The Dance of Knives (Training - Rayul)

It's been a while since Rayul first stepped foot on the training grounds. This was where his Sharingan was first awoken, a day that Rayul would most certainly never forget. Normally he'd train alone, since he himself believed no one would be capable of keeping up with such mentally and physically exhausting regiments, but today he felt like switching things up. The last time he was here, the training grounds were filled with shinobi constantly practicing their skills in all types of combat. Hopefully, he'd be able to find someone willing to get some training in with him, if not, he was positive that someone overlooking him practice would surely come to him for questions.


Walking along the path leading to the Training Grounds, he fiddles around in his pockets as he slowly approaches his destination. The sun was shining bright, but luckily his dreadlocks were long and dense enough to form a visor that protected his eyes from the harsh rays. Just as he walked, he noticed what seemed to him a short in comparison girl with a backpack slung over her shoulder. Her dirty blonde hair was wildly placed along her head, free to position itself in any fashion it chose. All in all she was small compared to Rayul who now stood at a staggering 6'4, but females are typically on the shorter side compared to males anyways. "Who is that?", he thought to himself, being unable to see her face as he was approaching from her backside. Clearly she was from Kumogakure, but he had never seen this person around before. Maybe she felt the same way about him, if she were to see him, since maybe she comes here to train everyday compared to Rayul who hasn't been here in months. Nevertheless, if she was here, at The Training Grounds, then she definitely came to train. Rayul might've just found his training partner for the day.

Hoping to not startle her too much, risking having a Kunai placed to his neck for being a stranger, Rayul comes just a few feet behind the girl before starting his introduction. "Yo! You here to train too? Haven't seen you around these 'neck of the woods' before."

Raising her golden eyes to stare at the multitude of holes scattered in the face of the dummy she was still standing in front of, she took in the tone of his voice and his words which had their own 'laid back' quality to them, before turning on her heel to stare in defiance at the new comer. Instead of impressing him with a defiant attitude she was blown back almost speechless as she came face to face with an extremely tall male, flitting her eyes up to his face since she wasn't even close to being at eye level as she had assumed. he stood a few feet from her but the distance did nothing to make her feel less tiny in comparison to this Goliath of a person. Being unable to maintain any composure she would laugh a little, her way of releasing tension before jiggly the bag of knives she was holding in a playful manner. "Yeah I would say I am here to train, have been since before dawn, at least the sun wasn't out when I got here."


Stepping around his large frame she would make her way a little past him - to the place her thermos sat before dropping the bag on the ground again. Upon passing him she had continued to watch him out of the corner of her eye, come to think of it she hadn't seen him around here either and it wasn't like you missed a person as tall as he was. At least a foot. she thought to herself as she turned back to him, a new thought sparking in her head again as the shock of his appearance subsided. "Say, I haven't seen you around here either... and I find normal introductions really tiresome and boring - you'd agree I'm sure?" Reaching down into her bag she would pull up a few knives, twirling them wistfully in her fingers. "If you are interested I was practicing my knife throwing skills and I came to hit a wall, I need a partner to throw at." She flashed an innocent smile at him, her golden eyes now like honey in the sunlight. "For every knife you prevent from landing in a dummy I answer a question, and for every knife that hits it's mark you answer one of mine." 


If he were to take her game in stride she would begin to quickly backtrack in a semi circle, keeping her targets in front of her and her eyes locked on his - burgundy and green respectively - suddenly stopping with the grace of dancer she would spin and throw a knife backhanded to curve around his right side, the target dummy she was aiming at a few meters behind his back and to his right.
 [WC 462]

A game sounded very interesting to Rayul. There wasn't much entertainment in the village, and this girl was right about normal introductions. They were boring, and had no such vibe as 'fun' behind them. He could tell by how freely the woman began to maneuver the knife she held in her hand. "She must have a knack for throwing shit. The way she's playing with the knife makes her seem as if she'd been throwing kunai straight out the womb." the Uchiha thought to himself. Impressed at both the challenge and potential skill of this stranger, he let out a small chuckle, and looked the girl directly in her eyes, monitoring her body language as she shifted around him in a rather dance-like fashion. "Alright, that sounds like a plan." Rayul said as he crossed his arms and stood in place. Hopefully, it was only a plan, since this could certainly turn fatal if he didn't keep up with the rules of the game.


