Travelling to Lightning Country !?! [Travel]

Well, leaving may have been a mistake.

In retrospect, that is. It was good to be free again, but carrying the weight of a workshop on his back was more trouble than it seemed to be worth. At least, it would have been, if not for the cart he carried along with him. He had been lucky enough to find it abandoned just outside of Hoshigakure. It was well worn, but it served it's purpose well enough. On his own back, of course, was his coat, the Terumi also bearing a belt of various craft tools and smithing hammers around his waist.

As he walked, he spotted something in the distance. Or rather, it was someone, tucked away from plain view and seemingly deliberating over something. And of course, by complete coincidence, she was in his way. The boy was headed to Shadow Country, as he had heard of some bigger dealers taking residence in that area, prioritizing the neutrality of the country over military power. The boy would make his way over to where the person stood, their apparant gender dawning on him now. It was a female, of their body type had anything to say.

"Hello, miss. Do you... need help? Are you looking for something? Someone? If I may be of assistance." The Terumi would say, approaching the girl, leaving the cart in the main path. He had nothing of value to take, after all. He looked a mess as well, his haor loose down his back rather than tied normally, his hands stained with grease and dust. The girl had a map in her hands, indicating she didn't know the path well, or that she was lost along the way to... well, somewhere. She carried herself with an aura, a stance and posture of someone above a common class. Strange that she wouldn't know her way around Hoshigakure, then. The thought that he was chatting to trouble crossed his mind, but he was a lowly crafstman. What did he have to lose?

As Akane was looking down as her map she heard someone begin to speak and was startled and quickly looked up at him. Once she saw that it was a young man around her age and that he didn't appear to have any intent to harm her she calmed down. Akane would then respond to his question quickly, "I think I'm alright, I was just creating a route to the Lightning Country. Thank you though." She wanted to get to the Lightning Country as quickly as she could so that she could begin her training but it seemed that her journey would not likely begin for a short while as she now had to speak to the man.

After speaking Akane would begin to examine the man, he appeared to be quite dirty. His hands were covered with grease and dust suggesting that he could possibly just be a commoner passing through, but there was still something about him that set him apart from a commoner. She couldn't quite tell what it was so she decided that she might as well find out. Upon finishing her quick examination of the young man, Akane would begin to quickly introduce herself in hopes to find out more about him, "I'm Akane Tokiyama by the way, I come from the Land of Wind."

The man would crack his knuckles before reaching into a small pack on his back, taking a small handful of sawdust and rubbing it into his hands, dusting his hands off once they were fully dry. Once all the sawdust was removed, his hands would be left surprisingly clean. It was a small gesture, but his mother had always taught him to be as tidy and clean as possible when meeting new people.

"Name's Ezra Wasabi. I hail from the Land of Tea." the boy would say, visibly flinching at his use of his mother's family name. He didn't like to be labeled as a Terumi as he had very little to do with his father's clan, but being recognized as a son from the Land of Tea was slightly emasculating, to say the least. Not that he didn't love his mother or his home, but being from a peaceful country in a nation of ninja? How lame was that? "It's nice to meet you, Miss Tokiyama." the man would say, his voice taking a more rigid, formal tone as he bowed slightly, the politician his mother had beat into him eking out.

"Lightning Country, eh? Would you mind if I took a quick look at that map?" the man would say, extending an open hand for the map the girl had. If she gave it to him, he'd continue, turning so the girl could see where he was pointing on the map. If she didn't hand it over, the boy would shrug and continue on anyways, doing his best to recall the information from his travel to Hoshigakure, as well as his father's stories from when he was a child, outdated information be damned. "Well, let's see. The fastest way would be to cross through Earth Country, through the borders of Snow and the ruins of Moon, and then through Bear Country into Kumogakure. That's if you don't mind the cold. You could take the longer route through Waterfall and Rain, but there'd be more people to deal with on the way, and you'd have to cross Konohagakure. I have no ill will towards them, but I don't exactly trust them to be friendly either."

"I myself am leaving to go to Shadow Country." the Terumi would say, pointing to the neighboring small Country before passing the map back, assuming he had had it in the first place of course. "It's a small, peaceful Country. Isolated and quiet. The perfect place for an aspiring craftsman and blacksmith to set up shop and work on wares for a while. The peace and quiet will be good for my work. I just pray the isolation won't turn to loneliness." the boy would say, shifting his gaze in the direction Shadow Country lay. It was very rarely heard of, and even more rarely was it visited. Not great for sales, but it would be amazing for his work ethic. No one there to distract him. Not a soul. Not a single person. But that would be a good thing, right? Right?

