At the End of the Day

Lightning is the sudden discharge of high voltage electricity between clouds and the earth. So, in other words, perhaps electricity was a better name for the element which she was attempting to learn. She had to be very deliberate with how she learned, however. Transferring protons required unnecessary amounts of energy when transferring electrons to produce voltage was much easier. Conductors could disrupt the electrical current, so one had to make sure to make note of all possible conductors in an area. The whole process required much more scientific research than originally anticipated, but she didn't mind. It was kind of fun and entertaining.

Did you know that there are two ways to defy gravity? Spin and electric charge. That must be why your hair rises and gravitates near balloons. Her head was now filled with pointless trivia about electricity. She needed to learn the element, so every but was helpful, but some of the things she was learning she didn't quite see a practical use for yet. She clapped her hands together. On the inside, she was weaving her chakra network intricately to pull apart and mash together electrons in the hopes of creating a spark. Nothing happened, however, much to her disappointment. She scratched the back of her neck, taking occasional glances at her collection of amassed scrolls about electricity. Some were old, crinkly, and frayed, so she had to be extremely delicate. Sunlight crinkled in ahead, telling that much time had passed since she first started working in the morning. She muttered to herself, adding in a swear or two. This whole business was needlessly complicated.

She opened a new scroll, and crinkled her nose when she smelled dust. It was yellowed and bitten at the corners by rats. Elspeth started to read diligently. Electricity is measured in several units, depending on circumstance. Coulombs, Volts, Watts-
She closed the scroll and tossed it into the reject pile. She laid down spread eagle, looking up at the sky and then looking away when the sun burnt into her pupils. Don't some stars have electrical charges? She wondered to herself. ...She really was getting too deep into this.

She clapped once more, trying to divide electrons using her chakra between her hands. She tried to use her body as a conductor, so that any possible created electricity would stay within her body, specifically her arms. Nothing happened, though, and all she felt was a slight decrease in her chakra reserves. She sighed to herself and rolled over onto her stomach before pushing herself up. She was on the roof of an abandoned shop. It seemed to be made primarily of logs and clay, but was surprisingly sturdy. The surrounding area was largely unpopulated, but a few locals were looking at her strangely. It didn't bother her at all. She just stared back until they got uncomfortable and left.

She cracked her back and knuckles before climbing down from the roof where she kept the scrolls and stuff. Maybe some fresh air would do her some good. It didn't smell particularly fresh, though, the scent of dust and destruction lingered even though tornado was destroyed a long time ago. A clear sky ahead betrayed a false sense of purity. She let out a breath and started walking, careful to observe everything she came by. Then, of course, everything had to go wrong. She felt a sharp, stabbing pain in her back, right below her ribcage. It throbbed and stung, and she began to feel woozier with each heartbeat. It... Seemed to bleed out... Profusely.... But she d i d n't-

Black.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

She came to slowly, eyes creaking open to light much to bright to bear. She blinked furiously, trying to get rid of dust and that wasn't there. A large jolt sent her almost flying upwards. She would have attempted a fire jutsu or perhaps a martial arts technique, but she was bound. A gag rested in her mouth, her hands were tied behind her back, and thick ropes covered her chest. If she attempted to throw a kick or run away, she would be heavily off balance. Elspeth let out a sigh through her nose and glanced around. She appeared to be in a wooden cart of some kind, plopped up on a bench with four other people.

"Oh, she's awake," said one of them, a tall man with ginger hair and a gentle expression. Oh, so she got a gag and he didn't? He was tied up as well, though slightly looser. She tilted her head. "Why do you reckon she has a gag?" Thank you for asking.

"She's a ninja. A criminal." spoke up someone next to her. He had dark skin and no hair. His expression was inquisitive and sharp. She knew instantly that she'd have to keep an eye on him. They rode in silence for a few minutes as she tried to catalogue everything nearby. They were headed north, judging by the position of the sun. Her partners in binds had learned of her through the people who took them. She bit into her gag in an attempt to tear it. It took several minutes, but she eventually made a small perforation. She looked up at the person pulling the cart on the horse to be sure that they weren't looking. Once confident that they weren't she continued once they started moving up a large hill. She found herself slowly sliding into the man next to her, but she tried to pull herself up. Personal space was a valuable thing.

A large enough hole had been made in the gag after around five minutes or so. The area had been changed and was now littered with more pine trees and less actual civilization. She looked around once more to be on the safe side before she whispered.

