Wayward [Private]

The road was long and tedious. Little bits of rock and gravel dug into her feet through the thin soles of her ninja sandals as she walked. The scorching sun which hung above was sending burning rays down below, each coming into contact with her skin and leaving a painful itch that would likely peel her skin if she was exposed too much. She pulled her once white cloak over her shoulders. While protecting from the immediate effects of the sun's light, the dirtied and blood speckled thing just kept the heat inside. She needed to rest or she would likely suffer heat stroke. Amaterasu had already gone through her water bottle in its entirety, and it was coming out of her forehead, torso, and arms as beads of sweat. She wiped back her dampened pink and orange hair and placed it behind her ear in such a way that it wouldn't obscure her line of vision. The Akari scratched the side of her face awkwardly. Little pieces of dead skin came off under her fingernails. When was the last time she had properly groomed herself...? When was the last time she had seen her home? Looking down towards her feet, the woman unconsciously slowed down. It was no use worrying about it now when she had so much to do and prepare for. She looked up briefly to the sky. The sun hung right in the middle of its arc, and there were few clouds in sight. The girl wouldn't arrive at another town at this rate for quite some time. She'd likely have to hunt for food and water as well. The nights, in sharp contrast to the scorching day, dropped below freezing temperatures and were just as dangerous, if not more so, than the heat. It would likely be in her best interest to set up a camp of some sort in a few hours.

However, for now, she needn't worry about such a thing. It was in her best interest to make it as far as possible before stopping to set up camp. The closer she was to civilization, the easier it would be to restock. More to the point, the easier it would be to survive. A trio of songbirds chirped overhead, and she watched as they fluttered across the road to a distant treeline. Life could not exist without water and food- so it was nice to know that there was at least some form of sustenance nearby should an emergency crop up. A bead of sweat trickled down her brow, itching as it dripped onto her shoulder. Waves of dizziness passed through her temples, and the young Akari stumbled as she took another step forward. The insufferable heat would likely result in the death of her if she proceeded like this. Fire affinity or not, her bloodline didn't offer any immunity to the sun's natural radiation. Amaterasu grumbled to herself and clenched the weapon pouch around her thigh slightly tighter. She made the executive decision to travel in the forest for a few hours. Regardless of insects and other creatures, it was better than getting a heat stroke.

She traveled around fifty meters off the road and entered the canopy of the trees. She didn't dare climb them- she could see the crafted paper of wasp's nests hanging precariously from the treetop. She shuddered involuntarily. The area immediately grew cooler in the shadow of the leaves, and she found herself relaxing slightly. A few birds overhead chirped warning cries at her arrival, warning their flock that a stranger was nearby and they shouldn't approach. A wasp buzzed around her ear before deciding she wasn't worth a sting and flying away. She scratched her sweaty ear awkwardly once she was sure it was gone. She was travelling north, so... Amaterasu turned to face said direction and waded her way through the fungus ridden ferny undergrowth. A tick latched onto her leg as she passed, and she flicked it off unceremoniously. This was shaping out to be a lovely journey. A few flowering vines hung from low hanging branches. Their flowers were aromatic and a bright orange. The color was soothing, and the only thing stopping her from grabbing a blossom was the wasp she had just seen buzzing out of its petals.

Time passed as the former noble of Wind Country trekked through the wooded area. Her left ankle itched from an unfortunate step into a patch of poison ivy, and she had nothing to treat it with. As long as she left it alone, however, she figured she would be fine. The sun had passed on its arc through the sky, leaning towards the western horizon now. Little splotches of pink and violet sky were seen through the thick green canopy of the forest. She'd best make camp, and soon. Fortunately, however, the trickling of water was faintly audible through the sound of bugs buzzing, birds chirping, and leaves rustling- there was a source of moving water nearby. It took around five minutes to reach, and she ended up finding a running brook trickling down some rocks. The liquid was perfectly clear and displayed some smooth rocks below. Good- that would make it easier to sterilize. She grabbed a small, metal pot she had purchased at her previous stop in a village and scooped some water into it until it was an inch from being full. Next, she placed it on some even rocks so as not to set fire to the relatively dry forest floor. Next, the girl formed two hand seals: horse and tiger. After that, she compressed the resulting Great Fireball by diminishing her chakra in an attempt to boil water. She held the resulting blaze for around twelve seconds before it began to boil, and she stopped. Waiting for it to cool down, she gathered some branches and pine needles for a makeshift bed. The cold ground was much more dangerous than the cold air, after all. When Amaterasu judged it safely cool after four minutes by sticking her little finger inside the pot, she drank several large gulps and placed the rest inside a small canister.

