Lack of a Better World

Honey emerges into the main road that leads toward the training grounds for village genin, his footsteps heavy as was his mind. The interconnecting paths and great forest that was approached in the center of the enormous village. There was a lot unknown to Honey still; however, he is able to decide his fate, and how he wants to specialize himself. It felt as if his weapon training from his youth would be left behind, his consumption with his senses making

It felt like every day now, the streets would thin out more and more. There was no explanation, and perhaps there was no truth to this thought, but at least as it seemed there were fewer individuals on the street from what he was used to. Some great force seemed to be controlling the traffic of the town these days, or maybe it was the sake that Honey had for breakfast distracting him from the people around him.

Letting out a loud burp, he surveyed his options.

He was headed to the training grounds, sure, but how lucky was he to find anyone that would train with him? His relationship with a potential new student had already ended terribly, and there wasn’t much in the market for new ninjas who were interested in hanging out with a man that was known throughout the village for attacking any ninja entering the gates.

He wanted to investigate and make sure that no enemies entered, but after being instructed to stop from the Kazekage, he knew damn well that if he were to continue his cluelessness, he would not enjoy the fate that awaited him, the effect of ignorant defiance.

If he were to meet anyone, it would be ideal if, perhaps for a chance, he would make a good impression and compose himself before acting like a fool.

Honey took a deep breath of air, focusing on the world around him just enough to sense anything within 5 meters, but not enough where he was really tracking anything in particular. He looked at some footprints, bored with the lack of wild animals or similar chaotic traffic.

Entering the training grounds, Honey decided that it would be in his best interest to master the different abilities he could use for covert operations, as well as to gather information and sense anyone and anything able to

Stepping onto the field once again, he looked up in the air, curious about the weather in the sky.

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Shutting the door behind her, Mei had decided earlier in the morning that it was about time that she headed out to train. After having a relaxing wake-up, routine, breakfast, and meditation she knew what was absolutely necessary as her next step. That in mind, she locked her house and headed out, walking towards the training grounds with a relaxed gait. As she walked she noted people everywhere around her going about their daily business, some simply taking walks, while others still did chores or shopped. It brought a faint smile to her lips as she considered the daily business of the village’s citizens and how she would one day make sure that they would be able to continue such interrupted by matters of politics or war.

These in mind, Mei jumped into the air, guiding her movements with subtle shifts in her body, before she landed atop a roof and pushed into a run. It was her routine to run part of the way to the training grounds, it limbered up her muscles, woke her up fully--body and mind--and on top of that, it gave her time to clear her head entirely. Focusing then on the pure physicality of the task, Meiyaku jumped between roofs, landing with her heels before turning in a brief slide and going prone on her side to go beneath a pipe, before popping back to her feet. Returning to a running pace, Meiyaku thrust herself from roof to roof, traveling at a significant--if not monumental--pace while she made her way to what she hoped would be another productive day training.

She wasn’t yet sure exactly what she’d do, her mind said, the thought intruding as she soared over a wide gap between buildings, before she struck down in a roll. Lunging forwards she dodged between a gap sideways, her entire body airborne, before she finished the spin and righted herself with a hand to a wall, and landed on her feet, still running. By then she’d already crossed a significant distance and was quite happy with herself--and the physique she was building up, not to mention the good habits she was forming.

Jumping down from a roof, now leaving the residential areas, and entering the domain of shinobi, Mei slowed down and did the rest of her stretches, making sure all of her muscles were sufficiently prepared for training. Once she was done she made her way to the training fields only to find something unexpected. Someone else in her favored place. Uncommon at this time of day. She wasn’t sure she recognized the fellow though, then her memory flashed images of him. It seemed she’d seen him in passing, but not much else beyond that point. She wasn’t sure she’d ever heard his name and even if she had there was no reason to make a fool of herself or unsettle him by trying at it without having formally met the man. After all, that would be rather bad manners.

Moving on, Mei approached the rather scruffy man, his hair wild and untamed, though charming in its own way. She decided that she liked his presentation, even if she’d never be caught dead being so sloppy as that. It suited him.

