On My Own

The sun was shining, birds were singing, and it was a perfect day for setting shit on fire. Elspeth had recently learned a fire jutsu, Great Fireball, and wanted to practice. A chill wind blew by quickly, which made the toastyness of illegal arson an even fuzzier feeling. She stood in front of a solitary, abandoned building. It was made primarily out of wood and stone. Perfect. She twisted her hands in elaborate shapes, two actually, and then breathed in. Upon exhaling, a massive orangey red fireball left her lips. In fact, they chapped them. It flew forwards at a relatively fast speed and upon colliding with the house completely exploded. That was fun. She did it again, which stung her already chapped lips but on the other hand the feeling of power was addicting.

It was a hauntingly graceful thing, fire. It glowed warmly and illuminated the area with promises of hope, but let your guard down for one second. And... Boom! It was hilarious! People always seemed so surprised, too. Fire was alive. It was selfish. And it was aaaall hers. She slowly brought her hands into the two hand seals once more. A giant blaze flew forwards from her mouth, a sound of creaking and snapping, and the building was history. Smoke wafted into her nose and her face scrunched up in disgust. Smoke was probably her least favorite thing about fire. It was just kind of nasty. She wiped some soot on her hands onto her leggings and wandered off.

Eventually, she came to a giant oak tree. It was almost dead. And about to fall on a convenient building. She could do them a favor by burning it alive until nothing but ashes and scorched ground remained. The two hand seals were flashing in her hands once again, and once more a giant fireball left her lips. She wiped them shortly afterwards, nose scrunching in disgust as flakes of skin came off. She flicked them onto the ground. The fireball impacted the tree with a giant crack, but it still stood. Smoke poured into the open sky. She better send out another fireball before attention is drawn to herself. She did so and then the tree completely collapsed in on itself, becoming a smoldering pile. It was far enough away from the house not to catch it on fire. Neato. She dusted her hands off. Another job well done. Maybe one more fireball could make it more fun...

One more fireball did, in fact, make it more fun.

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A few minutes later, Elspeth was laying on her side, bored. She'd exhausted most of her chakra with the fire jutsus and was now looking for something to do. She tapped her hands repeatedly and annoyingly on her shins. Suddenly, she bolted up. She could do some odd jobs around town for someone! That'd get her reserves going again. Plus something fun could happen. Excited, she stood up and started pacing down the streets. She noticed a woman struggling with some bags.

"Heyo!" She called out, waving a hand. "Can I help?"

"I don't really need help, see-" the woman tried to reply, still struggling with some bags. Pffft.

"Nonsense! Let me help you!" She picked a dropped back on the floor up. It was made of cloth and really heavy! "Where do you live?" Elspeth asked in a totally non creepy manner. The grin was still on her face. There was no way she'd refuse!

"Uhh, well- just over there..."

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

"Hey, do you need help starting that campfire?"

"Ye- HOLY SHI-"

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After several hours of backbreaking chores, Elspeth sat down unceremoniously on a bench, satisfied. It creaked under her meager weight. She rocked back and forward, kicking her legs. Maybe she could practice more now? She cracked her back and stood up. Just as she headed around a corner, someone blocked her view. It was a strange looking man, dressed in all black with various weapons strapped across him. He was much taller than her, much heavier, and looked rather pissed.

"Hey there, do you need help with something?" She offered, excited. In response, he slowly drew a kunai, and if she hadn't substituted with a nearby log she would have been done for. Quickly, she created a clone while his back was turned and rushed forwards, fists clenched. She ducked under a vicious slash and jumped forwards with a punch. It missed.

A foot flew forwards and she jumped on top, using the force to go sailing over his head and aim a round house kick at her foe's kidney. She flew through some handseals, prepared to use it if necessary but a foot locked around her knee and pulled her down. She used her hands and shoulders to turn the fall into a roll, away from her attacker. A knife came out of his sleeve and his muscles tensed as if he was about to lunge over. She flew through some hand seals again and shouted.

"Fire release: fire stream!" it was yelled loudly enough to attract the attention of some passerby, who promptly ran away to get the standing militia. Great. A small stream of fire shot forwards and coated the stranger, but it appeared to have no effect. Having no choice, she went through the hand seals of her favorite fire jutsu once more. "Fire release: Fireball!" This time he staggered. His clothes were burnt and his exposed skin was an angry red. How resilient was this bastard? He lunged forwards with the knife and she hit the floor. She flew through the hand seals once again... "Fire release: Fireball!" needless to say, it was aimed at a very sensitive area. But he didn't react. She aimed a punching attack at the back of her foe's knees and he fell over. Both on the ground, they continued their struggle. She really needed to get that knife away from him, though. That was priority. Suddenly, she had an idea.

