Chirp

Wed May 10, 2017 1:04 am

Chirp. Chirp. Chirp.

The sound of the birds was growing ever louder as they continued to sing their song. The sun had barely risen yet, but the few golden rays that had managed to breach the horizon managed to find their way to assault the closed eyes of Damon Uchiha. Piercing the thin layer of skin that composed his eyelids, the darkness that one usually saw with closed eyes glew orange and stimulated his retinas. The boy groaned and rolled over… Onto the ground below. He had been sleeping in a tree once more, since he had no idea that shinobi were allowed free housing if they truly needed it. This did not matter to him anyways, as long as he managed to shower and continue his basic hygiene routines in order to not allow himself to become dirty as well as homeless. He brushed his thick hair with his hand, pushing back the loose strands in order to attempt to tame the beast. For a moment, Damon considered cutting off at least a bit of it, if not buzzing down to incredibly short hair for a drastic change. However, that would have to be saved for another time. The young boy stretched and let out a yawn, which still could not drown out the sound of birds chirping their merry song.

Chirp. Chirp. Chirp.

Hopping out of his non literal tree house, as in a home within a tree but not a wooden structure in itself, Damon decided that it would be a good day for training. The sky was partially cloudy, however, the sun was steadily rising overhead. He headed towards one of the default training grounds set up by the higher ups of the city. This particular training ground was where he and Hikari had played a seemingly long game of hide and wait forever for Damon to seek, but one of which was fun nonetheless. Trees lined the outskirts of the grassy plain, helping to provide cover from the streets, which were full of rather intolerant religious folk. It was merely a precaution, though, as tensions seemed to be high. Although Damon knew that more than anyone.

Chirp. Chirp. Chirp.

It seemed as though either those same birds had followed him, or else the same species lived in the very woods that surrounded him. Damon recalled a piece of his past, that every time that he and his merchant father would near the City Blessed by the Stars in order to trade their goods and make a profit, the birds around the city seemed to always be singing. Their song filled the silence in the air, which was rather welcome so that his day would not be filled in silence. Much like they had filled the same silence during his traveling as a child.

Chirp. Chirp. Chirp.

The birds sang in the trees above, flying to and fro in pursuit of other members of their species. Must have been mating season. Two people sat in the front of a carriage, the larger of the two was holding the reins. He glanced down at a young black haired boy with grey eyes, who was gazing in an innocent wonder at the trees along the worn dirt road. The older man smiled before he spoke, “You hear that, son?” The young boy turned his head towards the voice of his father. He continued, “I forget what they're called again, but I always hear ‘em singing.” More chirps rang out, as if they were acting on queue. “They always sing their song. That's how you can tell we're on the way to the Village Hidden in the Stars. They’re nice folk. Must be why the birds like this place so much.” Little Damon nodded before looking back out at the world.

Chirp. Chirp. Chirp.

Not that the training grounds would be silent for much longer, anyways. Damon withdrew a book from his pocket dimension, that showed the handseals for a certain technique that he planned to learn. Chidori. One of the strongest lightning techniques available. At least to a genin. The handseals just happened to be the most taxing aspect of the technique. Ox → Rabbit → Monkey or Monkey → Dragon → Rat → Bird → Ox → Snake → Dog → Tiger → Monkey. It was rather difficult to keep track of, and would obviously take some time to memorize in the exact order. After a bit of time spent memorizing the technique, Damon then caused the book to disperse in a collection of particles that floated in the air for but a moment before disappearing into nothingness. The clouds seemed to gather more in the sky.

Here we go. Damon began to sign the handseal chain that consisted of Ox → Rabbit → Monkey or Monkey → Dragon → Rat → Bird → Ox → Dog → Snake → Tiger → Monkey. Since he had swapped around two of the handseals to be out of order, as well as not realizing how taxing this technique was, his chakra input was low as a result. Therefore, this series of unfortunate events caused his arm to slightly glow before totally fizzling out, leaving the boy with nothing but the sensation of being burned searing across his forearm and hand. Heck. He grasped his own arm in an attempt to confine the pain, however, there were no actual burn marks; his skin was merely warmer to the touch and was reacting to the unsteadiness that had been caused by his lightning chakra. Once the pain subsided, Damon stood up and held his hands to his chest. He once again tried the order of handseals Ox → Rabbit → Monkey or Monkey → Dragon → Rat → Bird → Ox → Snake → Dog → Tiger → Monkey, this time in the correct order, which caused one of his arms to grow a brilliant shade of blue that was imbued with the subtlety of white light.