“Good morning,” she said with a gentle smile, it was genuine, but despite that, she did have to make a small effort. After all, she’d often been told that her smiles were too subtle so when meeting new people she dialed things up slightly. Approaching with confidence, and a slight sway in her step--giving off a relaxed air--Mei glanced at the training field behind the man, then gestured.

“I hope you wouldn’t mind terribly if we shared, this happens to be my favorite of the training grounds.”

Before them, the training ground sprawled out, modeled to be a lightly forested location with rocks, bushes, fallen logs, and more than a couple trees. Passing him by a foot or two and walking another meter or so before she stopped and turned, Mei gave him another smile, this time faintly sheepish, knowing that she’d likely interrupted his reverie.

“I’m Anzen-sei, Meiyaku by the by. Call me Mei-san though, unless you’d prefer to use my last name.” She paused then, deciding not to pry on his name. Besides, if he gave it of his own volition it would give her a better impression of him, and she did prefer to know what sort of person she was dealing with whenever possible. Such was the result of a childhood like hers.

Spoiler:

Honey digs out a piece of bread from his supplies, surveying his equipment. He began eating the food he continued making his way, having a drink of water, the necessities. A lot of the gear on him would end up being useless sooner than later, and the man felt a feeling of unease staring at his weapons and armor crammed into the bag. Shaking off the feeling, he decided to turn his attention back to the sky, unable to notice anyone around him for the time being and reveling in that. He lets the senses he normally focuses on so deeply fall away around him, the sort of meditation that comes with it causing him to relax and gain energy through his body with no impediment of the chakra.

The weather was fine by his standards, and it was at a point in the day where plenty could be achieved. The beauty stunned him for just a moment, and he felt once again all alone, without the normal pain/anxiety that came with solitude. It was nothing but peace, for a moment, but it was enough to set Honey’s day off right.

He heard a greeting behind him, and turned his head. His eyes were crazed for a moment as he looked at her, taken a bit by surprise as he had not been sensing his surroundings, and his body tensed up. However, as she started to introduce herself, he returned to his normal spirits, giving a broad grin from behind his sunglasses. She talked to him as one would a fellow villager, and the headband poking out from her forehead bore the impossible triangle that symbolized Sunagakure.

Looking around the training ground, he nods. "Of course, I'd be happy to share the space. I'm going to be doing more… meditation. I just wanted to be able to use this nice equipment… Feel free to use mine." Honey drops his pack of on-person gear (chainmail, light armor, lycan spines, boomerangs) before he continues further down, heading towards a huge storage shed and crate, where he would dig through for dummies.

“Feel free to use any of those. They’re not much use to me today.” He calls out, tossing the 35kg dummies over his shoulder and towards his new potential friend, before digging out an enormous one that he had to carry, dropping it with a crash in a location central to all of the dummies he had tossed haphazardly. It seemed as if the enormous one was still in good repair, but most of the human-sized dummies have been shredded to oblivion.

“Oh, I’m Honey Bunches.” He says, a little distracted with his current task. He grunts as he sets up the other dummies.

“Not a lot of people seem to believe me.” He nods, taking his hat and sunglasses off and taking this moment to scratch the side of his face. “Although, I did name myself.” He nods. “My old homestead was destroyed,” he claims, “And so was my old identity. Yada yada yada.”

His appearance was now fully visible, the somewhat animalistic features clear without their cosmetic barriers. The deep black lines zig zagging across his jaw in fangs and the pattern that followed down his neck stood out against his lightly tan skin. He smiled, and it looked almost as if the black markings grinned with him, stretching along with his face.

“I doubt you want to hear about how far I had to crawl to get here, but the dome makes it much less insufferable than it was getting here.” Looking up at the barrier that kept the temperature of the village perfectly comfortable, he wonders for a moment if many of the ninja would be able to bear the insufferable heat.

