New Lands (Travel)

Taishi was pretty tired of this heat already. His big plans to pick the bones of the Hidden Sand village blew up in his face. He wasn’t quite ready to start messing with trained village shinobi yet, or at least he would not think himself to be ready. Who knows, though? He may get lucky and catch a traveler that was ill equipped or unprepared for an engagement. Eh, probably not.
 
Taishi would try his best to find some drinkable water in this fiery plane of sand and death. It looked as though there were no real sources of water, which meant that this place sucked JUST THAT MUCH MORE than it already seemed to. Fatigue would begin to set in as the warrior had now gone almost a day without anything to quench his thirsting body and parched throat. His tongue almost felt like gravel due to how dry it and his mouth had seemed.
 
Just when it seemed as though all hope was lost and Taishi started to honestly expect to die out here in this cursed place, he would see what looked to be water. He had heard of the desert playing tricks on weary travelers and producing mirages to fool the thirsty, but he had no reason not to at least investigate.
 
Taishi would approach and dip a hand into the pool before him. Sure enough, this had been water. He would immediately begin to drink deeply of the restorative waters. He the splashed some of the cool water on to his face, wiping away a layer of sweat and sand along his brow.
 
“You have no idea how much I needed you,” he would say to the pool of water, almost as if the inanimate pool was able to hear and understand him. “Ah, that’s good stuff.”
 
Looking over the terrain around the pool of water, it seemed to be made of some sort of stone. That was infinitely better than the mostly sand and more sand and even more sand that this whole damned country felt like it was comprised of.  Plus, it would mean that he could create some much needed shade. Taishi would clap and place his hands to the ground, lifting a pillar of earth up from beneath his hands. Unless the sun was directly overhead (which it was not, else he would not have attempted to make shade) there would be a nice shaded area somewhere around the pillar. Taishi would dunk his waterskin into the pool filling it completely, then take a seat and rest his body against the stone pillar.
 
“Coming here was might not have been my best idea ever, but at least I have a better idea of what to expect for the next time I’m here. Hell, those people over in Suna might have been on to something, because I doubt that anyone would want to cross this desert to reach them. Natural defense it would seem. Pity it didn’t help them any…”
 
Hours went by, Taishi watching the shadow travel along the ground to get an idea of where the sun was. There would be a “sweet spot” that meant that it was close to night, but not quite yet. That would likely be the best time to traverse this awful desert. It was close, and Taishi decided to get his fill of water once more and then get out of here. If he pressed on, he could leave this country in a day or so.
 

All the while he walked he recalled the feeling of power that coursed through his as he focused his chakra into the Earth Release techniques. The overwhelming feeling as it course through him was amazing. Maybe there was something more to all this ninja magic than he originally placed faith in. It probably wouldn’t replace a good blade, but it would surely help round out his arsenal.

He would make his way towards the edge of Wind Country with haste. Next stop? Fire Country!

---Exit to Land of Fire Borders (24 hour travel)---