day 3: domain of the frozen

It was interesting, The Demon of Chance thought to herself as she took a small bit of one of the four stark white cakes that were arranged in a square across the center of the blue tinted plate she'd requested from downstairs. For someone who was here specifically to learn how to harness the power of the ninja arts within the village hidden in the stars, she found herself spending the better portion of her time closed up in the tiny single bed room she'd rented at the inn. It was also slightly interesting that she still didn't quite remember renting the space. She was however assured that her space was paid up through the week. As she'd done every time she entered the smalls space she called home, she began her night lighting a bit of the incense she'd purchased a day before, looking about the plate that would be her dinner before she set her mind to the task of learning. She'd decided it was best to slow down on the rate in which she used her inspiration. With days of work ahead of her and very little to put extra ryo in her pocket, she needed to conserve.

"Alright. Step one, I need to learn these hand seals. I've succeeded so far with the most simple of seals, or by using enough practice to get past the point where I needed them all together but it's important I believe? " She paused, looking across the room to where a gold trimmed mirror hung at about the center of the left most wall. She didn't get an actual answer, of course. She was alone in the room, but her question was less about asking for assistance and more geared towards hearing her thoughts out loud.

"Yes. It is of course imperative. Now. From what I can remember of the scrolls from home Three of the seals that are incredibly important to my clan jutsus are rat, bird, and confrontation. " She took another small nibble of the white cake, enjoying the fluffy texture and excited to find a little taste of chocolate that suggested she'd finally reached the filling, and then put it back onto the plate. Sliding it backward from her position she reached backward to grab her side bag, currently located directly beside the nightstand, and from it pulled a few sheets of paper. Their edges were darkened with age, the center turned from a pristine white to a faded grimy yellow, and they were bound along one side with twine.

The next hour went by quite uneventfully, with Amber alternating between studying a diagram of her training that she'd gotten only the goddess nows how long ago, taking a bit of the cakes, and contorting her fingers into the strange hand seals. The more she practiced, the more comfortable she felt with the way her fingers needed to bend or shift in order to create the desired effect. With each repetitious rotation her recognization of the meticulous methodology marking mastery of hands seals, and by extension jutsu casting grew, bringing her closer to the point when she could form the seals without looking down at the papers nestled in her lap.

"That seems to be about enough of that I believe. " She took a small break, pulling a bottle of water from the bedside night stand and turning the cap. Her wrists ached from the constant movement and the unnatural positions she'd shifted her fingers into over and over. For the first time in what could only be called an exceptionally long life, or lives, she regretted her decision to not listen to her father. Not her father of course, but the place holder was created to act in every way exactly as she would have. She could imagine being in the same situation and taking barelly a moment to think about the horrors of the ninja world before immediately passing on the "opportunity" (and at the time she used the word incredibly loosely) to sacrifice her life for the protection of a fat old man sitting in a high tower. She'd never met the Hokage, of course, but she'd always assumed he was in his later years, with salt and pepper hair and a sour disposition. As a child she'd imagine him in huge room trimmed in gold yelling at servants while stuffing his face full of chicken. Only a hand full of times she'd been overheard giggling as she spoke her thoughts. On those occasions she was silenced immediately. Her father's words echoed through her mind.

"It is unacceptable to speak of the hokage like that. To speak against the leader of the village is treason. " She never truly got much punishment of course. She stood up to an adults knee in height and was fairly secluded amongst the forests of the nara clan area of the village hidden in the leaf. These new memories flashed across her mind as she thought through how to take what she'd learned of hand seals and aply it effectively to the practice of what would be her next justu. It was an intriguing thing, to experience memory of experiences she hadn't actually experienced, or at least hadn't physically experienced. Technically she supposed she had in fact been a part of the experiences technically. Her body had, and with it an expression of her personality. It was rare for her to have the chance to truely enjoy the experience of another world.

Before she continued her training she grabbed the small blue tinted plate and took it downstairs. She barely greeted the bar maid as she set the clay item down. It wasn't because of disinterest. The woman had started to feel less like a patron to the Demon of chance. She was always so interested in the girl's day and how she was feeling. it was like having a second mother.... Or a new mother she supposed. This particular memory was one of the small handful she wished she hadn't inherited. Beneath a rather large pile of rubble that looked to be a grand stadium like training facility she'd seen the face of her mother. her body lied lifeless, her arms still curled forward in a vain attempt to protect her face. Deep brown smears of dried blood were spattered across the demolished building, and she wasn't sure exactly how much was her mothers. It was a painful memory, even with the partial disconnection of it not really being hers. No, Even if she hadn't experienced it she felt strongly that this was hers. It was the day she... no, They had decided in tandem that they would study to become ninja.

Before she'd realized she was back in her room, wiping a few stray tears from her eyes with a small cloth that had once been laid across the left side bed post. She needed to get back to work.

