Of Light and Shadows (p, nk, io)

Sat Jul 08, 2017 4:34 pm

Valen moved through the stunning foliage toward the lake that he heard would be in the center of the Tachibana Wildlife Reserves. He hadn’t been here for very often and he’d personally never come to lake. But it still struck him as surreal to know that a single man made such a thing in the middle of the desert. It was rather incredible to think about given the habitat. He had decided to train by the lake today, hoping the peaceful atmosphere of the area would help him in finding an inner peace that would help him focus his speed more for his swordplay. He still needed to be faster on the draw. He knew he was close to what he could achieve before truly powerful techniques came into play to help boost his capabilities. He wanted to tap out every last dreg of power and speed that he could manage before trying to control himself while fighting with such powers flowing through him. If he ever obtained the opportunity to do so. After a few minutes of silently walking through the myriad of flowers and peaceful animals that lived in the reserve our crimson cloaked genin would arrive at the lake. He would take a moment to truly reflect on the beauty of the man made piece of nature.

The lake was rather large, easily big enough for a few small boats to comfortably move around with risking a collision. The water was a pristine blue and the sun reflected off the surface of the water like a thousand diamonds strewn across a blue blanket. He smiled at the scene before beginning to move around the lake for a while, intent on finding a peaceful place to train where he would not disturb anyone. His mind was occupied by thoughts of his recent training with the Chunin Kenshin, who for lack of a better term beat him into the ground as if it were funny. The frightening thing to Valen was that he knew the man wasn’t even trying. He shuddered to think of the power the scarred man could display when it came time to really bring out one’s power. ‘Will I get that strong? Can I?’ He’d ask himself as he finally found a large grove that opened up to the lake. He moved inside of it and noted that he was alone and nodded his head in appreciation as he knelt down in the middle of the cleared space and began to meditate. Calming himself as the gentle breeze off the lake helped ease the doubtful thoughts of his mind. If he doubted himself he’d never achieve such strength.

The sun was high in the sky, signaling it to be about midday and Valen had intention to fully obtain the speed in his drawing that he wanted before the end of the day. He was excited about the prospect, a feeling which again, he had to quell with his meditation. Over excitement led to messy mistakes. He needed to calm himself down as much as possible before he tried to draw his blade. After a few more minutes of meditation he took in a deep breath and activated his eyes, the chakra flowing into them to increase his speed a bit for what was to come. Then he drew his blade at the maximum speed he could manage (215, using Lai Beheading because I might as well) This was the speed which he obtained after training with Kenshin. This was the point in which the stitched man had pushed him. It was this point that he needed to push beyond to become stronger today. He’d slowly sheath his blade before kneeling down again to calm himself once more.

WC: 622

Sat Jul 08, 2017 10:16 pm

"I'm going out to tell her that i'll be back later...and no I don't need an escort," the young boy stormed off rather quickly out of the palace with his fox counterpart almost before the person could give him a response. The young male had a thirst for adventure and moving around, sitting in a palace was never going to be his style despite what others might have said. Thanks to the training of someone he thought of as a teacher and a friend he unlocked his mother's clan latent powers and had been practicing with them for some time. Having the powers to control shadows and the shadows of other people had its uses though he wasn't malicious enough to use it to his own ends...Not yet at least. Today he had on new clothes for the first time since leaving his old home, a black training outfit similar to a track suit and the cloth that his father had left for him to wear. Because it was still a bit too big for him to wear normally he had it modified slightly so that he could wear it with the left side on his body and the right side tied down just so he could have his right arm out. The proud symbol that his father embroidered onto the back of the cloak stood proud as a set of four feet pattered beside him, his faithful summon and companion walking beside him. The two left into the towns square to head into the Tachibana Reserve in order to train, it was one of the few places he didn't have to worry about any of the guards constantly checking on him. He still needed to be come stronger and he wasn't going to get anywhere by being coddled.

The forest. It was one of the first places that Kazuhiro had actually came to before entering Hoshi and where he met his first teacher, Kenshin. In this forest he had learned how to control his so called bloodline, how to use the earth element and more about himself than he did in a while. Not to mention slowly climbing out of his hermit hole, but the child was making progress for sure. It took him a moment to get out of the gates to travel to the Eastern side of the village where the forest stood tall, made by some Senju the village had some time ago. He only knew this because he had asked one of the maids of the palace and they had told him. Seems like there many people in the world that could do things he had no idea could happen, but here he was with his own skills. The more he walked the more he found himself thinking on the future before his fox companion stopped and looked around," Someone might be here..I can hear something," of course that could have been anything.