"Where are we being taken?" One of the men- the ginger one- jumped a bit before making his reply. Well, he didn't actually speak but the shrug was clear enough. He had no clue, just like her. She gave up on finding out until later when one of the men she hadn't talked to yet, a muscular one with black hair that actually looked kind of feminine- oh shit, she was actually a girl.

"Slave trade," she whispered. Absolute quiet. Then, shuffling as everyone tried to lowkey get out of their bonds.

"It's no use," said ginger dude. "I-"

"Oi, shut it!" Yelled the carriage driver. Whom there was only one of. Hm... She just needed to get her hands free and she could do this. She could escape. She silently twisted her body and made a slicing motion with her hands on the side of the cart, using the wood's natural sharpness to slice the rope. It didn't do much, though. She looked around. There was nothing else. Sighing, she continued slicing. Suddenly, the carriage hit a bump and she sliced open her arm. A stinging pain ran down as blood began to drip. It seemed shallow, but it was quite long. She couldn't give up now, though. Several others in the cart were watching at this point, too. If she got out, she could set them all free. Tirelessly she continued onwards.

After three minutes, a soft snapping noise filled the area. The driver must have assumed it was a stick or something he ran over, bit in reality it was her rope. Quickly, she untied the ropes around her waist and set off to the man next to her. Within moments, they were all unbound.

Her hands quickly flew through the handseals for the fire stream jutsu and aimed her attack at her kidnapper's head. Somehow, he must have heard it. He jumped up and swerved the carriage, throwing everyone off balance. She leapt forwards, ready to punch him out. He grabbed her fist roughly enough to feel her bones creak before throwing her off completely. When he turned to the other occupants of the carriage, who were getting into stances or preparing to run away, she flew through the handseals for the jutsu once more and launched a fireball at him. He dodged easily and her eyes widened. This was pure skill!

"I recognize you," spoke an old man that she hadn't noticed earlier in the cart. "You're Genji of Iron, C-ranked missingnin." Oh, well, no wonder, he outranked her. That was roughly where most chuunin were ranked. She lunged forwards, summoning (or at least attempting to) electricity in her hands to press against him. He laughed, and shoved her away harshly.

"I am indeed Genji, and that was the most pathetic attempt of a lightning jutsu that I have ever seen!" He laughed. But he was thrown off guard when she started laughing too. It was only a distraction so that one of the bugger men could hit him on the back of his head. The impact rang throughout the area with a large crack. The C-ranked missingnin must have been at least concussed. On the other hand, he was really, really pissed. His hands flew through some seals (she recognized snake several times), and the earth erupted around her. She snarled and threw another fire jutsu at her foe. It hit a tree, causing it to explode into little wood chips. An earth spear jutted out of the ground, scraping her arm. She howled in fake pain to make him think that he had gotten her worse.

She kicked him below the belt viciously and slapped him across his face before sending a fireball at point-blank range. He shrugged it off, though. He punched her fiercely in the gut, and she hunched over. That little snot, she thought to herself, before punching him in the face twice as hard. His nose snapped, sending blood all the way down his shirt. She punched him again and again in the ribs until she heard more and more snaps. Eventually, he screamed as a rib pierced his internal organs. Then, all was completely silent.

Several moments passes in absolute quiet. Dusting off her clothes, she started tracing the paths the carriage made.

"Come on, guys," she called out unconvincingly. "We can make it back to society. We could just follow the trail back." The woman shook her head.

"Where will we get food and water?"

"We could find it in to woods. Unless you'd rather stay here of course..." No-one seemed particularly eager to do that, so they started following the trail as well. They walked in absolute silence. Birds chirped overhead, a few butterflies crossed their vision and then disappeared behind trees like a mirage. She found a few tracks belonging to a baby deer, but she didn't point them out. Elspeth was a lot of things but not a child killer. The sky above started to get clouded, blocking out some sunlight. She sighed and hummed a tune to her self. "Alas, my love, you do me wrong..."

Their party continued much in that fashion until night started to fall. She asked a few of the strangers to gather some firewood so she could use her jutsu to catch it alight. She did so carefully so she wouldn't start a forest fire. They sat on makeshift log benches around it. She scratched her ear. "We'll find water tomorrow. We could survive weeks without food. That being said, I'm going out to find some. Anyone know how far away we might be?" she said, standing up as she did so.

"I'd say a day or two," one of them piped up helpfully. She nodded to herself, walking in a straight line into the woods. She marked trees on their right sides so that if she needed to go back, she could do so accurately. She wandered onwards for several minutes, listening to crickets, frogs, and crows on the way.  A few fireflies danced in front of her. She stopped for a minute and looked at her hands. She attempted to mold her chakra to induce a spark, but nothing happened once more. Elspeth shook her head and decided that she'd go on a few minutes before heading back.