“Although I myself am interested in hearing about you yourself.” He puts his sunglasses back on, digging back through the shed for a set of bamboo rods, each one having a 1-2 meter difference in height, ascending. He starts pounding them into the earth, so that they would not wobble and fall out of the gritty earth by this particular spot.

“Tell me, who is Mei Anzen-sei?”

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As her fellow shinobi responded, Mei tilted her head slightly, watching him with a slightly bemused expression as he carried the conversation all on his own. ’What an interesting man,’ she thought to herself, almost feeling gentle laughter well up in her chest before he mentioned his old home. Her smile faded slightly, so she started moving, rather than letting this Honey Bunches individual captivate her with his strangeness. Getting to work, Mei grabbed a few of the regularly sized dummies and began placing them in groups and spread apart on her own side of the training grounds, giving Honey a wide berth as she did so. It was only polite, besides she didn’t want either of them ending up hurting eachother while they trained--not that she had much in the way of destructive power just yet.

By the time Honey was posing his query, Mei had finished setting up her training dummies and had moved a large smooth rock into position. Sitting down on it, turned so that he could see roughly 3/4ths of her face, she closed her eyes and responded, her words calm, yet filled with an appreciative mirth.

“You know Honey-san, you’re truly a delightfully strange man,” she let a chuckle bubble up from her throat, before continuing, her tone growing slightly detached as she focused inwards.

“Still, it’s a good question in theory. The thing is, we’re all so nuanced, and even knowing myself as I do it’s hard to succinctly explain.” In her belly she felt her chakra stir into a gently spiralling motion as she wrested control of the network from her unconscious mind. She let the silence fully take hold, broken only by the passing of wind and the light chirp of birds or insects as she drew upon her power.

More quickly than before--smoother, easier--chakra poured through her body and she channeled it, directing its flow throughout. She traced each pathway and as she began her third circuit, perhaps ten seconds having passed, she spoke once more.

“Honestly, we’ve only just met and though you’ve been so open with me, I don’t know that I am entirely comfortable revealing to you so much of myself. Still...” she trailed off, raising a hand before her, palm upwards, her eyes still closed. Rather than do things one at a time, she pulled upon that unique energy within her core and drew it out in unison with her chakra, creating a glowing, slowly pulsating orb of chakra in her upraised hand. Strangely, the chakra was more refractive than that of a normal shinobi, and in addition to that there was what appeared to be separate strands of elemental energy flowing through it.

Taking a deep breath, Mei relied on her intuition--and her revelation earlier that day--and brought the resonant frequency of her chakra to that of her earth affinity and in a beauteous instant they unified. Where before had been a swirling mass of purplish energy beset with streaks of brown and gold, silver and blue now there was only a shimmering mass of flowing minerals.

Mei opened her eyes and smiled, meeting Honey’s gaze, “...it would be shameful of me not to reciprocate something.” Slowly, carefully, she lowered her left hand and brought her right above it, performing careful and deliberate handseals with it as she breathed deeply once more.

“You can think of me like this chakra. Always moving, changing. Malleable, but also like the element infused into it. Reliable, resilient, and tempered by an inexorable pressure.” Swallowing hard, Meiyaku clenched her teeth and for the first time truly called upon her bloodline. A strange sensation blossomed within her chest and spread from her core all the way through her chakra system until it pushed against the edges of her palms--one cradling the chakra, the other splayed above it.

“Jitsugen(Reify).”

Her bright blue eyes glowing strangely, the word resonated out, clearly a command, and in response the chakra she held began to change.

At first it merely expanded slightly and then a dramatic shift began to occur as its constant motion seemed to freeze in place from the core outwards to its edges. In mere moments rather than holding a tightly controlled sphere of whirling chakra, she held what could only be a multicolored crystalline sphere.

Realizing she’d been holding her breath, Mei beamed down at her work, removing her right hand hesitantly such that her companion could see more clearly.

She’d finally done it! She’d finally managed to use Jitsugen, it was a step beyond just manifesting her chakra as she’d been attempting to master over the last week or so. Oh and it was so beautiful too, but by the five was she tired.