CHIRP CHIRP CHIRP CHIRP CHIRP

The sound of a thousand of those pesky little birds chirping filled the air and caused the actual birds to scatter from their trees in pursuit of a quieter home, at least for the time being. Damon held his arm up in front of his face and stared into the eye of his achievement. Not many can claim to have learned the powerful technique of chidori, at least in his experience, although it seems to be a must learn technique for every lightning elemental chakra nature used. Damon blew his overly long hair out of his eyes as he signed it once more. Ox → Rabbit → Monkey or Monkey → Dragon → Rat → Bird → Ox → Dog → Snake → Tiger → Monkey. His arm crackled with the intensity of a lightning bolt itself as the chirping emanating from his person overtook the sounds of nature. He barely even noticed the clouds in the sky above that had started clumping together. The gathering clouds overhead seemed to darken as the sun was beginning to be forced into an early departure. Some mental reassurances later, his arm still coated in lightning chakra, he lowered his right arm, still grasping the forearm with his left. The erratic nature of the electricity seemed to want to make his arm long to act independently from his body, so he was controlling it to the best of his ability. The strapping young lad spotted a good target, a tree, which was far enough from the road to not draw too much attention to himself, assuming that the sound of a thousand chirping birds had not already alerted everyone else to his presence.

CHIRP CHIRP CHIRP CHIRP CHIRP

He exhaled deeply. It seemed to be a habit at this point to expel carbon dioxide from his person before performing a demanding task. He had already done the handseals, as the incredibly loud chirping confirmed. His right foot dug into the soil behind him as his left leg bent in front of him. And then he was off. Damon started running while holding his arm, still charging towards the direction of the selected tree. Here we go. It was rather odd that when some people spoke to themselves, they opted to choose to use a plural subjective word. Almost as if they were speaking to an imaginary audience that were to bear witness to their success and failures. His feet kicked up dirt as he began sprinting. His legs seemingly locked into a running motion, halting himself from stopping or changing directions. Stuck on this course, the unstoppable force of chidori would soon meet the immovable object of the sturdy tree before him. However, today this immovable object would be forced to move. Damon extended his arm forward in a spear shaped motion. The bark of the tree would be the shield in the paradoxical phrase of the irresistible force paradox. His extended hand reaching outwards towards the tree would clash against the trunk in a flash of light that caused the boy to close his eyes. When he opened his eyes again, he would find that his hand had struck the tree and pierced through its trunk. His arm was lodged into the massive plant up to well past his elbow, stopping just short of his shoulder. The lightning chakra dissipated as the technique had finished and Damon wiggled his fingers, which felt nothing but air… from the other side of the tree. Breathing heavily, Damon placed his right foot against the tree as he used his left to maintain balance. Allowing his right arm to go limp, he pulled on it to the best of his ability with his opposite arm as he began the arduous task of extracting his appendage from its wood prison.

Exhausted and physically drained, Damon headed towards the exit to the streets of the City Blessed by the Stars. He had broken a sweat at some point during his training, although he was not quite sure when this had occurred. His hair felt heavier. It had grown out a bit more than he had originally kept it. It occurred to him that he had not gotten his hair cut in the time since he became homeless. Brushing his hair back out of his eyes, Damon continued down the road. He was rather far away from the particular tree that was merely a block away from Hikari’s apartment that he often used as a place to rest his head. However, he was not necessarily near that location, and he needed to find another place to stay. Maybe somewhere sheltered this time. He meandered through the streets, visibly without a purpose. He looked up at the skies above. The clouds were dark, yet there was no rain. The moon could scarcely be seen behind their encompassing grey shadows. Hoshigakure was not necessarily a dangerous place at night. Besides, he felt as though he could fend for himself, especially with his newfound lightning technique. Once he felt comfortable with his performance of chidori, it would soon become the most powerful move in his arsenal, at least for the time being. While he was wandering, he was more focusing with his own self reflection. That is, instead of paying attention to where he was going, he was simply reciting the order of the handseals for chidori in his mind as to not forget them: Ox → Rabbit → Monkey or Monkey → Dragon → Rat → Bird → Ox → Snake → Dog → Tiger → Monkey.