By that time, the sun had sunk below the horizon, shrouding the forest in a wreath of shadow. The moon was a waning gibbous, and as a result there was a bit of moonlight by which she could navigate- her Akari eyes could see in everything but perfect darkness, after all. Her stomach growled a little bit- she hadn't eaten in around thirty hours- but the human body could last for up to three weeks without food. She'd only be without sustenance for another day or so, and then she could eat to her heart's content. Well, hopefully. She yawned hugely and sat down on her makeshift bed- a few smaller logs and pine needles lumped together to elevate her off the ground. It was massively uncomfortable. However, before she allowed herself to fall asleep, she conducted a weak chakra scan of the area, a visual scan, and tried to listen to anything that might be nearby. Letting your guard down as a ninja was nineteen times out of twenty a death sentence. After finding nothing for the first few tries at each, she went to bed and fell into a restless slumber.

It wasn't the warmth that awoke her, nor the morning light, but rather the chirping of birds. Her back was figuratively killing her from sleeping on literal logs last night, and it would likely continue to be sore for several days. Amaterasu Akari quickly stood up, scattering the ashes from her attempt at boiling water into the river, as well as scattering the logs and pine needles so that nobody would appeared to have resided there the previous night. It took around twenty minutes to accomplish all of these tasks seamlessly before she headed back onto the main road. The sun had not yet reached its peak in the sky, and as a result it was a lot cooler. She'd likely retreat back into the comfort(?) of the forest once it was nearing noon. A piece of gravel fell into her sandals between her toes, and she kicked it out. It went several meters off the trail and into a patch of grass. She sighed and scratched her neck. Amaterasu hadn't had any genuine human company in a while. She missed it a little- and sincerely hoped that the prolonged solitude wouldn't have any profound effects on her mental state.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of chattering in the distance. Her pace was relatively quick- quicker than that of most traveling caravans, she would imagine. Had she ran into one? As she approached, she decided that it must have been so. A few carts and horse drawn wagons were rattling down the gravel road, and a few ninja guard were posted around it. The clients (merchants?) were talking amongst themselves. Though she couldn't pick up any conversations directly, she still heard bits and pieces of conversation. From what she could tell, they were a family traveling to Hoshigakure to deliver religious art and textiles. The young Akari decided to stay back so as not to trigger any conflict with the ninja guards. A feeling of yearning and longing stirred up deep within her gut. She scowled to herself for a moment before banishing all thoughts and emotions. The young woman slowed her pace considerably after that with the intent of falling behind. Nothing of interest happened for around forty minutes after that before a piercing scream tore through the air. It sounded like it came from the caravan. It would be infinitely easier not to get involved there.

But... She remembered seeing some children there. And just because they were foreigners didn't mean they weren't people. If she didn't help now, she knew that she would regret it for the rest of her life. Amaterasu grumbled to herself and began running. As she picked up speed, the caravan came into view quickly. There were three attackers total, all relatively unharmed, and one of the two guarding ninja of the caravan had fallen. The remaining one had had his arm slashed off by a wickedly sharp katana held by the bandit on the far left, a man with bright red hair. There were two others- she couldn't tell if they were boys or girls, and they were blonde with straight hair down to their chin. Three targets... She could do that. She had fought stronger bandits back in the mining town where Hachi had lived. She reached into the weapons pouch at her right thigh and pulled out a kunai. One of the blonde ones- were they twins, perhaps?- noticed her and gave a shout. Damn, so much for surprise. She chucked the kunai towards the bandit on the far right before flying through a single pair of hand seals- horse and tiger.