It wasn’t as if it had taken a lot of her chakra, but rather that the effort of focusing as she had was no simple task. Of course, now she had the feel for it and after a short break she hoped that things would get easier. In some ways it was difficult to convince herself that such was the case considering what she’d experienced up till now. Nonetheless, she knew practice made perfect--or at least approached it--and so Mei had resolved to keep up the work, even if it was grueling at times.

Spoiler:

Honey smiles in return, content with his being. He felt great in this moment, and let the feeling warm through him like the sun through a summer breeze. Jumping on top of a pole, he lets her answer his inquiry, examining her placement of dummies. She seemed to be a good distance back, but close enough to have a discussion. His surroundings were calm, the training grounds somewhat empty. The scampering of a grey with brown patches rabbit drew his eyes, as the creature sat completely still, before disappearing into the distance.

HB nodded his head thoughtfully, perching atop a short pole. “Everyone is bound to change, explaining one’s being is like trying to tame the ocean…” He smirks, letting drops of water fall out of his extended hand with a simple technique, appearing to create a gentle rainstorm the size of a palm. He looked up again at the beautiful sky, deciding, opening up his heart and mind to the state of it all, and to the unknown. He decided it would be best if he approached her, coming to this conclusion as her voice rose and fell melodically.

The man nods and listens intently, hopping off the pole when she trails off, his focus removed from the short-lived pole hopping exercise. He watches her, approaching slowly from his descent, chakra sensory taking effect out of pure curiosity. Honey recognized textbook pathing of chakra, and he decided to attempt it. The strange feeling inside him began welling up, but seemed to be blocked, as if he was pressing his chakra against brick and mortar. The more he pushed, the worse it felt. The chakra would not pass his chest and throat, but could still trail idly through his body. Her mortal form for a moment faded behind the movement of chakra through her body, the spectacle to Honey an interesting change from what he was used to. Almost as if on cue, the nature chakra in his body pulsed, his arms tensing for a split second, only to contain the force within.

Once the other’s movements stopped being a simple exercise, Honey returned his attention to the world as she spoke again. It seemed she had something in store, and he would not interrupt this process, his thoughts consumed by the enchanting display.

Watching her hand, he sees a glowing orb turn into a pouring mass, reflecting the sun’s light as well as the surroundings. With his advanced sight, he could see her face reflecting in the formed technique, the countless fractals splitting her features into unidentifiable shapes and shades unlike anything he had seen in the world. A part of him wants to shout some profanity, but he is silenced, dumbstruck by the sight. “That’s breathtaking.”

Honey was already impressed, lacking a great control over ninjutsu himself. Watching as she slowly formed hand seals while she held the beautiful formations in her hand, the effort that the hand seals seemed to take was enough for the man to switch his attention from the gorgeous flow of light they gave off to her look of determination if only to look back when she was finished with the seals.

Listening, he nods. Moving, changing. That was his specialty. The rest of her description causes a great smile to break across his face again, but he does not think quick enough to find the words: he merely revels in this moment. Breathing deeply, his eyes widening with her command as he notices the movement of chakra. Instead of traveling down a path or through to the orb, it seemed to swell in her body in patterns he couldn’t hope to understand and modified the minerals in shape. As she gave him a better look at what she physically held in the hand, he instinctively reached out to touch it, stroking the smooth surface.


Honey dipped his head, taking a deep breath as he felt his bloodline stir in his body. Taking charge of his bloodline, he knew that he had to release the energy as soon as possible.

Taking a few steps back, he decides to get a quick stretch in now, as he is comfortable with his company. Honey more or less leans to the left, then the right, a crack being heard as he completes the motions. In a black blur, his height tears to nine feet as his skin was replaced with dark black fur, the markings accentuated on his face and neck as he stood towering, stretching his six foot arms far into the sky as he stretched, letting out a yawn before dropping down into a comfortable resting position, relaxing on his front arms as he lay his body out on the ground. The wolf’s face seemed to have a human-like quality, much the way Honey looked like an animal in his human form, and it rested its head in the ground, eyes trained on Mei.

