A Quick Solo

The night was cold as the wind blew through the tundra up north of the great village of Hoshigakure no Sato. Within the sky the true namesake of the City Blessed By The Stars would shine down upon the world in the form of countless twinkles of light in the far off distance of space. A full moon hung within the sky amongst them, far closer, yet still unimaginably far from him at the moment. It’s radiance lit the night sky around it and shone down upon the earth with an ethereal glow. That however, was not nearly the most eye catching part of the evening. As up north the climate gave way to harsh tundra with absolutely no vegetation. This harsh climate was due to the area never getting any true direct sunlight. As even when the sun did arise it was to the south of Hoshi and over the horizon for the part of the country he was currently in. But back to the eye catching part of the night eh? Within the sky was an amazingly beautiful phenomenon that is caused by the thinning of the earth’s magnetic field in the northern part of the world where charged particles of the sun can seep through and collide with the gas particles in the atmosphere. 

The particles collide and become a great light show in the sky, called an Aurora Borealis. Multiply colours currently light up within the night sky, the most prominent being green with blues and purples fading through at times as the lights danced across the sky creating a wondrous display for any who could see. Which currently including one, Valen Akari, Jonin of Hoshigakure as one of the lucky viewers. The ‘Dark Prince’ of the village could be seen on top of a small peaking mountain, watching the display with an impassive look on his face. In all reality he was very much awed by the show. He simply did not display many emotions in most situations. He would be enjoying the view immensely when something else would catch his eye. A streak of light, like a star moving through the sky at a high pace would move through the far up reaches. It would be visible for but a moment but the Akari’s keen eyes would see it all the same. A shooting star? He was certainly fortunate, but he would very quickly realize that this initial interpretation was incorrect as it would quickly be followed by another, and another, and soon they would be streaking across the sky at a rapid pace, filling the already majestic night sky with even more beauty than before. 

A meteor shower was a rare occurrence. One he wished he could share with someone but alas he was alone in this part of the world for the most part. That was quite alright though, he could easily sit back and enjoy this show himself. Which he would proceed to do of course. Shifting his sword around the weapon master of Hoshi would sit down on the ground, leaning his hands back to watch the show as the meteors, lights, and stars made a wondrous view. He would normally summon Natsumi for such a breathtaking sight, however it was much too cold too subject the snake to his area of the world at the moment. So he would simply enjoy the show alone. The cold breeze would blow his cloak about behind him as he regulated fire chakra through his body to keep warm. The simple technique would well in the task it was designed for as it kept him from freezing up here in the frigid climate. 

As he sat in the silence of the night he would consider the techniques he’d been working on lately, Light’s Path, an incredible jutsu that allowed him to travel instantaneous between two location, be it short or long range. This technique would allow him travel home in an instant from this very location if he so desired. So long as he had been to the location before he could instantly teleport there from anywhere in the world. It was incredible to have such a technique at his disposal. Hell, soon he’d be able to use the jutsu without even performing hand seals. That would add a whole new level to his versatility on the battlefield. He’d be capable of teleporting around and cutting enemies down while making sure they couldn’t even see. To be honest it sounded almost too good to be true, but he was well on his way to performing such actions. 

Then there was his other technique. This one however he hadn’t quite gotten down yet. He had dubbed it ‘Fade Out’ as it literally faded him out of the dimensional phase that he was in to be protected from harm. Others would not be able to see, hear, or feel him whatsoever. But he could see and hear everything around him as normal. He simply couldn’t interact with it, such a technique would allow him to completely avoid power attacks that would otherwise be unavoidable. It was something he was looking forward to adding to his growing arsenal. That and the ability to learn it to the point where it wouldn’t require him to perform hand seals anymore. Such a useful technique would allow him to use it at a moments notice, coupled with his rather offensive fighting style it would be the perfect supplementary technique to catch an opponent off guard. 

It was this point that the teenager would notice something off in the distance. A lone figure traveling through the barren lands, a cloak wrapped around him to provide some form of protection from the harsh winds. Valen would stand at this point and move toward the person off in the distance. They were a good ways off, but they were also traveling directly toward each other so it wouldn’t take too terribly long to meet up with them. Although the weapon wielding jonin wasn’t exactly in a hurry. The person was coming from the direction of what he assumed was a wasteland of nothing. So they would have been out here for some time, that meant they were either capable of fending for themselves, or Valen was wrong and they was in fact civilization up here. Although he vastly doubted the latter, as the tundra made it impossible to grow crops and there was no game to hunt. The possibility of the person being a shinobi of some sort crossed his mind and he would be ready to take him down if they proved a threat. He would however also be prepared to teleport them to the village for medical assistance and a hot meal if it was required. 