"Great Fireball!" she roared as a monstrous blaze of flame streamed outwards from her mouth. She was careful not to singe or completely reduce to ashes the several carts and carriages (not to mention the merchants whose possessions they were fighting over). The blonde one in the middle had gotten caught in the blast. Screaming, they collapsed to the ground, nursing third degree burns all over the left side of his body. The red haired man gave her a ferocious scowl. After a moment, her injured target had stopped breathing. In a speed almost too fast for her to track, the man with red hair had approached, katana drawn. Amaterasu gave a vicious kick to his kneecap, and after a sickening crack echoed through the air, she held the tiger hand seal and watched as he was fatally impaled by six piercing darts made of solid fire chakra. Two were buried in his head, and one was buried in the joint of each limb. He was dead within moments, leaving just one target. The blonde.

WC: 2,000
Total WC: 2,000

The two ninja fought viciously, tearing at each others' faces with their bare hands and nails, elbowing and kneeing in the stomach, and spitting in the eyes. Eventually, after a vicious kick sent the blonde bandit sprawling away, she flew through two hand seals as quick as she could possibly handle- dog, and then horse. Suddenly, six phantasmal red demon heads puffed into existence not a meter away from her in a puff of smoke. They glowed red hot with fire chakra. Snarling viciously at the stranger, they each charged forwards. Upon impact with the androgynous foe, they exploded with a diameter of around two and a half meters (one point two meters radius). Upon the jutsu's completion, a pile of charred skin in bone in the shape of a human being collapsed to the gravely road below. The sickening smell of cooking meat filled the air. Her stomach queased uncomfortably and she felt herself shudder. She had killed three people in less than two minutes. The thing that really made her grossed out, though, wasn't the act of killing- it was simply looking at the matted gore which lay about the area that had her like this. She didn't feel any sorrow or hatred towards her foes.

When the young Akari looked back up, it was to the horrified expressions of six civilians and a suspicious glare from the ninja. Even though she had technically helped protect the family, they had not ASKED for it, and besides, she was just a nobody without a headband who showed up and bested three strong bandits who had been able to take out a trained ninja operated. She had no business being here OR knowing those techniques- and it would be worse if she stayed with them. They'd ask questions, she'd be interrogated- and it was entirely possible that they would try to indoctrinate her into their own village. She couldn't go back to that life again after what had happened at Sunagakure no Sato. The girl clenched her teeth slightly and looked away. Not once did she open her mouth to speak, and when the village ninja fingered a kunai in his pouch and attempted to approach, she quickly bolted off. Though her momentum was slow, he was no match for her speed- especially after she activated the flicker movement technique. After around forty minutes of running, she decided to take a few odd turns at a crossroads she had approached to try and throw off her tail.

She shook her head quickly, as if trying to dislodge her intruding thoughts, and used a bit of her water canteen to wash the blood and ash off of her bare skin. It was surprisingly easy- she felt nothing as the last remains of her enemy dripped to the ground with water she had boiled the previous night. Perhaps if they were innocents, she may have felt differently, but they made the choice to attack the merchants, and by extension the choice to fight her. And that was her nindo- never going back on her words or actions. As cheesy as it was, it had served her well in her life in court as well as made her much more confident than she would have been otherwise. Wiping her now clean but wet hands on the sides of her cloak, she proceeded at a relatively quick pace down the road. Hoping for the best, she decided to make her way to the nearest town for a brief respite. She didn't need much- just to refill her canteen and perhaps find something to eat. A place to sleep for a few hours might be nice, but at that rate, the strange ninja might catch her. Though she had a feeling they wouldn't go after her- they needed to escort the goods and report about their fallen comrade. Going to chase a stranger who had technically helped them would reflect poorly in multiple ways. First by not putting the village at a priority, and second by leaving the merchants who they had been hired to protect completely unguarded. Amaterasu proceeded on the trail. Once again, bits of gravel got stuck between the toes of her open ninja sandals, and she decided that an investment in closed toed shoes would be a good idea. She kicked a few pieces out, holding the foot upside down and shaking at the ankle. The sun was starting to get higher in the sky, but there were some clouds today. A large one passed in front of the sun, providing some reprise from the scorching rays from above. She yawned a bit, covering her mouth with her hands politely just as she had been taught at the daimyo's court. Last night had been rough and restless, and it was showing in her present day exhaustion. Perhaps a change of plans was in order? Getting a bed for the night rather than a few hours seemed excellent.