“You have some extraordinary talent, Mei-San…” The wolf hums, “Would you care to allow me a moment to enjoy this creation?” He turns his head to the side, very curious about the orb she created. “Wow.” Honey stares not yet making the connection between this and her bloodline. This was something he could not hope to understand easily, and yet the beauty of it made him want to, more than anything else in the world. If he was able to, he would likely occupy himself with the glowing ball, testing its properties by intellectually rolling it back and forth as a cat would a ball of yarn, letting her answer any questions or pose any thoughts.

Rolling around, on his back, on his front side, he stares at Mei, not directly asking for an explanation for the orb, but offering an explanation of why he just did what he did.

“Yeah so, if I don’t release the natural energy in my body, I get cranky.” He nods his giant wolven head solemnly. “It caused me to attack one of my friends in a rampage… Luckily, he was an Uzimaki, and had these chains called…” He thinks for a moment, getting sad remembering the accident. “Adamantite? Chains?” He shrugs. “They grabbed me, and neutralized the effects of chakra overload…” “If he wasn’t a talented neutralizer…” Honey closes his eyes, not willing to say what could happen to someone who got in his path when he lost control. The wolf howls sadly, out of instinct, before going quiet again. He looks towards Mei, a somehow nervous look on the giant beast’s face. He would likely be devastated if she seemed to fear him.

“It makes me feel like I’m a lot more of a danger than I’m worth as a savior. I’ve lived my entire life under lock and key, neutralized by chakra chains, or paralyzed by some genjutsu when they got sick of imprisoning a wolf boy.” Honey lets out a solemn sigh, before clearing his throat, playing off the heaviness he brought to the conversation. “That’s the least of my troubles now. Not sure it helps anything to dwell.”

“But I’m in control now, more than I ever was before. I’ve only had a few slip ups, but I’m doing better than I ever have, not a cage in sight.” The wolf grins with its huge teeth, before he continues rolling around in the ground. He would explain anything else she was unsure about, otherwise enjoying the release of nature energy and weather.

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NP:2/6

Unable to entirely take in his transformation while she focused, Mei glimpsed it only out of the corner of her eyes. It was only once she allowed Honey to take the crystallized chakra that she was able to fully appreciate the change. Her eyes widening slightly, not in shock or fear, but in surprise, Mei found that her lips had parted slightly. Wetting her lips hesitantly, she reached towards the man, and then thought better of it, withdrawing with a certain embarrassment on her face--though it was paired with a small smile.

“Well, I certainly wasn’t expecting that,” she mumbled to herself as she watched the wolfman roll about on the ground and idly play with the crystal ball. Perhaps belatedly Meiyaku spoke up, “Do be careful with that, I’m not entirely sure what will happen if it breaks.” She seemed more bothered by this than her near-attempt to pet him from a few moments prior.

“Thank you though, I’m really only just beginning to grasp at the edges of my bloodline, but I do appreciate the sentiment.” A small surge of pride welled up in her at the praise, but she forced herself to look away as she stood up and briefly whisked away to the storage shed. Glancing around as she organized her thoughts--and wrested control of her emotions--Mei located some wire and a few other basic tools. She made a show of looking through things for anything else while she sorted herself.

Shaking her head before she started overthinking anything, Meiyaku turned and headed back out to the training field, her gaze turned down as she affixed some wire to several shuriken--she figured they’d be easier to use than kunai--as she returned to her perch.

“That sounds like a pesky side-effect to deal with,” she said, sounding ever-so-slightly more aloof than she had before. It wasn’t so much that she wasn’t engaged, but more that she was more herself than before, more relaxed in a way. “It’s good to hear that you’ve got a handle on it, though I’m sorry to hear about what happened,” she gave him a sympathetic smile as she sat down, tying the last bit of wire around another of the bladed implements.

As he continued on she listened intently, her breathing evening out as she did so. Focusing, she found things even easier than before, her chakra smoothly flowing into the wires and shuriken. She smiled slightly...and then the expression vanished at the mention of cages.