It took about fifteen minutes for the two to finally reach a close enough distance to actually see each other. Valen could make out the person as a male, about six foot, making him a bit taller than the dark haired village ninja was and he looked to be a healthy weight. Although it was hard to tell with the cloak wrapped around the man’s body. He could make out combat boots and dark pants, as well as protective gloves though. These things screamed either ‘shinobi’ or ‘bandit’ to the jonin and a bandit wouldn’t be up here for any reason at all. There was simply no one to rob. A shinobi might travel up here however for a mission, or intense training. It was completely possible that it was a missing shinobi and that Valen would need to put him down. A possibility which the Akari was ready to perform if necessary. 

As they got closer together the man would finally seem to notice Valen, likely being too focused on putting one foot in front of the other up here in this cold climate. Besides, it’s not like anyone would be expecting another person up here, hell Valen wasn’t. The man would stiffen up and his hands would move from holding the cloak tighter around him to within the cloak, concealing them from Valen’s sight. Or at least so he would assume. Valen’s eyes would change to gold and the activation of his bloodline would allow him to see through the cloak. He could see the man reaching into a weapons pouch with both hands while he spoke up. “Who are you and what are you doing up here?” He would ask in a fatigued voice, likely exhausted from his ‘training’ or whatever other business he actually had up here. “Valen Akari, Jonin of Hoshigakure, I was just up here enjoying the show.” He would say while casually pointing a finger up while keeping an eye on the man. “I saw you walking out here and wondered if you needed assistance or something. I have a mode of transportation back to the village if you need shelter. But I’d need to know who the hell you are first.” The jonin would say, casually standing about five meters away from the man. 

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say, because the man’s eyes would widen underneath his cloak before flinging a handful of shuriken at the jonin. Valen would release a tired sigh before summoning a few chains from his tenketsu. The chains would snake around between the shuriken and Valen, blocking them all. The other shinobi’s eyes would widen as he backed up to get some distance, getting to about 15 meters. “What the hell?” He would yell as his hand disappeared into his cloak again. “I won’t go back to some damn ninja village, I won’t be captured!” He would yell out as Valen saw him flip through some hand seals. ‘So, renegade shinobi than is it? Very well then.’ He would think before a rather large and impressive fireball escaped from the man’s lips. As the fireball blocked the renegades vision of Valen the crimson clad jonin would activate his Light’s Path, appearing a meter behind the man who couldn’t tell Valen had actually moved. At that point it was a matter of using the glaive tips on the ends of his chains to stab the man. The wounds would stab in deep and the man would cry out in surprise and pain. Valen’s hands would actually be in his pockets for this little transaction, looking down at the man with a bored expression. 

“If you won’t come back to the village, then I’ll simply have to kill you. I can’t allow a missing ninja to roam the lands freely.” He would say as he brought one of his spears up and cut the man’s head off clean at the neck. The man’s body would obviously go limp as the struggling and grunts of exertion were silenced rather suddenly by the sudden decapitation. That did after all tend to silence things rather fast. Valen would simply turn his head toward the body and, with a single half tiger seal, spit out a stream of fire from his mouth that would incinerate the body of the missing ninja in an instant. The fire wouldn’t last long up here in this weather, and his chains were already recalled into his chakra network. So it was now time to go, he’d look back up toward the outcropping he had been sitting on before the enjoy the show above and teleport back to it. There he would sit back down again and continue to watch the show. The meteor shower was still going on strong and the Aurora Borealis wasn’t ending anytime soon he thought. Indeed he could sit here for quite a while and sit there he would. Until he decided he needed to get back to the village to see what needed to be done. When that occurred he would simply get up, work the kinks out of his neck before teleporting away back the warmth and safety of his village. 

Exit
WC: 1989

Claiming: Light's Path Mastery 3750/3750 (976 words used here) 
Fade Out 3000/3000 (868 words used from here) The rest of the words claimed Here (This link has both the last Light's Path Mastery claim I made as well as the last Fade Out claim I made)
145 words towards Fade out mastery 145/3000

Approved