When she came upon the small lumbering town, she nearly cried in relief. She had been on the road for around three hours post bandit incident at that point and was about ready to scream. The first thing she did was make a beeline for the tavern. The wooden building stood directly at the center of the town. The inside was small, but featured several tables and a bar. She held her canteen out to the bartender as she approached, sitting down on a barstool. "How much would it cost to fill this up with water?" she asked, panting slightly. He gave her a look and nearly rolled his eyes with an expression of exasperation.

"Water is free. Just give me a moment." he filled the canteen with purified water from a barrel tap, and once he was finished, filled another glass with water and handed them both to her. "The canteen's for the road," he began. Then he pointed towards the glass he had just handed her. "You looked like you needed this one." her eyes widened slightly. Genuine kindness? Huh. That was unusual. She subtly checked the glasses for poisons as she had been taught at the daimyo's court, and upon finding that there were none, gulped it down heartily. A few drops spilled onto her chest, and they flowed down to her low cut shirt.

She wiped her lips with her sleeve and took in a big breath before having the decency to look embarrassed. Not a moment later, she opened her mouth to explain.

"I- sorry- I've been travelling for a few days-" she began, before being interrupted by the bartender. She blinked, turning to face him better.

"Yeah, I understand. I get lots of people like that here. Just keep it together and try not to puke all over the floor if you drink too fast." he said. His voice was low in pitch, but conveyed a heavy sarcasm that lightened the mood. She was grateful for that, but she didn't state her opinion out loud. She sat at the stool for a few minutes in total silence, staring down at the wooden bar. The events of the previous night in the woods and the previous battle had begun to catch up to her. Her hands weren't shaking, nor were her eyes teary. Instead, she simply felt tired- like she had a long day of exercise and needed to rest up. She didn't know which was worse (yes she did). Nonetheless, she reacted with shock when a hot meal was placed in front of her out of nowhere. The bartender must've done it, but when she looked up at him, he was cleaning the glass she had used earlier. Amaterasu Akari blinked. There was steaming rice, a few chicken cutlets, and some shelled edamame on the side. She grabbed her chopsticks, split them apart, and dug in. She didn't need to say thank you- the man behind the counter had understood her situation as well as her nod of appreciation well enough. It tasted like heaven in her mouth- she hadn't eaten in three days, after all. The rice burned slightly, but she ignored it in favor of the desperate growling of her stomach. The chicken was cooked well, and the little bread crumbs that covered it must have been seasoned. She was careful to mind her manners after the first few bites, but after around seven minutes, the plate had been polished clean. The bartender took it without another word and began polishing, much like he had done with the glass. She reached into the pouch at her waist (not to be confused with the ones on her thighs) and slid over a few ryo pieces. Without looking up, he slid the pieces into his pocket and started to hum a little tune. It was relaxing, but he was also a little off key. She vaguely recognized the tune- it was one she had heard in Suna. Was this why he was being so nice to her? Was he a fellow refugee? She took another good, hard look at the man before coming to her conclusion. He was likely not a refugee, as he had had a civilian build, but perhaps he had refugee family members? Refugee friends? She didn't know, and quite honestly, she didn't need to. She asked for a bed for the night, and upon sliding over an extra few ryo she headed behind a hallway to go to the tavern's second floor.