Locks and keys.

He meant them literally--based on what he’d told her--but it didn’t matter. She was frozen for a moment, her breath hitching in her throat for an instant before she squeezed air through, her teeth gritted for a moment as flashes of her mother’s twisted smile, the cruel cast to her hazel eyes. Mei swallowed again and the next thing she heard him say was that he was in control.

It brought her back to herself a little. She cleared her throat and surreptitiously glanced at Honey’s bag. Mei couldn’t meet his eyes for a moment and there was silence, more strained than before. Then she managed to force words out, and they sounded shaky.

“Would you mind sharing a bit of your water?” She asked, hating that she didn’t feel she could even stand to get it herself. No, for thoughts were churning in Meiyaku’s mind.

Her mother, Shinko, her voice--snapping at her, cajoling her mistakes, insulting her, attempting to twist her with false sweetness, always trying to warp her to follow rather than lead. Shinko, the narcissist, Shinko the exile. Shinko, her only blood that she’d ever known, the woman who’d raised her, fed her, sheltered her...birthed her. The woman who’d never shown her an ounce of genuine selfless love.

Suddenly angry, Mei’s brow furrowed slightly as she struggled against the memories, fought against the trauma that had shaped her, that would define her if she wasn’t careful. She wouldn’t relent, she would not be as weak-minded and careless as that cantankerous woman. Gripping the stone she sat upon, lines of tension in her where before there had been none, Mei’s eyes fell on the crystal sphere where it sat within Honey’s wide reach.

Then, like the orb itself, it was as if her mind crystallized and she let out a sudden shuddering breath. “Shit, sorry. Um...” she was almost sputtering, but the franticness was leaving her eyes now. Instead, Mei just seemed deeply uncomfortable, like she’d just shown him something she hadn’t wanted to show anyone.

“Just, don’t talk for a moment. I need...I need quiet for a sec,” she met his gaze, but it was fleeting, her eyes darting down. There was shame in that gesture.

Calming her breathing--and so steadying the frenetic beating of her heart--Mei went through her usual mantras when something like this happened. She wasn’t weak, her mother wasn’t here, couldn’t hurt her any longer, wasn’t in control of her life. No, Mei had control

'I’m at the helm now. I don’t have to hide. My pain doesn’t make me weak or less than….’

She continued on and with time--several utterly silent minutes, the birds chirping, the grass swaying in the breeze--she began to calm in earnest. Gradually she felt more and more like herself, the one who was in control, the one that was the person she truly was, had always been and would continue to be. Closing her eyes as she took a final inhalation, before letting it out. Mei swallowed hard, going over what she’d said, and then opened her eyes and met Honey’s eyes again.

“Sorry, I...I lost myself for a moment. I would love that water now if that’s alright?” The shame was gone from her gaze, replaced only by chagrin and gratefulness for his patience, if not his understanding. After all, one could never be sure of the latter, not really.

Spoiler:

Honey was careful with the ball as he messed with it, deciding to roll it further off, shaking the dirt out of his fur, and traveling back over to her. Listening, he nods, staring with his wolven gaze. It was taking less and less effort for Honey to bring up his past. He had been spending months removing himself from it, and he was finally shaking off the chains of his youth. So caught up in this feeling of reinvigoration, he is almost too preoccupied to notice his friend. He did, however, the wolf's expression barely changing, the man inside frantic.

Looking back as he finished talking, it seemed some miasma overtook Mei, and Honey felt his heart freeze in his chest. He tried to meet her eyes as he saw it getting worse, but there was no luck. Even if he could figure out words to say, he feels his thoughts caught up in the moment, wondering what she would do next. He responded to her request with an exhale as he slowly crept up to the gear hidden away in his pack.

Clumsily fumbling with his massive hands on the backpacks' small zipper was a sight to behold, but he still felt uneasy. He didn’t know if he should apologize, or give her the water and leave it at that. Trying once again to meet her gaze, he took a deep breath of the air, using a sensory technique to detect if she were in a state that required medical attention.