"For every knife you prevent from landing in a dummy I answer a question, and for every knife that hits it's mark you answer one of mine."

Simple enough. Easier said than done, of course, since dodging a knife coming at you top speed from a couple of feet has 'death' written all over it. It was a unique 'game' they were about to play, allowing the two to basically 'meet' each other as the game progresses. There was a lot Rayul pondered about this mysterious woman. Her ambition ignited like that of fire the moment she broke down the rules of her game, showing him that she's no rookie when it comes to throwing shit. If she was, she'd most likely be going home a rank above her current grade. The moment he accepted her challenge, she took a step back and began to circle the Uchiha, keeping her focus on him as she twiddled with the blades in her hand. "I'll go ahead and knock a question you might have out right now since I'm sure it'll make things a little more...interesting." Rayul spoke, placing his hands inside his pockets from their folded position. They both knew not their names, nor their clans or even if they were the correct genders they assumed. His eyes flung open as he looked at the woman, revealing his heir to the powerful Dojutsu known as the Sharingan. His eyes changed to their signature crimson red, with three tomoe in place surrounding his iris. He didn't need to use his Mangekyo, since his only intention with using his eyes was to keep up with the blades flying past him, giving him a slight edge on the practice about to take place. Surely without such skill, she'd probably get answers to everything she asked without Rayul knowing her name! He was fast, but he's never had a knife flung past him before. If anything, he'd be able to keep up barely with the speed of the knives being thrown, since this would be an exercise of his eyes for their first combat scenario.

"All right. Let's begin.", he says, monitoring the moments of the girl like a hawk. He'd take one hand and loosely position it behind him inside his weapon pouch, fiddling around for a kunai. Rayul would wait for the woman to throw a knife, in which he'd try to deflect with his kunai before it reaches its intended target.

[WC: 573]

The knives twirled with increasing speed as did her light footsteps, the blades flipping over and over between her fingers, her honey eyes narrowing slightly as she watched him, wondering what he meant by his statement. What could make this any more interesting? Does he routinely sign up with enthusiasm to have knives thrown at him.. The thought was cut short, his meaning becoming evident in the moment to come. His hands slipped in his pockets, the subtle movement catching her attention for a second before her eyes shot back up to his face in time to see them open - now blood red with three thin black lines spiraling out from the center of his pupil. Her steps slowed as the realization of what he was showing her washed over her consciousness. Fuck.


Rolling her shoulders back to release the sudden tension seeing his eyes had set into her, she needed to be as limber and quick as she had ever been. This wasn't going to be as easy as she had anticipated but somehow it did make it more interesting - both had a challenge now and it was turning out to be the most intense first meeting she had ever had. Her feet had returned to their quick ballet-like circling, her entire weight was focused on the balls of her feet, her heels never quiet touched the ground so her maneuverability was peaked. Cocking her head back playfully, she would finally give him a full smile, earnest and warm it was in complete contrast to the predator like vibe she was giving off. 

"Let's begin...", her voice was soft and her tone reverent as she immediately settled into a concentrated mindset. He had an obvious edge on her, her raw talent wasn't going to be enough anymore, and as accomplished she was at throwing she had to be more than that now. Internally smirking at her good fortune, meeting someone who would give her a reason to learn to grow her throwing skills in new ways to combat even this all seeing technique. She held four blades in her left hand and there was a duffel bag to her right on the ground full of them - okay so stick by the bag to easily grab more. Looking up sharply for just a moment she picked her target carefully, certain on her route now. Taking a small sharp breath she spun, her back now turned to him as she passed one of the four blades she was holding slyly in her free hand. As the spin was coming full circle she would throw the three she held in blurring succession - each hitting their mark a second apart. It would seem odd to throw in the complete opposite direction of her assigned target but she had no time to contemplate his reaction - the limb she had severed with her first round of knives was falling directly over top of the boy in front of her. Hopefully taking the momentary distraction she would fling the fourth and final knife at her designated target, just to his left. If it managed to work the blade would slip harmlessly past his frame, flying an inch or two from his clothing before sinking into the neck of the dummy behind him. 