"Rat. bird. rat. bird. Rat bird. rat bird. rat bird. rat bird. rat bird. " She repeated the two seals over and over to herself, and after four times through the rather short list she began to draw from memory to form the seals in time with her words. Over and over she formed these two seals, burning the progression into her mind. She knew there would be no reason to stop until full memorization, which is to say until she could form these two in her sleep and chanel her chakra effectively enough to be able to make use of the practice she was doing. With this in mind she began to draw chakra.

At a rate much more rapid then in the past she pooled chakra from her heart point across the short distance downward and to the right, linking it with her solar point. She found a great strength in her solar chakra. It was at the core of her body, and the corelation to a powerful portion of her bone structure made it make sense that it would be strong, but of the points she'd manipulated so far, it felt by far the most powerful. At second thought she found need to correct her own mental statement. It was one of two. She'd heard of great strength that could be drawn from the sacral, but for her she found incredible force pulsing from her central solar and the great power of her root. The root chakra, unlike the centrally located solar, was not fully a part of her body. The portion she truely drew chakra through was, of course, but when activating the strength of her root she could feel the energy buzz through her feet, pooling at her heels, and forming like a saucer around the lower portion of her body, flowing through the earth below and circling back. Unfortunately for this she would have little use, at least initially in activating her root chakra.

For now she would concentrate just on the creation of her power nara blood's technique specific chakra. There were subtle differences between yin chakra summoned by a normal ninja and the yin chakra of the nara clan. There was a remarkable purity to the Yin, like perfectly filtered vodka, it was crisp and rich in power. The more she worked on filtering it for her bloodline, the more she enjoyed having the opportunity to use it. The power she summoned was like to a swirling void of pure terrifying power. She could taste in it's destructive force. She'd not quite yet learned that this fact would cause her issues in her execution. nara techniques were the finess weapon of the ninja world. It was in the idea that one could simply force power to work in their favor through sheer force of will and strength that had protected their clans techniques for generations. Where katon was the great broad sword that cracked shields and skulls, ripping through hardened flesh like butter to cleave the leviathan in half, Shadow manipulation was the slender dagger slid between the ribs, the barelly noticable needle like tip of a rapier that pierced the kidney, or the poisoned hidden blade that severed it's targets spinal chord, ending the battle before the victim realized what was happening.

With great force she pushed her chakra from it's current resting point. She formed the seals just as she had practiced, her fingers shifting together into the rat seal before branching outward to create the bird seal. As the second seal was finished she flashed her chakra, taking the pure powerful Nara Yin chakra and testing it's activation. She could feel a shift happen. That was a good sign. Once more she drew the chakra back into her solar, curling it inward on itself, coiling her powerful energy inward like a snake ready to strike. Several times she tested the same effects, thrusting it outward as the final seal was formed, and with each she could feel the chakra reacting. She wasn't sure how it was going to react in exectution, but much to her delight she did in fact find that it would activate in some way.

"Alright. I've gotten the hand seals, I have found a timing that would allow the seal to activate the chakra in some way.... Now I just need to take the last step. " It wasn't truely the last step. The last true step would be actually performing the technique. It was however the first substep heading towards the last step. She needed to take smaller chunks of the method at a time to ensure if something went wrong she could narrow down exactly what was going wrong.

~If only father could see me now~ The thought passed through her mind almost unnoticed. it was hers to have, but it flowed so deeply within her subconscious that it took several moments to actually come to the forefront of her realization. One more she saw memories of her adopted past, of her father's anger at the suggestion that she would leave to go with her mother. The ninja world was too much for the kind hearted woman who'd raised her. Their story had began as quickly as it ended, a whirlwind romance as her father traveled to a snow covered land. She remembered having heard the story over and over of how they met, Her father freezing to death in his ninja gear rushed through the doorway to the small clothing show where her mother worked. The day they left the village hidden in the leaf, she'd seen a side of the calm analytical nara man she never imagined was possible. His rage turned so quickly to sorrow, tears streaming from his eyes as he watched the woman he'd loved and his only daughter disappear out the large gates of the village. Looking back if they'd only stayed her life would have been so different....

It was because they'd left that her mother had been in that snow covered village to begin with. because they'd left that she needed to pick up odd jobs in order to make ends meet, and through that work that she'd learned to fight well enough to become the barely proficient bounty hunter she was. If they'd stayed in konoha, her mother would still be alive. Tears began to form behind her eyes once more as she was given the memories of her visit to the village hidden in the leaf, given a vision of having to explain to her father that she'd found the body of her mother. She was here today, learning to become a ninja after neglecting her duties to the clan for over fifteen years solely because she'd followed her mothers wishes and moved back to their home town. The memories were too much. The power of her Nara chakra pulsed for a moment before dissipating, as she threw the makeshift notebook across the room. Training was over for the day. She just needed to rest and let her mind calm. She'd resolved herself to go to bed early for once in her life, packing up the last of her suplies, and then she stopped. She was still in a state of distress too deep to effectively sleep without being plagued by dreams that played the scene over and over in her head again. For this there was only one true answer. Sh headed downstairs, stopping to wipe her eyes. She needed cake.

(Exit, twc 2400 claiming 2400 towards shadow sewing and 12 stats )

Approved