His lack of focus made itself apparent when he found himself running into the back of a robed man. Damon looked up startled, as he had been lost in his own thoughts, to be greeted by the face of the man which he had bumped into moments prior. Expecting a face of rage, he was pleasantly caught off guard when the man’s round, rather pudgy face displayed a peaceful expression. “My apologies,” the stranger said. The man was rather short in comparison to what must have been his age, somewhere in his thirties or forties. His hair was short but styled in a manner that looked as though a bowl had been placed on his crown and the scissors worked around the dish as opposed to a valid hair style. Not that Damon was to judge, his had been noticeably long lately. His voice seemed higher pitch than a male’s should normally sound, as it was not booming, yet was not like he had inhaled too much helium. He held his hands together which caused Damon to take a step back and prepare himself for a battle. What handseal is he going to use? Is he a ninjutsu user like me? Damon quickly wondered to himself as he mentally readied himself for combat. However, this was deemed useless as the man simply held his palms together and bowed as a means to demonstrate the genuine nature of his apology.

Relaxing a bit, Damon responded, “No, you’re fine, I should be the one who’s sorry. I was not watching where I was going.” The man simply smiled and shook his head.
“Neither was I, brother. I did not expect to meet many people out and about at this time of night. Do you mind me asking what you are doing out so late, err…” It was clear from his pause that he was expecting a name.
“Damon. My name’s Damon.” He extended his hand, which the robed figure promptly took and shook. His handshake could have been firmer. “I’m uh… just trying to find a place to sleep is all…” It was rather awkward to say aloud, but truth be told, Damon had not necessarily had a good night’s rest ever since his house had burned… with his father in it. He pushed the thought out of his mind. Not tonight. Not another nightmare.

The man, named Saishi, had exchanged his name during the handshake with the young shinobi. “Well, my brother, you seem to have hit some good luck!” he said a tad too enthusiastically. “Or perhaps it is the will of one of the gods above.” To clarify his belief that they were truly above, Saishi shouted that last line at the sky with his eyes closed and his arms spread, as though he was going to have blessings showered upon him by merely stating what he believed to be a fact. “Brother Damon, would you do me the courtesy of staying the night at my home? I live within the confines of this very church you see before you.” He gestured to a large cathedral. It was a dark grey, which seemed rather ominous, but it may have just been the darker clouds playing tricks on him. Damon hesitantly took a step forward as he approached the building before him. It seemed colossal in comparison to his surroundings. Although its location was convenient.

He looked at the robed man and smiled, “I would be delighted to.” Although the smile was for the sake of social convention, not necessarily genuine. After all, religious zealots had killed his father. It could even have been this sect. However, this man did not seem to automatically inquire as to whether or not the boy was a shinobi. Saishi giggled with delight as he turned his back and headed up the small staircase leading to the front entrance. Damon took this opportunity in order to take off his shinobi headband, which he wore around his bicep, and sign the handseals for storage displacement in order to avoid any unnecessary encounters. Following the priest’s lead, Damon ascended the stairs and entered the cavernous cathedral. Upon stepping inside, he would be greeting by a massive sprawling room lined with pews that faced towards a central elevated platform. “Whoa,” he exhaled aloud. His voice seemed to echo as it resonated against the large walls and traveled throughout the open space.

“This way,” came the voice of Saishi who was standing by an archway. Through the arch were two flights of stairs, one heading upwards, and one heading downwards. Continuing to follow the man’s lead, the Uchiha ascended the staircase after the priest, only to stop on what must have been the only sublevel. To the left was a room that contained barrels and crates, all sealed, that must have been the church’s supply of rations to distribute among the needy. To the right was a collection of beds which were mostly empty. One or two looked as though they had been slept in, however, it did not appear that this had been recent. Damon turned around to Saishi. “Thank you so much for this.” He noticed a cobweb in the corner. Oh well. He was being more than just polite, shelter was shelter. Besides, it was probably safer than sleeping in a tree. Those things were just as likely to house insects.

“If you need anything, let me know.” Saishi clapped his hands together again without causing any sound before bowing and Tossing his bag next to a bed, Damon rested his head against a pillow for the first time in a long time as he rested in order to build up his strength for the next day. Looking outside of his window, he could see the moon traversing the sky before it dipped behind a tree. On several of the branches, several birds would stand out amidst the silence of night and sing their song harmonizing together in a perfect manner that only nature could provide.

Chirp. Chirp. Chirp.

Damon awoke the next morning well rested. Looking outside of his window, the birds seemed to have left. Their song could not be heard. Instead, their song was replaced with a loud sound that must have been music coming from downstairs and seemingly echoing through the wall. Anyways, the sky looked more cloudy than it had yesterday, and was covered in a light grey hue. Either this was early in the morning or else the sky seemed as though this was foreshadowing the coming of rain. It did not matter to the boy, as he would pick up his bag of bare necessities and sling it onto his back. Gazing outside the window once more to get a sense of his bearings, he mentally mapped out the path that he must have taken last night and the one that he would need to take today in order to traverse back to where he had been the previous night. Descending the staircase, he managed to discover the source of the semi unpleasant noise. Saishi seemed to be playing a rather large instrument that was fastened to a wall on the side of the elevated platform. Ah. So this must be an organ.

