-read the scroll briefly, to see if she had done anything incorrectly, but she knew deep down that she had executed the technique without any major flaws the first time; the main issue was her endurance, or more accurately, her lack thereof.

Shika cracked her joints before sinking back into her 'running stance', trying to keep her chakra flow a little higher than it was before, to ward off the foul temperature. She kept her eyes glued to the target, but maintained a small bit of focus in her peripheral vision; it would not be a good idea to trip over something, especially when traveling that fast. She inhaled a deep breath exhaled once, focusing on her breathing. After a moment, her eyes shot back open, and once again she took off sprinting with inhuman speed. The feeling of empowerment, liberation spread an indescribable warmness throughout her body. She found herself smiling to herself- not an arrogant, 'holier than thou' smirk that she found herself wearing occasionally, but a genuine smile.

The wind once more rushed past, leaving her hair flying out behind her. With its bright orange color, she found herself wondering what it would look like from a distance. The cold stung her eyes and lungs, leaving a lingering chill in her core. Decisively, she channeled chakra into her torso and throat. While it did little to ward off the temperature, she narrowed her eyes and began to push herself to run faster. I am never going to build endurance if all I do is quit when it gets hard, she thought. I just have to keep pushing! With renewed vigor, she continued to run.

The cold bit at her lips and throat, and the darkness of night began to descend upon Haven's outskirts like a thick curtain. The world seemed to grow even colder in the absence of light. Nearly all of her chakra was focused on keeping her warm, as she used nothing but her raw strength and power to keep herself moving forward. She became acutely aware of her nearly depleted chakra reserves, and she slowly began to cut off the flow once she realized that the physical exertion was keeping her plenty warm. With one final burst of speed in the total darkness, Shika rushed onwards, ready to finally meet her goal...

...and promptly tripped on a rock. She flew forwards with the momentum of her sprint, muddy earth below doing almost nothing but staining her clothes. After a moment of quick indignation and cursing, she pulled herself up. Checking to be sure that no-one was watching, she activated her Kekkei Genkai. Her eyes tingled with energy as the last vestige of her chakra reserves began to deplete, but she only needed to use it for a second. With her enhanced vision, she saw that she had indeed made it to the other hill. She was about to cheer a little bit, and pat herself on the back, before a frankly disturbing thought occurred to her. How am I going to find my way back to Haven in the dark?

[Exit]
[Word Count: 1035]
[Claiming: Taijutsu Body Flicker, 5 stats]

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