There was no curse or poison as far as he could tell, and as he began to speak again, she requested a moment of quiet, and he obliged, sitting down and listening to the silence around them, reveling in the scents around him.

The only sound he made was the rustling of the grass beneath him as he crept around, stopping every so often before continuing once more. The wolf felt so peaceful and would remind himself to ask for silence as well if he needed it. There was no force behind it, neither of them had to flee. It was merely a request from one individual to another, an option, although when Honey had to choose between helping and hindering, he would normally help those he trusted.

There was a lot unspoken, but something in Honey gave him a better idea of this young woman. He felt himself start to put the pieces together, his brain sparking, but he wasn’t quite sure. The moment he had mentioned the worst of his youth, she seemed to remember hers, and the gaze of one suffering a memory was all too close to Honey’s mind. Staring for a bit longer, he let his thoughts continue with the silence.

Comparing her laugh to this sudden dark sadness, he felt as if she accepted an invisible part of him, without a word exchanged. His eyes searched hopelessly for a little while longer, and when she calmed back down, he closed his eyes, at peace once more.

Taking a few steps closer, he lay down at her side, taking this moment to rest, without a word besides. “Anytime…” He made sure that the water was in reach, otherwise letting the moment pass peacefully as he rested at her side, hoping he could be a bit of solace.

Stretching his wolven paws, he looked off into the training grounds. Soon he would begin training for real, but for the time being, he was enjoying the company and the world around him.

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1/6 NP

Gratefully taking the water, Mei took a long pull from it, draining it maybe 1/4th of the way, before she set it down and lightly wiped her mouth with two fingers. For a time she let her gaze wander anywhere but beside her where her companion lay, pondering how exactly to continue conversation after something like that. She tried not to agonize over it, or fixate on the embarrassment she felt at having subjected a stranger to one of her fortunately infrequent anxiety attacks. Typically they happened in the safety of her home, or hidden deep in the forested area of Sunagakure where people seldom tread. Occasionally she’d rush to an alley if she saw what she’d thought was her mother out of the corner of her eye or as someone passed by her. It was something she had handled for the most part, but the trauma of her upbringing was something she knew she couldn’t escape. Despite her resilience, her dedication, and her confidence the way her mother had treated her had left Mei with scars. With time they would fade, though some remnant of them would always remain.

So, after perhaps another minute or two of quiet contemplation, Mei spoke up, not looking Honey’s way as she did so--her voice subdued and quiet, but filled with gratitude.

“Thank you,” she said, hesitating before gesturing to the water. Likely he was sharp enough to read her tone and body language well enough to know that she wasn’t really just thanking him for the water. Nonetheless, she didn’t let the moment linger for long, instead pushing up from her stone perch to take better stock of their training grounds. Really she just couldn’t face him just yet, unsettled as she was by her own state. At least she hadn’t cried….

With that thought came a memory of Honey’s earlier response, and the faint dripping of water from his hand. Light came back into her eyes, pushing back some of the dark memories of her past and finally she turned to her companion, regarding him with a serious expression.

“Could you teach me that technique you used?” she asked, before realizing that her query was likely confusing without the context of her own internal monologue. She smiled a bit, the expression carrying with it some of that fading embarrassment.

“At least, I presume you used a technique to generate water from your hand,” she added for clarity, seeking to jog his memory. Deciding to sweeten the deal slightly, Mei’s expression subtly shifted, becoming more of a sly grin as she continued.

“In exchange I could tell you a bit more about myself,” as she said the words, Mei almost unconsciously clasped her hands behind her back and leaned towards him slightly taking on a teasing air.

Of course beneath the surface she found herself hoping that he didn’t hold the outburst against her, that he wouldn’t judge her for it. Still, why care? He was just a stranger, then again…he had shared so much of himself and it just felt wrong to think of him that way. Unbidden, an idea popped into her head and she realized with a suddenness that it was quite possible that she’d just well and truly made a friend.