They were after all in a wildlife preserve meaning that it could have been animals or trees rustling but one thing about the fox summons were that they were exceptionally good when it came to hearing. The fox ran toward the sound, which to him sounded like something cutting through the wind, but to the young boy? Adventure. The two soon came up to a small opening which contained a single person. Now the boy only knew three people in the entirety of Hoshi's population so seeing a new person was either "Meh" or "Hey a new person". At either rate he stepped into the clearing providing the person didn't have any form of sensing him and spoke," What're you up to?"

Sun Jul 09, 2017 3:34 am

Valen had just gotten his inner peace back, has just managed to channel his inner energies once more and more importantly, had just started drawing his sword once more at the exact same speed as before when he suddenly heard a voice. ‘What’re you up to?’ He’d hear mid draw. Of course when one draws their blade as fast as they can all of the power comes from an explosive amount of speed at the start. As such it wouldn’t be physically possible for him to stop his draw at that point and so, while he had been startled, he held tightly onto the hilt of his blade and followed through with the motion. He would however then proceed to sheath the blade and turn to the voice to see a young boy, obviously younger than him, and a fox. ‘Is the fox a summon? Or simply a pet?..’ He’d think as he nodded his head in acknowledgement to the question. “Training, I’m working to increase my draw speed, and you?” He’d ask, his hand instinctively resting on the hilt of his sheathed katana, read to draw it at a moment’s notice. His golden eyes took in the appearance of the boy that had disturbed his training, probably simply in curiosity. His visitor was on the shorter side, with black hair and red eyes. He was dressed in a black full body track suit so Valen could assume that he was out here training, intending to wither become a shinobi or continue his career as well. But he wouldn’t underestimate the boy regardless. Kenshin had taught him much, especially the fact that anyone could beat your ass at any time if you weren’t careful. “What’s your name?” He’d ask after the boy answered if he did. If he chose not to he’d simply ask the question after a few moments of quiet. “Mine is Valen, Genin of Hoshigakure.” He’d say with another polite bow.

WC: 324
TWC: 946

Sun Jul 09, 2017 10:12 pm

Kaz took a small amount time to study the male in front of him, his eyes taking in each unique feature that he had for some reason. The child knew that information was everything and when he studied something he took in every source from the small to the large. His eyes were the main thing he had noticed about him, golden like the light of the sun and yet something felt...off about them. Maybe he had seen them somewhere before? Or maybe it was just one of those things that could have been something and wasn't. Either way he stood staring for a good minute or so before finally answering the male's question," I'm out here to avoid the palace guards and to train a bit. This forest has so much shade and I like nature so its perfect for me," the boy having nothing to hide more so that he didn't like the fact that a lot of the other guards were always watching him in a sense. Now when the male introduced himself he sort of cringed at the fact that he had bowed to him however slight it might have been. Kaz didn't exactly like the fact that people bowed he saw it as an unnecessary action and didn't want people to do it around him for what ever reason," ...I'm Kazuhiro and I guess you could say i'm a genin? Don't really know to be honest but yeah...Oh the fox here is my partner," no name was given for Koan though he didn't feel the need to exactly.

Mon Jul 10, 2017 4:20 pm

Valen would raise an interested eyebrow at the mentions of ‘Palace’ and ‘Guards’ as well the uncomfortable look on the boys face when he bowed. “Ignore the bowing it’s far less of a greeting in reverence thing and more of a ‘greeting in mutual respect’ kind of thing.” He said, hoping to explain to the boy that he didn’t really give a flying crimson fuck what rank or title he held. He had no reason to disrespect the boy, so he bowed. “Escaping palace guards however, an interesting desire. I’m going to assume that because of the fact that you don’t seem overly jittery or nervous that you’re not some kind of criminal.” He would say, trying to subtlety point out that the boy had been rather vague about his reasons for avoiding them and someone a bit more prone to action might have taken the wrong idea. “If you’re here to train however, I do not see why we could not share the area if you desire, it’s clearly large enough to accommodate the three of us.” He would say, giving a look to the so far unnamed fox. “I’d ask that you give me a wide berth though..for..obvious reasons.” He’d say as he patted his sword. At this the sentient weapon would chime into his head. ‘Why warn him? Let him get too close..it’s been a long time since I’ve killed kids…’ It’d say, it’s voice dripping with bloodlust, causing Valen to consciously shut it out so it didn’t try to affect him too much.

“I myself am trying to learn to draw my sword at my highest possible speed, I know I’m getting closer, a great number of people can’t even see when I draw the thing nowadays, but I feel as if I can get faster. What are you training? If I can assist I certainly wouldn’t mind doing so.” He’d say before turning to look at the small fox. “Hello there little one, are you a summoned partner capable of speech or simply a normal fox pet?” He would ask in a respectful tone. Keeping in mind Kazuhiro’s admission to not knowing his own rank really.