Her lithe frame was held taunt, eyes wide in anticipation as she waited to see if her plan had worked, if it had she would simply smile mischievously and incline her chin accepting the first rounds victory and ask her question, "What are you most afraid of?", if she had indeed been able to ask her question it would be another alarming contrast to the way Iki's mind worked and how everyone else might think. Names could be learned, favorite colors learned in time, even family histories explained in an afternoon - but obligated honesty was a rarity that she was fully going to exploit. Things someone holds close to themselves are the parts that make them who they are, weakness and all.

If her plan had not worked as she had hoped she would sigh and lean her head back in mock disappointment, awaiting his question.

[692]
[TWC 1510]

It seemed to him that the knives in the woman's hands begin to pick up speed. Maybe him revealing his powerful Sharingan caused a burst of adrenaline within the young lady's body, tempting her to hastily throw the knives before his eyes were able to predict such actions. Her foot-work slowed down once her eyes met his, but he knew mentally nothing had seized between them, for the game that they both agreed upon has now begun and wouldn't end until she ran out of blades, or ran out of Rayul.

She slowly started to move as she once did; quick and nimble, ready to aim at the targets behind Rayul. "There's no way in hell she hasn't done this before..." Rayul would think to himself as he monitored her movement closely, trying to predict the moment her hand would motion a throwing gesture so that his focus would be on the blade being launched at him. To nearly any Shinobi, an Uchiha with the nearly mastered form of his eyes was a force to be reckoned with. Little did she know, though having his eyes nearly at the pentacle of their state, Rayul had never really used them before. Yep, that's right, he was a baby when it came down to using his Dojutsu. His body language and facial expressions were opposites of how he felt on the inside. He knew that there be no way in hell for him to keep up able to do this without his Sharingan since practicing with live combat scenarios was something he's never done, but downgrading his skillset was something that he vowed to never do. If anything this would be more of a challenge to him than her, for this would be the start of him mastering the usage of his Clans lineage. Practice makes perfection, and perfection is what made a God

"Aw hell Nah! Are you dead ass right now?!" Rayul questioned the woman in his thoughts as the small girl turned her back towards him. "Is she really about to do this shit without looking at me? How in the hell-" his train of thought was abruptly stopped as he noticed one of the four blades move from one of her hands to the other. Surely going to be the one that she flings at him, he lowered his center of gravity as he readied himself for the blade to start its travel. Monitoring the minor movements that she made with her hands, down to the way she filled with her fingers, his accusations were soon proven wrong. She threw the three blades that were in her other hand before she threw the one he was closely monitoring. "What in the fuck is going on? Did she mean to do that?" he quickly thought. She had hit her targets, but it wasn't the one behind him. Little did Rayul know, her tactics were far from over.  His eyes quickly glance back at the hand with the one blade in it, but before he could realize that the three that came before were a mere distraction, the blade was already thrown at such a speed it was halfway towards him! He'd have no time to pull out a kunai from his weapon pouch and throw it at the blade to cancel it out. The only way he can stop it is if he shifted his upper body to the left and took the blade head-on. Something that he did not plan on doing at all. His only logical reaction was shifting the left side of his shoulder back towards his right, bringing his body a few more inches away from the blade as it passed by him and impaled itself into the neck of the target dummy to his left guy. "Damn..." he said as he looked at the impaled dummy imagine it to be a bad guy who fucked with this weapon meister of a woman on a wrong day. That could've been him...luckily it wasn't. He looked at the small, dirty-blonde haired woman as a small smile shined across her face. The signs of victory, yes, but the game was not over. The score was now 1-0, and as the rules go Rayul had to answer any question she had truthfully. He took back to an upright position and chuckled after realizing he'd be answering her questions first. "Alright, chief. That's 1-0, so I guess that means I answer your question first. Shoot.", he'd say as he awaited her question.