Akane would listen to Ezra's introduction and would giggle as he slightly bowed before responding politely while smiling gently, "It's nice to meet you too." Then as soon as he asked to take a quick look at her map she would quickly hand it over to him, it seemed that he knew his way around the world and would be quite a big help in helping her determine the route she was going to take to the Land of Lightning.

As Ezra told Akane about the routes she could take she listened intently and would think about every single one. As she thought about the routes she'd decide that she want to take the first one as she didn't want to deal with the ninja from Konohagakure. 

After he finished talking about the routes he would then begin to talk about the Shadow Country. She had heard of it and it happened to border Haven and the Land of Wind. Akane had never been there as she didn't go through that country when she was coming to Haven but it sounded like quite a peaceful place to train but it also sounded like it inhabited quite powerful people even though it wasn't a notorious country. Being quite intrigued Akane would ask him, "Do you know if there are any powerful shinobi in the Shadow Country? I'm looking for a place to train and I heard that there were pretty powerful people in the Land of Lightning which is why I'm going there. Although if there's a closer and less dangerous alternative to the Land of Lightning I'd love to go for it."

The boy would shrug when questioned by the girl. "I've never been there personally, but i've heard various tales. There are plenty of... questionable nin that wander the area, but seeing as it's an independent, neutral territory I doubt any of them would be outwardly aggressive. If they were, I wouldn't be planning to go set up a shop there. There's also supposed to be some sort of hidden village there, but the overseeing clan isn't very friendly with outsiders. Or so i've heard. You tend to pick up rumors when you live out of a tiny workshop in a village that isn't your own." The Terumi would say, turning his back to the girl and heading back towards his cart, continuing to speak as he walked.

"I'd imagine you could find people willing to teach you, perhaps you could even find a permanent mentor there. It's not bustling with activity, but that means anyone you find will know something worth learning. World travelers and such." He was at his cart now, and would turn again to face the girl, leaning on the side of the filled woodcraft, the wheels sinking ever so slightly at the added weight. The heat wasn't great for the shoddy wood, either. It would hold, but for how long the boy couldn't be sure.

"It'll be a less dangerous journey as well. And I hear Kumogakure isn't that fond of outsiders these days. Hell, staying away from major villages may be a good plan for the time being. Hoshigakure treated me incredibly well, but I don't have a fondness for owing allegiances. The world is in unrest, and it's only a matter of time before unrest gives way to bloodshed.." the boy would say, rubbing his shoulder, rotating his arm around and looking skywards for a few seconds, managing to sound somewhat sagelike for the moment before turning his attention back to the girl.

"You're free to join me on my way there. It's a relatively short journey, but i'm packing somewhat heavily so it may be a slow pace there." the Terumi would say, motioning to the loaded cart. "I wouldn't mind the companionship on the way there either way, traveling alone can be incredibly boring. Plus, if you don't find what you're looking for there, you can always double back and take one of the paths to Kumogakure."

Man, his father's silver tongue must've skipped a generation.

Akane's eyes would light up as Ezra spoke, he said that it was possible that there could be someone worth learning something from and it wouldn't be as dangerous for her to go there for the time being. It seemed that the Shadow Country would be a perfect place to go to get stronger so that she could reunite with Haruki and show him how much she had grown as a ninja. Akane was excited that there'd be a possibility that she'd be able to get stronger, she had been longing for a strong mentor.

"I'd love to travel with you to the Shadow Country, it sounds like there's a chance I could meet someone to mentor me. Plus, I think it'd be fun to have someone to travel with for the time being. It always gets boring when you're running along on your own with nobody to talk to.", Akane would say enthusiastically before starting to run off. She was excited and wanted to get there as soon as possible, she couldn't wait a minute longer. She wanted to show Haruki that she was capable of protecting him and this was the safest way to get strong enough to do so.

[Travel to Shadow Country]
[Exit]
[WC: 1,423]

The girl would agree to travel with him, and the Terumi's face would light up briefly, excited that he wouldn't have to make the long walk alone. Of course, the light would die fast as she sped ahead, leaving the craftsman in the dust to carry the cart at his own slow moving pace.

Needless to say, the Terumi would pick the cart back up, walking along behind the girl, doing his best to keep up with the heavy surplus of tools and heavier smithing materials behind him.

~Exit, TWC: 1337~
~Travel to Shadow Country~

Approved have fun in Shadow country