She ended up heading back. She couldn't find anything to eat at all. It was almost completely dark now, and getting much harder to see she scratched the left side of her neck, following her self-made trail. When she saw the glow of the fire in the distance, she approached it and shrugged at the people with her. "I couldn't find anything." The baby deer from earlier would have fed all of them. That made it more imperative that they never knew. They grumbled a bit at her assessment but ultimately accepted it. She lay down with her back against a tree and dreamed of darkness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elspeth awoke an hour before everyone else to see a particularly noisy crow sitting on a branch right above her. It was missing a few feathers here and there, and its beak had a few chips and scratches. It must have been a really old one. She sighed and turned her gaze upwards. The sky was empty, save for a few puffy clouds skirting around a rising sun. A chill wind suddenly blew, rattling trees all around her. She tried once more to summon electricity to her hands, but nothing happened.

"Caw!" Spoke the crow at her, and she tilted her head. She sat up slowly, ignoring the kinks in her back that had amassed from sleeping on the ground. She sighed once more and rubbed her eyes.

"Why am I feeling?" She asked after a moment, completely out of the blue. "I'd never have had a problem with this in the past. I would have just left them." she added. She was careful not to let any of her traveling companions overhear or they might get a little pissed. "It can't be hormones, I'm too old for that, right?"

"Caw?" The crow tilted its head at her. It flapped its wings once but ultimately remained on the branch. She whistled a bit. Looking at her hands, summoning bits of fire was all to easy. Why was lightning, by comparison, so difficult? She knew the scientific formula. Hell, she knew three. Gathering chakra, she very delicately attempted to split some electrons from atoms. Once more nothing happened. She could feel the chakra going down the drain, though. Maybe she needed some more precision? Again, she tried even more carefully. Still, there was no reaction. She swore under her breath and leaned back, crossing her arms behind her head.

Waiting for the others to wake up was a pain. She looked around in the woods for some food in the meantime and came across an old buck. He was laying down pathetically, not even bothering to flee when she came close. It was an easy kill, and fire jutsu had the added bonus of cooking the meat. She dragged it back to the campsite to see the woman had woken up. She started the fire once more and balanced the buck on top of some thick sticks and logs she had set up.

"Don't you have to cut off the fur first?" Asked the woman. She shrugged.

"I don't know. Worse comes to worse, we could always do it later when the meat's easier to cut." Elspeth replied honestly. She looked around at the rest of their party, who were still fast asleep. Maybe the smell would wake them up. And it did. One by one they twisted, turned, and got up. An elderly man chastised her for not cooking the deer right, and proceeded to take over, but she didn't care. She just wanted food at this point.

She opened and clenched her fists while waiting, trying and failing to generate electricity. The concept still eluded her, which irritated her to no end. Eventually, the deer was done. He cut it with a knife and everyone got more than their fair share. The group as a whole buried the bones and continued onwards.

"So, what are your names?" She asked, trying to make conversation to ease the awkward silence.

"I'm Kian," answered the old man who had cut up the deer. He looked like he was about to continue, but stopped and kept walking.

"Marius." said the tall man who had helped knock out Genji. She scratched the back of her neck. No-one else answered, but she felt a pair of eyes on her. It was the woman's.

"I'm Elise." she lied, feeling the slightest bit guilty. She hardened her heart and ignored the feeling. The woman must have bought it or something, because she replied stating that her name was Hana. They continued in silence for longer, following the wagon tracks. It was a dull and dreary affair. She wished that something interesting would happen, but alas, nothing did. She clenched her fist and nearly jumped a meter into the air when she felt a shock. Did she finally get something? She tried to reproduce it over and over again to no avail. Hypothetically, she should be able to do so. But nothing happened. Nevertheless, she was overjoyed that it was at least possible. She got some weird looks from the others in her party, but for this she had no shame. Elspeth had been practicing this for hours, and only now it was yielding results.

She blinked and sighed in content. Warm sunlight which had filtered through leafy trees landed on her eyelids. She put a shielding hand above her eyes to block some of the sunlight which had made it directly into her pupil. The sun was much higher in the sky now, and the day was quite pleasant. It was warm but not hot, the shade was cool, and above all it had been a good day. For once, she smiled, and it was genuine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was done. After a few hours of wandering, their ragtag group had finally returned to the small border town of Bahala. They went their separate ways. Her separate way, specifically, was a small cafe. It had a low roof and brown walls. The few scattered tables were well used. The counter where one ordered was very busy making breads and such. At her lonely table sat her pile of scrolls from earlier. Also, there was a half eaten tomato sandwich to which she may/may not be addicted. Many of the scrolls were unfurled in front of her. Unbeknownst to herself, a smile rested on her face. A lot of the scrolls were about electrical theory, but some were just about lightning jutsu. Maybe the techniques would provide her more insight on how to properly generate the desired amount of lightning chakra.