"What are you most afraid of?"


"Hmm...", he'd think and grunt as he rubbed his chin with his fingers in a very confused-type fashion. What was he afraid of? Certainly, everyone fears something, of course, some fearless than others, but overall we all encounter fear. Her question, however, was what did he fear the MOST, which was rather hard for him to remind himself of the bat. It took him a few seconds of thinking, then he gave the most humble and truthful answer he could. "I mean...I tend to believe that I fear nothing, but if I said that outright it'd surely be a lie. We all fear something, but growing up, I was always afraid of being seen as someone who did 'too much.' I'd get caught up in overachieving for my satisfaction, and in return, I ignored celebrating with others during their times of success. This caused me to always be in a constant cycle of 'thinking'. I'm always thinking of shit rather than doing it. If I had to say what I'm most afraid of, it would be my dying with shit still on my mind." His answer made perfect sense to him. Rayul was only 20, hoping that he'd live to see 100. His life was full of so many possibilities, built around the vast ideas he thought about every day. There was so much he wanted to do before he died, and new thoughts emerged in his head every day. His life was what he made it, and to him, it was still nothing but a dream forming into reality. There was too much on his mind constantly, and if he did with it all still wandering around his conscience, then he'd never be able to truly die. His soul would be lost trying to seek guidance for the things in which it wished it could've while alive. This was a solid answer to her question Rayul had hoped. If not, he'd be more than happy to elaborate for her, but as of now, he was ready to try again so that his questions would be answered.

"Alright...", he said as he pulled a kunai from his weapon pouch, no longer allowing his hand to rest in it to await the attack. He'd need to be on his Ps and Qs after that flashy stunt she just pulled. He focused once again on her body movements, waiting for her next move. "You got me that time, but this time won't be so easy. Let's try this shit again!".

[WC: 1177]

Her mischievous smile widened further - victory indeed - her fingers itched for more blades, the adrenaline spike was definitely happening. She could feel her pulse quickening, from her focus on her goal or because she was having so much fun? It was a rarity to have fun when everything about the village of Kumogakure screamed morose seriousness - most likely taking after the energy their Kage Kutari imbued in the place. In fact, she couldn’t remember the last time she had had this much fun, most days she spent rereading manuscripts in the vast libraries or tending to her hazardous array of plants back home.  A book worm would be an understatement if you had to describe Ikigai - in the village with passerby and other shinobi she was friendly and charming - but she was odd, often holing herself up to experiment on her array of poisons; other medical practice like healing had lost its interest for Iki a while ago. 

She snickered a little to herself, her thoughts coming back to the present, the strange Uchiha having flinched away from her fourth knife in the nick of time - she wasn’t making fun but his complete follow through in her distraction tactic was humorous. Lacing her thin fingers together behind her back she would step forward a few paces, her wild mop of dirty blonde hair catching some of the sun as she walked, shining a few of her strands pure gold. Her eyes were watching his expectantly, darting back and forth quickly as she watched for any signs of lying - he rubbed his fingers against his chin in thought - signs of honesty. Her honey eyes narrowed slightly in empathy, understanding all too well what he meant by ‘doing too much’ and especially the perpetual thinking state you leave yourself in. 

“If I had to say what I'm most afraid of, it would be my dying with shit still on my mind."