The room in which she would reside for the next few hours of her life was small and cozy- constructed entirely from wood, it was reminiscent of a cabin in the woods. There were a few dressers, a mirror, and a bed. The bed was decorated in a red patterned duvet and was insanely comfy to sit on. After securing the windows and doors, as well as laying a few traps just in case an intruder saw fit to assault her in the middle of the night, she took of her shoes and headband, got into the bed, and pulled up the covers. Amaterasu remained awake for around thirty minutes, staring at the various wood patterns on the ceiling. Sleep did not come naturally in the unfamiliar environment- she sung a little tune to herself from Suna (though her voice was horribly off key- much more so than the bartender), tried counting knots in the wood- but nothing seemed to help her fall asleep. She sat up in bed, stretching her back as she did so. Several loud cracks echoed throughout the cozy room, signifying that she needed to take care of herself better as well as not sleep on logs. The young Akari yawned a bit. It wasn't that she wasn't tired- she was just restless. She practiced her hand seals a bit, flying through them forwards and backwards, twirled kunai around her fingers (she slept with no less than five at any given time), but she still couldn't get the rest that she desired. Eventually, she stood up. She wanted to practice the jutsu she had used against the bandits a little bit more, she supposed- and she knew that her control was good enough to not set the surrounding wood or cloth ablaze. Nodding at the course of action, she flew through the two hand seals required for the Demon Lantern technique- dog and horse. After their completion, two little heads spawned in a puff of smoke on either side of her. A little drain on her chakra, and she turned around to face them. They cast eerie lights across the room, especially after their chakra warmth had been reflected by the glass mirror. They looked like glowing embers in the dark- powerful, smoldering, and deadly. She could technically summon a lot more than two, but it wouldn't be very polite to summon too many demonic flame heads inside of a building- especially one that was made out of wood. She made them hover around a bit, experimented with a potential shield, but eventually decided against it- these were meant to explode, after all. She didn't want them too close to her when they decided to detonate. Speaking of which, though, she hadn't seen the Peacocks in a while. She hoped they remembered her... A wave of lethargy came over her body, and she dismissed the heads. The chakra exhaustion must've made her tired. Before she knew it, she had conked out on the bed, and was out like a light.

The following morning, she rose quickly right before the break of dawn. She needed to leave, before the ninja investigated her- and the more distance she put between herself and their home village, the better it would be. She quickly got dressed, throwing on her last clean white robe, and replaced her ninja sandals with a pair of leather boots she had worn a while ago. She scraped little flakes of blood off the heel once it was on her foot. She had to keep up appearances, after all. Amaterasu put her hairband on, pushing her pinkish orange hair behind her ears, and decided she was ready. She flung her bag over her shoulder and made her way downstairs. The bartender wasn't there yet... She put a few ryo on the counter for him, hidden behind a glass bottle so that people who came in wouldn't see it immediately, and left through the front door.

The morning sun had just started to peek over the horizon. Compared to the last few days she had spent outside, it was blessedly cool and temperate. A breeze rustled her hair from between the wooden buildings. It was a little cold, but not unpleasantly. She shook her head to dislodge her thoughts from the situation at hand. Amaterasu was headed towards a black market hub. She wouldn't really be safe there, of course, but hopefully she could find a less illegal thing to keep her busy for the coming weeks. Who knew? Maybe she could even find some partners to travel with her or something. Yawning, she proceeded down the gravel road. It was too early for most of the village to be up, so the young Akari managed to pass by mostly unnoticed, as long as she was able to keep her footsteps quiet. Once she was a safe distance from the village, a distance she judged to be around four miles, she picked up back to her usual quickened pace. Only a trained ninja would be able to keep up with her.

The sun managed to rise in the next few hours, returning to its grueling, torturous position from which it rained scorching rays on the dry earth below. She began to sweat profusely, but her thin white cloak had been manufactured in the deserts of Suna. It insulated the cool air and would likely prevent her from having a heat stroke, had she chosen to wear any heavier fabric. Her feet thudded softly on the ground below as she picked up speed.

Now that she was a large, safe distance away from civilization, she turned back towards thinking about the Demon Lantern jutsu. She knew she could use it somewhat safely in combat, but she really needed to test its limits before doing anything too serious and life threatening. The hand seals were nice- only two were required for a jutsu that arguably had a lot more application than normal. Hell, she knew and regularly practiced C and D rank techniques that had more hand seals than that. Demon Lantern had slightly more power than the average B rank, even verging on A rank territory, which was one reason why she found it so imperative to learn. A maximum of six fire balls (heads?) could be created per use of the jutsu. That was essentially six B rank- almost A rank- jutsu that she got for the price of one. If there were any complaints to be had, however, it was that the heads were rather small, and when they exploded, the range for that was also quite limited in comparison to other larger techniques. That just meant that she had to be quick and precise with each application of said technique.

