Searing Heat [Training, Amateratsu]

The sun began to dip closer to the horizon casting large foreboding shadows over the buildings in the distance, the jagged edges of some of the buildings that still lay destroyed, adding to the eerie aura of abandonment the village gave off. Mizuki was off the beaten path a bit, having found a large area that would be perfect for the training Amateratsu was willing to give. Crossing her arms she stared around in impatience, they hadn’t agreed on a time per say but she wasn’t happy being kept waiting as she lacked the art of waiting, her instinct usually throwing her head first into every situation. A few more minutes passed and she began to pace back and forth across the length of the area twirling one of her kunai on her finger while twiddling a thin strip of water through her fingers idly. This usually helped keep her generally hot temper in check reserving it to explode on whomever was unlucky enough to be her next target. 

This wasn’t a time for lack of restraint though, she had made a choice to travel in search of Kenshin and his followers, desiring more…she wasn’t sure yet but she was destined for more than settling as an overrated assassin. First step was done and the second step was on it’s way here now, she smirked to herself, stopping in her pacing to focus on a point off into the distance finally sensing the approach of Amateratsu, a chakra signal like that isn’t soon forgotten - searing and brilliant.

[WC 257]

The Meijin rose with the sun. The instant the blistering star began its ascent over the dunes on the horizon, she was awake, rolling off of her cot and performing her stretches. After a few minutes, she pulled off her sweatpants and tank top. She had had some new armor commissioned-- well, clothing. A black under suit with a red, sleeveless kimono top with some black matching sandals. Around her neck, she wore a melted slag necklace- something that had once been a kunai, but was now distorted beyond all recognition.

Her day mostly progressed as normal. She had not told Mizuki when she would meet her, mostly because she wanted to see what the older girl would do when she showed up late. For now, however, she was content to read anatomy books in peace. After the dissection, she liked to consider herself pretty decent when it came to basic medicine, but there was always more to be learned. When it reached about five o clock, she had stood up from her spot on a small sofa, stretched hugely, and made her way to the training ground. Making no move to mask her chakra, there'd be no mistaking who she was. Her scar twisted cruelly around her face and body with every move she made, and when Mizuki came into view. She leaned forward slightly on her feet.

"Miss me?"

[WC: 231]
[Total WC: 231]

"Hm... Do you know how to separate your physical from spiritual chakra yet?" she asked curiously in response to Mizuki's queries. "The fire element is about nine parts spiritual, one part physical. Barring any diseases or disabilities, most'd be able to learn it by skewing the normal ratio they put into their native born elemental release." Amaterasu rocked forward on her feet, not quite showing the hints of cruelty that came to her normally. When she got focused on something like this, it was easy to forget. "I'm not quite sure what the ratio for water chakra is, but I'd imagine it's more physical than spiritual given that it has a physical form, unlike fire." She tilted her head. "Or you could think about fire chemically. Whatever works for you." She gave a subtle smirk. "In fact, let me give you a little quiz. There are three states of matter: solid, liquid, and gas. Can you tell me which category fire belongs to?" A pause. "If you get this right I'll show you something interesting."

[WC: 175]
[Total WC: 436]

Separation of chakra was something she was able to do actually and felt more prepared for what was to come, luckily for her ninja hailing from Hoshigakure, loyal or otherwise, had exceptional chakra control. She nodded her consent to the rhetorical inquiry she made about water chakra and fire chakra being different make ups but she followed all the same. "Thinking about it chemically works for me, since that is all water is... though you asked a trick question," She said smiling at her, "Fire itself doesn't fall into any of those categories, it is close to gas but in reality it is Plasma - the fourth category." She crossed her arms and smirked teasingly, "Correct?"

[WC 115]
[TWC 697]

She shook her head with a teasing smirk. "Incorrect. A plasma is chemically defined as an ionized gas- or in other words, super heated gases that have electric charges... Well, usually. I've heard that they don't tend to be positive or negative. Think of the sun, for instance. That produces plasma." She leaned forward on her feet once more, coming to the tips of her toes before settling back down. "Fire is a chemical reaction. It happens between the air, and a fuel source. That's why wind is weak to fire." she tilted her head. "Since I doubt you have any flammable chemicals on you right now, I guess your chakra will have to do. Jutsu fire is usually created by using chakra as the fuel in the equation- that's why its difficult to extinguish, unless you stamp out the chakra directly." she tilted her head to the side. "It's hard to describe what it feels like to light a fire with your chakra. Once the fuel is there, you have to ignite it. It sort of feels rough and grating- like you're creating sparks through friction. This is the type of thing you learn through doing. I want you to try creating some smoke, some sparks- anything along those lines. Just try not to burn your hand off."

[WC: 219]
[Total WC: 655]

Amaterasu rocked back and forward on her feet at the puffs of smoke. Honestly, she hadn't planned this far, but that was okay. "Hm... I guess we could try actually lighting things on fire now. Hold on a minute." At that, the thirteen year old would wander off for a few moments, picking up some desert grasses that had long since completely dried out. They were rough and hard in her hands, and she eventually returned to Mizuki, holding them out. Should she not take them into her hand, she'd just drop them on the ground nonchalantly. "Try this. It'll light super easily. Just try to make it smoke at first- bonus points if you actually get some embers and stuff." she tilted her head with a hum. "Or... you could try just starting the fire directly. Unless you have a way to put it out without burning yourself, I wouldn't recommend that though. Or I would, actually. See what happens and all that..." she trailed off, eyes to the corner of her vision as if looking far away. "Hm... I guess that'd be a good lesson. By its nature, fire is volatile and dangerous. If you don't have complete control over what you're doing, you'll end up hurting yourself worse than whoever you're fighting. Nothing should be too bad, though, you don't seem like an idiot." 


[WC: 227]
[Total WC: 882]

"Hmmm..." she stared expressionlessly at the blaze, contemplating what it meant for the two of them. On the one hand, the claws of jealousy were pawing at her stomach, for being able to master a second affinity, no less in a short amount of time, was something she could only dream of. On the other hand... Mizuki had proven herself a capable learner. In other words, the chance that she'd be a wasted effort to train would be very slim. She tilted her head slightly. "Well, you can make fire, which is impressive in terms of how short it took you to do it." A pause as she began to think aloud to herself. "I doubt you're ready for techniques B rank and higher, but I'm sure I have something of decent utility that takes a bit less chakra to use. Most of the basics are built upon for higher ranking techniques anyways, so there's not a real loss..." she closed her eyes and hummed. "Maybe something like Great Fireball? Though I suppose nothing could go wrong with teaching the bare basics..." The bare basics, of course, being E rank techniques such as Fire Stream, Flickering Lantern, and Inner Flame. They covered a lot of the general ideas expressed in higher level jutsu, such as being able to expel fire, hold fire, and heat your own body from within. Plus, she assumed that it'd be clear to the both of them that going from easiest to master to hardest to master would be the most logical order of operations.

"I guess we could start with Flickering Lantern. It's mostly useless battlefield wise, but I want to see how quickly you can expel and hold a fire without something to focus on. The seals are, in order, Tiger and Dog. When used correctly, it'd create a hovering ball of fire above you palm. It works decently as a light source, though I suppose if one was so inclined they could also use it to lightly burn someone's skin." A pause. "Oh, I'm supposed to show you how it looks, aren't I?" She flew through the handseals at a speed of 50- too fast for civilians to keep track of, but Mizuki wouldn't have any trouble following it. She let the ball of blue flame hover above her hand for three seconds before it faded into a wisp of smoke. "...There. I look forward to seeing what you come up with."


[WC: 409]
[Total WC: 1,291]