The scrolls depicted basic techniques, like Shock Paddles. She scratched the back of her head, her ear, and then kept going. The lightning element, she read, is slightly unlike the other elements in the sense that it is a form of energy. The result of atoms sharing electrons. Fire is a gas, and wind is just the movement of air. A common mistake when attempting to use lightning chakra is trying to split atoms when it's only your chakra that should be split. Create an imbalance in your inner energies and the electricity is sure to follow.

She gathered her physical and spiritual chakra in the palms of both her hands. She forced the two apart carefully. Surely enough, a small spark followed. Excited, she kept reading. This elemental nature is most common in lightning country- well, duh, she thought- and is among the more difficult to use. There are not as many jutsu for lightning as there are for, say, water and earth. But in my experience, it is the most rewarding. Happy practicing, and good luck-

The author's name was scratched out and blackened. Well, that was interesting. She held out her hands, creating imbalance after imbalance and spark after spark. She smiled hugely. It left a slightly numb feeling in her hands, but she kept going for the satisfaction. She'd been, after all, practicing for a few days nonstop and without any results, and now here she was. She closed the musty scroll, which made a crinkling sound as it rolled up. She looked at another. It detailed much of the same thing, but she read through anyway before adding it to the reject pile. Elspeth grabbed one more and started reading.

Electricity runs easier through some materials than others. These materials are called conductors, and include things such as metal and water. This is because an electric current can run freely in these materials. The opposite is true with insulators, which include things like wood. In insulators, atoms grab tightly onto their electrons. Oh, that made sense. Electricity was all about imbalances and such. She closed the book and stretched back. At her whim, faint crackles and sparks danced at her fingertips. The electricity was beautiful much in the same way a natural disaster was- haunting in it's grace.

"Are you done, ma'am?" A young waiter shook her out of her reverie. He was looking pointedly at her plate. She nodded and started hoarding all the jutsu scrolls into one pile. Then, she carefully stuffed them into her bag. That looked like it was everything... Might as well tip the waiter. She placed a few ryo on the table and slid them towards the stranger. He picked them up and put them in his pocket. He perked up a bit, too, as if her expression of kindness made him feel better.

"Oh, yes, I am. Thanks." Elspeth said gratefully. The plate was picked up, and the table wiped down, but still she remained at the location. The bag strap was slung over her shoulder, weighing it down. Slowly, she stood up and pushed in her chair. She was careful not to make any noise while doing so as to not distract any other customers or staff members.

Walking to the door, her feet barely making any sound out of practice and habit, she scratched her neck. Grabbing the cold handle, she twisted it and stepped outside into the cold air. She looked left, right, then continued forward down a cobblestone road. Sighing in content, she kept going to find her temporary lodgings. Suddenly, a man jumped out at her when he was sure that no one else was around. He was kind of short and non threatening. Elspeth almost rolled her eyes.

"Give me all your mone-" create and force the imbalance. Split the electrons. An electric shock generated from her fingers jumped out at her attacker. It was but a warning, and it did not work. When he pulled a knife on her, she decided to take things more seriously. She dropped to the floor in a low stance and made a vicious sweep, then flipped over and stomped on his stomach while he was on the ground. She took in a deep breath, stood up, and the deed was done. He was wheezing on the ground, she still had her money, and her pride was intact. Not in the least discouraged, she kept walking until she reached the crooked apartment. She climbed the creaky stares, opened a too thick door, and entered a small, frigid temperature room.

Next, she rolled out a thick mat and fluffed a pillow. She unceremoniously threw them both on the floor. She stretched her arms and shoulders, and once more put her palms in front of her face. From one hand to another jumped a vibrant electric spark. A few days ago, it would not have even been possible. She hummed out of key to herself a strange melody. So much had happened and she just wanted some sleep in an actual bed. Laying down, her thoughts raced like a current through the slavers and Genji and lightning and her first sparks, and then stopped suddenly like a switch had been pulled. She had fallen asleep.


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Exactly 4,000 words
Learning lightning element

Approved.

Fuck your tomatoes tho.