It was a horrible idea.

...But she'd do it anyway. She twisted her hands into some fake hand seals and shouted at the top of her lungs. "Fire release: Majestic Fire Destruction!" Nothing happened of course because she didn't know the jutsu. But the stranger had no clue that she didn't. He flinched and closed his eyes, and she used the time to turn around and start sprinting away. It took him a few seconds to catch on and he picked up the chase. She shoved past many civilians in her way in a desperate attempt to flee. She vaulted over a merchant cart and used the surface walking technique to scramble up a clay building. It was low to the ground, because of the tornados, but that wasn't a problem. She made a flying leap to the next building, and the next, and the next. She was about to take another jump but a busy street loomed below. The gap was too wide... But there was a clothesline which led to a tree in the middle of the road. She grabbed the clothesline and climbed her way across into the tree, and then made a wild leap towards the next building.

She fumbled and fell, grabbing on to a stranger's porch before pulling herself up. Damn, the guy was persistent. She looked back and saw that he was a little ways behind her. Elspeth picked up the pace and kept jumping until she was coated in sweat and panting. She could not go much further. She looked around frantically. There! There was a pile of leaves on a roof! She dove into it and covered herself and quieted her breathing. She waited a minute. And then two. And then seven. Eventually, she fell asleep.

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Light flickered slowly through the leaves. Heat filtered through also, enveloping her body in a soft warmth. She shifted slightly and some leaves fell off, leaving a bright, shining sun in the air. It must have been around noon at this point. Several hours had passed. Elspeth had fallen asleep in a leaf pile. Wow, that was a new low. She stood up, dusting herself of leaves and actual dust and went back to the center of the town to do some more chores and help people out. She helped some old people with groceries, crossing a busy street, and more. She whistled as she walked by, eating an empanada. Spying her favorite cafe, she pulled over and opened the door. She sat at her usual table and a waiter came over. She couldn't really remember what she ordered but got out a single scroll about fire jutsus. It was bound to help her out with what she was learning now! She whistled a tune once more and started tapping her foot to the beat. Then, she looked outside to be sure that the killer dude from yesterday wasn't around. What was his problem? She found herself wondering.

A frown came to her face. Did someone order out a hit on her, if so, whom? She wasn't exactly well-known outside of Tornado, so it had to be someone close by if that was the case. Perhaps an associate of her family's who had heard of her antics? But how would they have known where she was? They'd have to follow a very careful and elaborate trail. This was highly troubling. Most of all, who'd want her dead in the first place? She tried hard to keep down low and not brutally murder too many people. Were her efforts all for naught? It certainly came off that way. A spark of fire chakra danced under a finger and she quickly extinguished it. Starting fires inside buildings she was still in was always a bad idea, accident or no. Her thoughts wondered further. How could she even know for certain that a contract had been placed on her head? He definitely was not a common thief or burglar, so something had to have happened to piss him off. She yawned hugely before flipping some pages aimlessly back and forward. Her food was placed before her, but she didn't even notice. She closed her eyes for a moment, lost in thought. She might as well practice the fire jutsu she was trying to learn. It would give her something to do as well as help prepare her for if he ever came back. She turned her eyes to the object in her hands and started reading.

Fire chakra has a very high spiritual to physical chakra ratio, because it is a chemical reaction, which requires energy to ignite. Other elements, like earth, are the opposite. It is important to carefully focus your chakra around your hands and mouth when performing fire techniques so as not to get accidentally burnt... Or worse.

Her mind was already wandering off back to the guy who tried to kill her. Why DID he do that? Something seemed off about the whole thing. She took a bite of her food, varied tomato products on toasted bread, and continued her train of thought. She drummed her fingers on her knees, chakra thrumming violently inside. She didn't know what exactly had happened, and she really didn't like that. She stood up and started pacing. Apparently, it had made some other customers nervous because they finished their foods quickly, got up, and left. Her footsteps made regular taps against the floor in a kind of frantic rhythm. Think back. He looked surprised when she talked to him. Did she interrupt something he was doing? If so, why get mad at it?...

...unless it was something he wasn't supposed to be doing. That made a lot more sense, actually. All at once, the pieces started to fall into place. Satisfied, she sat down and continued reading. This whole chain of events had been a mess. Elspeth let out a violent sigh and shook her head. She looked down at her hand, and smiled when it glowed brightly with the power of chakra. Her power.
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2003 words, claiming Great Fireball jutsu and 10 stats.
(Exit)