WC: 361
TWC: 1307

Wed Jul 12, 2017 9:49 am

"...I just don't like bowing in general. Don't really know why it just sort of weirds me out," little did he know that he had actually picked up one of his old man's quirks, something that he himself had put many a people through walls for. As he stood there for a moment, his eyes went to the sword the male had and stared at it curiously. Nothing bothered him more than not having the details to a fine picture, but like all things simple pieces were placed in time and fortunately he had been patient enough to find out. It seemed like a bit of an odd stretch to go on, but then again the male wasn't exactly wrong," While you are true in that regard some criminals do know how to be calm and composed in the face of certain stress related areas, but i'm a little too young to be a criminal a few guards can't even catch," that was confusing even for the fox he had sitting on his head. Luckily all he wanted to do was play with his shadow and move on.

Since the boy had asked he walked over a good distance away from him and sat on a smallish stump and crossed his legs," I do not think there is much you can help me with when it comes to a certain technique I want to learn since its of my family. I do however think that should i require some help I can count on you?," the more he sat there he simply relaxed and held his hands together as he focused. Behind him his shadow would begin to slowly stretch behind a tree or two before grabbing onto the tree directly beside it, holding it there. A test to see how long he could hold the technique until feeling tired. After that he would rest for a bit and continue doing it until he could finally hold it for an indefinite period of time or it just became easier for him. The small fox sat in front of the stump and looked at Valen for a moment tilting his head," I am his brother and partner actually. You're the second person to mistaken me for a pet you know. Is it that common for people to have a fox with more than one tail?," to make his point quite clear the tails behind him would wave in the air before being sat down on both sides of him.

Thu Jul 13, 2017 9:18 am

Valen would give a shrug of his shoulders at Kaz’s admittance to disliking it when people bow in general. Valen could honestly understand that and try to accommodate. Granted it might be a little difficult considering he had long since been used to bowing to people in polite respect. That however was neither here nor there. Our crimson wearing ninja however would grin at the boy’s response to his thoughts on the possibility of him being a criminal. “Never too young for that, if you’re old enough to harness the powers of nature like fire, water, earth, and wind. Then you’re old enough to decide to use them to harm others if you so desire.” He’d say before nodding his head, relenting an earlier point. “However you are correct in that you are far too calm. A ninja or criminal, especially one your age, would generally be nervous or at the very least on guard when a village shinobi arrived. You however seem more...curious?” He’d ask with an inquisitive inflection before his hands touched the sword. “I can’t let you touch it, there’s more to it than what you see, but..” He say as he slowly drew the sword which by this point Kaz wouldn’t have been able to get a good look at due to the speed of Valen’s draw. The pitch black blade with blood red petals reflected the sunlight a bit in the midday sun, but no as much as the six pointed star that made up the guard. The light reflecting off the sword wouldn’t be bright enough to cause Kaz to not be able to see it but it might cause him to squint just a bit. Valen would allow the boy and fox a closer inspection if they desired but again, he would not allow them to touch the sentient blade. Lest they get a taste of it’s bloodlust as well. At this point that presence of the blade consciousness would appear again in Valen’s mind. This confused him and it would show in a raised eyebrow as the sentience had never been able to do that before. It’s deep voice would reverberate through his mind. ‘You could just let me kill them you know, no one would know here isolated off from the rest of the lake..You’re more than fast enough to kill them before they could scream..Let me taste the blood of the child and fox..No one would know..’ It would say in his mind, trying it’s hardest to coerce Valen into killing the two existences before him.

At this Valen would mentally stamp out the voice again. He’d have to find out how it connected to his consciousness again after him doing so originally later. For now he’d finish his training. He’d reconnect with the world right as Kaz answered his offer of help. “Of course, if you have need of assistance merely ask and you shall have it.” He’d say with a polite smile, his mind moving at a hundred miles an hour trying to figure out how the blade had reforged the connection. He shook his thoughts of it, he could worry about it now all he wanted but it wouldn’t help. He’d need to handle it later though, was the voice getting stronger? He’d look into it after he was done here. At this point he’d sheathe his blade again, to prepare it for the coming practice of his draw, and grin at the young fox’s words. “No not exactly, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. It IS however common for one capable of speech to introduce themselves.” He’d say with a raised eyebrow at the small fox. “Are you training as well or just along for the ride with Kazuhiro here?” He’d ask, making sure he wouldn’t be surprised if and when the little critter started his own practice.