Unlike some of the other fire jutsu she knew, however, it didn't originate from her mouth. Like great fireball, phoenix fire, and exploding flame shot, they were formed by gathering up fire release chakra inside of her mouth and then forcing it out. It detonated on contact with flammable oxygen, resulting in an explosion of flame that could be manipulated. This meant that she had to find another way to get her energy out of her body. Through the pores, perhaps? That was what she did for piercing darts, after all... She scratched her head awkwardly, stumbling as she did so on a particularly large piece of gravel. She was travelling at almost her full speed by this point. Her surroundings flew by her quickly as she sped up, making it harder to focus on smaller details like the piece of gravel she had nearly tripped over. It was essential to always be on her guard and alert, even if ruminating on the best application of a fire jutsu that she was super exited to learn. Yeah.

The young Akari practiced the hand seals forwards and backwards as she ran, twisting her fingers into the unfamiliar and highly uncomfortable shapes. She needed to get used to these, no matter how hard it was on her finger joints. Amaterasu went through the drills for around ten minutes of running, getting about two signs out every second. That was one thousand two hundred signs, and she was already feeling sick of it. Eventually, she ended up trying to cast the jutsu slightly as she ran. A few puffs of smoke expelled from her pores as she did so, but due to her focus being largely elsewhere, she didn't really manage to create anything new. Each time, she expelled a little more and more fire affinity chakra through her pores until her skin started to feel uncomfortably hot, and not from the unmerciful sun that was actively trying to do her in. No, she needed a safer way to do this. Couldn't the technique create these demonic fire heads up to five meters away? That was fifteen feet, and probably farther than she could expel from her pores. She stopped before she could irreparably damage herself like an idiot. Then she tried to think further and harder. What if she just expelled chakra through her hands, but not convert it into fire affinity until it was safely out of her body and at the desired distance away? That way, she could avoid any unpleasant burns, could create the demon lantern jutsu at whatever distance she wanted, and could probably fire it more accurately upon conversion. It seemed like a good plan, all in all, but execution of it was a different beast entirely. She sort of knew how to expel chakra from her pores, although it wasn't necessarily safe as per the incident she had attempted before. But this time, it was just chakra, not her burning fire affinity. Hopefully it was safer?

Oh, what the hell, she thought vulgarly. She didn't have anything to lose by trying. For over the thousandth time, she formed the twin hand seals required for the Demon Lantern technique- dog, and then horse- before expelling plain chakra from her pores in the desired directions, both left and right. It tingled her skin awkwardly, leaving behind goosebumps and standing hairs as if she had just been shocked. She'd need to work on that later. She directed the blobs of chaka to three meters away from her on either side, still holding the horse seal, and set them ablaze by sparking her fire affinity chakra. They burst into flames, and as she manipulated them further, they formed the familiar demon heads she had recognized from when she used the technique in combat against the bandits, and again in the room she had stayed at overnight. She gave her chakra a little nudge, and they both shot in front of her at breakneck speeds- well, almost. She managed to catch up with them fairly quickly, and once she passed them in her running, she dismissed both heads before they could detonate with her still in the fiery explosion's range of effect.

She slowed down to a simple jog at around half her max speed. That was an interesting experiment, but she still had to try a few more things before she could judge this technique to be fully, one hundred percent complete. She would need to form six heads, the maximum the jutsu could sustain per casting, and then direct them independently. Detonate them at different times, to, just to see how much control she really had over it. Hopefully, she'd have quite a bit of control, as this was a jutsu that she had planned to use in combat. Naturally, the whole thing went off without a hitch- she formed six flaming heads in the same method she had before, they each fired off independently, from left to right, and once they reached a certain point away from her, she decided to detonate them. No ash was left on the ground, of course, as the ninja was always careful to clean up after herself and leave naught a trail behind by which she could be tracked. But overall, she was satisfied with what she had done. She would definitely love to use this technique in combat at the first chance she could get.

WC: 3,607
Total WC: 5,607

Placeholder, lol

Mid-thread claim #1: 2k words towards http://naruto-role-play-rpg.forumotion.com/t22296-v6-great-fireball, and 10 stats

This thread is boring. Gonna do something social or w/e.

(exit)

Claiming: 3,500 words towards http://naruto-role-play-rpg.forumotion.com/t27046-fire-release-demon-lantern, 107 words being tossed into the void, and 18 staterinos

Sure also approved