She pursed her lips, her petite face screwing up momentarily in contemplation of that fear. She could definitely empathize with most of it for sure but that bit, struck her as odd. If you were so dedicated to already get to the third tomoe - which of course she had read about some weeks ago at this point - to go through all that trouble to then not act with it, was odd. To Iki it sounded as if he lacked not the drive to accomplish what he put to mind, but the will to do greater things outside of the personal accomplishments he set for himself. Putting himself in his own form of isolation was also an interesting fact she had pulled out of his words - ‘and in return, I ignored celebrating with others during their times of success.’ She bit her lip in thought, avoiding celebrating meant something - more than most might assume. Most would hear that phrase and pass it by, accepting it as fact and moving on, but Iki saw a little deeper - he was withholding praise from himself and from others so as to try to normalize his behavior. “Interesting. That's a very personal fear, thank you for sharing that.”,she finally replied, her voice clear and earnest - not an obnoxious winner she had no problem showing manners.

Her eyebrows raised in mock surprise as he pulled a kunai out and held it in hand, ready to deflect her next attempt. Nodding in his direction, a smile playing at the corner of her lips before she turned silently, sweeping movements and grace as she swiftly leaned down and picked up 5 more knives. Tapping her right shoe’s toe against the ground, the tip hitting the ground in a quick rhythmic pattern, her attention completely on the task at hand, and the knives she was holding. These ones were thinner than the ones she had used previously, so they could have less air resistance. Carefully she placed two of them behind her left ear -  her left hand being the fasting at throwing knives in quick succession, her right being best at accurate aiming. Which now left her with the three other knifes laces between her knuckles, looking like a wicked version of brass knuckles. She had to keep the tricks coming, easily attributing her first win as simple luck. 

The tapping of her foot suddenly stopped and she pushed off from the ground hard with the ball of her foot - launching her body up and to the side - her foot was still touching the ground when the first knife was out of her hand. The next few moments happened in such a blur that only someone with eyes like his could fully follow it. One knife from the right flew directly at the young man in front of her - a direct hit  to his throat had she not known for a fact he would easily block it. Lifting her left fingers nimbly to her ear she pulled one of the knives she held there, her foot was finally off the ground and her body was beginning its assent airborne - the knife flew deftly at his right leg this time, hoping to cause him to step in some way to avoid it. Two knives in her right hand and one still behind her ear, her hair tucked behind it and securing it without worry. Now completely sideways in the air she would throw one of the right to the dummy that stood a few meters behind him to his right - quickly reaching for the final blade behind her ear and flinging it directly at his right shoulder hoping to make him move out of the way of the first blade. One blade left. Tucking her legs in swiftly she would hit the ground with her shoulder - a quick roll and she was ready again, one foot poised as if she was about to take off on a race. Final trick. Taking a deep breathe she would focus her chakra and let it flow through her body and pool in the remaining blade she held in her right hand. As soon as it was charged she flicked it casually between his legs - her height had in fact come in handy especially when she was already crouched so low to the ground. If all went according to plan it would fly with increased speed and strength through the gap of his shins and land securely in the lower part of the dummy - to be exact it would land in the lower end of where the liver should be - a fatal hit if the dummy was alive. 

Sinking to both her knees she would relax slightly, her breath coming in quick succession - the lightning fast blade throwing combined with a last minute chakra pool was more draining than she had expected, but her face showed a fire that pushed through any mere exhaustion. She had two opportunities to land a hit on the dummy, one to the throat and one to the abdomen, if either hit she was able to ask another question.

“What is one thing you couldn’t live without, and mind you I said thing not person, cause to be honest, you don’t seem like the person to attach yourself to others.”, she mused her question, her tone light and conversational as she hit him with another heavy question. If she had been able to land one she would sink back on her heels, her fingers pushing through her hair with a slight tremble, she was pushing her muscles pretty hard to be at the speed she was using. Wishing silently to herself she hadn’t been training as hard as she had been before he showed up. If she had missed both times she would still sit back on her ankles with her hands through her hair, waiting for his question.

[WC 1300]
[TWC 2810]

[Claiming 2,109total wc. EXIT due to death.]