WC: 643
TWC: 1950

Wed Jul 19, 2017 3:38 am

"Curiosity is both my crutch and strength in this aspect. I merely like to know things that may or may not be beneficial to me. Actually. Even if it may not be beneficial to me I want to know what it is because it might be useful later," the words left his mouth almost poetically as he got comfortable on the stump and relaxed. Though that he was trying to be concentrate on the tact at hand he couldn't help but talk to the male as he focused," Though I am a child that has been trained or rather raised to be calm in the face of adversity and danger. Of course many would say for a child that is very farfetched to teach a child, but look at the world we live in right?," as he said this his shadow would begin to reach around a tree and grasp it tightly. He did this so that he could practice his grip on holding things with his shadow. Koan on the other hand looked at the male and chuckled," Yes but only after being introduced to. You only introduced yourself to Kazuhiro unless you were offering that to the both of us. At either rate my name is Koan. As for why i'm here....I'm here to both watch the young master and also assist him if he needs me to,"Koan was many things to the young boy, but at the moment simply being brother and helper were good enough for him.

Wed Jul 19, 2017 4:02 am

Valen would chuckle at Koan’s response and nod his head in admittance “Fair enough Koan, I am Valen, it is a pleasure.” He would say before he watched Kazuhiro begin to stretch his shadow toward a tree. “I agree, the world we live in is...interesting to say the least..” He would admit, trying to choose his word choice carefully. He watched the shadow grip the tree and raised an eyebrow at what the point might be. It was at this moment that a particularly strong breeze blew through the grove. Valen would notice trees around the one Kazuhiro had in his grip swaying in the breeze. That one however would not, this surprised Valen as that meant the shadow was holding it. He cocked his head to the side in thought before muttering under his breath. “Training to try and increase his grip on it maybe?...” Then an idea would straight Valen and he would turn to Kazuhiro once more. “An idea had struck me friend, it seems to me that the tree your shadow is around is subdued by your shadow. The only reason I can see from here for you to practice on a tree is to practice gripping it. Might I suggest you try your shadow on me while I train my drawing skills? If you manage to hold me back it’ll only increase my own strength and speed of draw, and holding something actively trying to escape you in a non hostile situation must be useful to you no?” He would ask with a raise of his shoulders.

Regardless of whether or not Kazuhiro chose to take his suggestion he would drop into his drawing stance and take a deep breath. If Kaz decided he’d try his idea he’d feel his movements stiffen as Kaz connected his shadow to his. But he’d take one more deep breath and draw the sword as fast as he could at that moment (You can choose how well it works). He’d nod his head in acknowledgement of the new restraint and sheath his blade again with greater effort than before. He’d then drop into the stance again and practice again. He’d continue this trend until Kaz either retracted the shadow, which would prompt Valen to cease practicing in curiosity, or he could no longer fight against his grip due to either the boy’s grip becoming stronger or Valen himself becoming too exhausted to keep going.

If Kaz chose not to take the suggestion Valen would continue practicing his draw with a different tree as a target. He’d stand before it and take a deep breath before entering his drawing stance. At that point he’d draw his blade with his max speed and cut through the tree as if it wasn’t even there, sheathing the blade just as fast. He’d proceed to redraw the blade in quick succession as the tree toppled over, each bottom part of the tree falling uselessly under the blade as the change in direction it would go through do to him cutting through it would push it straight toward the ground. Valen would backpedal as this continued, slowly moving his way ‘up’ the tree, sheathing and drawing his blade in rapid fire movements that more wouldn’t be able to catch at all. Of course the falling tree wasn’t going toward Kaz and Koan, that would be irresponsible of the sword wielder. He did however manage to make it so that the tree had been cut into much smaller pieces all the way to the top. “Well, someone get’s some free firewood..” He’d say as he sheathed the sword and looked for another good tree to practice with, unless Kaz had something he needed.

WC: 617
TWC: 2567

Fri Jul 21, 2017 10:42 pm

"Oh so you'd allow me to take control of you providing you don't know about anything what it does huh?," the boy took the idea to heart as the shadow slowly began to twist and contort from the tree and one could see that the shadow was actually constricting the tree or something of that nature. For a moment his shadow would stretch forward as the boy meditated, his eyes closing slowly as he connected to the boys shadow and waited. He would feel nothing as had changed and yet something did. For the moment the male would try to draw his sword and move forward that was when Kaz tightened his hold on the males shadow causing him to pull back from his goal. Every time that the male continued to move forward, Kazuhiro would pull back continuously with only a smile on his face. The fox simply watched while this transpired unaware that Kazuhiro was actually having fun with this. At some point he would allow his control to wane as the tree would be finally cut, but he had still held the technique together just in case.

Of Light and Shadows (p, nk, io)

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