No, not like a body part. The massive piano like instrument that has a seemingly endless amount of ebony and ivory keys with which one could master to create beautiful songs. Saishi was not one of these people. He sounded off key or off organ key or whatever, I’m not musically inclined either, but at least the guy was practicing. Dubbing it best to not interfere since he needed as much practice as humanly possible, Damon decided to leave him be for now as he exited the door.

Back to the training grounds.

Wandering away from the streets and further into the forest, the boy would eventually find himself within a circular clearing surrounded by trees. Damon took a deep breath and held it. This was to totally be a valid test of his chakra control. His left arm grappled onto his slightly unsteady right arm. He exhaled deeply. I can do this. I can do this. He held his right arm up to his ear. The sound of one thousand birds chirping at once was nearly unbearable as his lightning infused arm connected with his hairline. He began to trim his hair, even reaching the back of his head and chopping off much of his locks. He then signed the same handseals, Ox → Rabbit → Monkey or Monkey → Dragon → Rat → Bird → Ox → Snake → Dog → Tiger → Monkey in order to activate chidori on his left hand and continue the process. Evening it out, he gave the same trim to the other side as well, careful to not drastically remove his entire head of hair, or you know, his head as well. Then came arguably the most dangerous part of his new self. He signed the Ox → Rabbit → Monkey or Monkey → Dragon → Rat → Bird → Ox → Snake → Dog → Tiger → Monkey handseal chain once more, causing his right hand to once again illuminate in a blinding blue and white light of electric proportions. He exhaled heavily as he brought his hand closer to his face before moving it upwards to cut the long portions of the front of his hair down by quite a bit.

As Damon furthered his training by signing the handseal chain that consisted of Ox → Rabbit → Monkey or Monkey → Dragon → Rat → Bird → Ox → Snake → Dog → Tiger → Monkey in order to further promote his newfound skill with the technique, he would not even notice the skies darkening above him. A little rain would not hinder his progress. His new hairstyle was not as weighed down as it would have been, as his shorter hair did not hold as much water. It flooded down his hair, soaking through to his scalp. He glanced up into the sky, staring at the water pouring from above his body in the sky. Rain was such a beautiful thing. The more his eyes focused on the individual droplets in the sky above him, the slower time seemed to move. He closed his eyes and allowed the refreshing rain to cool his body in a more effective way than the natural cooling method of the body, perspiration, ever could. He flooded his body with his chakra, spreading it out in an attempt to reinvigorate his rather tired body. When he opened his eyes again, the world seemed to have a now familiar tint of red to it. His sharingan had been activated in order to help himself control chidori better, just like the predecessors of this powerful technique.

Chirp.

The world seemed clearer as time seemed to slow down. Damon began to see the most minute details. The already seemingly slow falling raindrops only seemed to further slow down as his perception was further increased. Leaves fell at a slower rate from the sheltering trees that provided a safe haven from the persistent rain. He looked down at his right arm, still coated with the thick layer of lightning chakra that made up the chidori technique. The arcs of blue electricity that encompassed his arm did not seem to slow down as much as the rest of the environment. In fact, it seemed eager. Eager to be released. Damon charged towards a separate tree than he had yesterday. The prior day, Damon pierced a mighty oak tree. Today, he would chop one down. Damon kicked off from the ground as the wet dirt was lifted up into the air. His speed must have been increased or else he was just perceiving things twice as fast, because to the boy it felt as though he was moving at a speed that he had not reached before. Raising his arm up slightly, Damon’s hand managed to slash through the tree trunk at a diagonal angle. His lightning coated arm fizzled out as the eager boy looked back to the seemingly unaffected trunk as his eyes deactivated. He frowned. That is, until the trunk slid and toppled to the ground in the opposite direction, making a loud crashing sound. Damon glanced around, making sure that no one saw him, before he turned towards the street in a guilty manner, eager to leave the scene of the crime.

Birds had flown away from it in the midst of its fall as they flew off in their own direction.

Chirp Chirp THUD.

WC: 4032
Claims: Chidori (4000/4000), 20 stat points

Wed May 10, 2017 1:22 am

Approved, better, much better, than the last time you learned this tech but I swear to god if I have to read the word Chirp one more time I will murder you.

Wed May 10, 2017 2:04 pm

Chirp.

Chirp

Chirp

Re: Chirp

Re: Chirp