Unbeknownst to her, this curled her lips upwards ever-so-slightly more and brought the light fully back into her almost crystalline blue eyes. As she awaited his reply, sunlight shone down, and her eyes caught the light, refracting it with a strange fractal brilliance.

Spoiler:

The wolf merely sits there, a contemplative companion that was trying to feel with his company, finding solace in the imperfection. Looking at her, she makes her request, and he silently obliges. Going through to motions of the drip technique was simple, although it seemed as if before they started training, he could not detect her water affinity. As it came to his attention, however, she easily mastered the simple technique.

The wolf stretched again. It felt good to get some technical exercises done. He spent his time for the most part running around and punching things, but the mental exercise of gauging her reactions and also being able to show off his natural elemental affinity was a welcome change to his usual training.

None of the exercises felt like chores, and Honey was legitimately having fun practicing basic water techniques. He didn’t get the vague sense that his training buddy didn’t trust him, and for that, the wolf was extremely grateful.

Creating a water clone, he blows it out of his mouth in front of him, the clone a human version of Honey Bunches, standing with a shit-eating grin smeared across its face. Suddenly, the wolf fades into a blur, seemingly moving at an incomprehensible rate. He is now latched around a tree, his giant head staring at her from the embrace of the branches and mighty body of the tree. He says nothing of it, his claws sinking into the bark as he climbs further up the tree.

“This technique is a good bit of fun. Can you see my chakra signature?” Honey asks, looking her over with his chakra sensory. He stares at hers, blanking a moment, before starting again. “Alright, I gotta focus. I know you can do it.” He gives her reassurance, crawling through the great branches.

He waits for her to see him with normal chakra sensory, before he suddenly suppresses his chakra, disappearing as he was in his chakra’s previous state.

“Pretty cool, right? Even though you can see me right here…” He looks around, creeping behind a tree to show that he was untraceable if he was not physically present.

His goal was to hide, but because of the huge lycanthrope body there were more or less different limbs poking out around the tree as he held on, the concept of surface walking technique

Poking his head out from the tree, he grinned. “Although it might not come in handy for someone like me.” He smirks, “I can smell someone coming from a kilometer away…” This was no lie, and he formed the seal of confrontation with both hands to showcase this, locking around the tree with his knees and taking a deep breath of the air around him as he stood still. “... That damn incense salesman is back…” The wolf suddenly howls at an incredible volume straight up into the air, opposite of Mei, hoping to reach the incense salesman.

The wolf was pleased, hoping the salesman knew there would be retribution for carrying more than twenty different scents at once. Perking his nose up again, “Oh, it smells like there’s something good cooking nearby too.” Releasing the seal of confrontation, he sighs, jumping out of the tree, landing on the shoulders of his water clone and smashing it into the earth. The clone splashed, sending water flying around him as Honey was now soaking wet, but he didn’t seem to mind.

Standing up once more, he relaxes as the natural chakra finally fades out of him. He cleared his throat, adjusting his hat and sunglasses that were slightly askew, brushing off his clothes which seemed to be dry. Blinking, he tried to think of what else useful he could teach her as water slowly started to soak through his clothes. After a little bit of internal deliberation, he taught her all the basics he knew and ended up starting a discussion about hand seals.

“If there was some way I didn’t have to use both my arms to form seals…” He snaps finger guns but is unable to currently form a seal with a single hand. “This is the best I’ve got.”

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Happy that he hadn’t pushed her for an explanation, Mei focused on Honey’s explanations, intrigued to learn about the water affinity. Though she wasn’t entirely sure if she could even do the technique, she figured that there was no harm in trying, besides learning the principles for new things was always wise. So it was that Mei listened intently while Honey explained--and demonstrated--the Drip technique, which she honestly considered a solid introduction to the water affinity in general. Nodding when he finished, Meiyaku took a few calming breaths and then decided to focus while she went through a series of handseals. While she was still unsure, she’d been practicing her visualization and she had a feeling that such was strongly tied to sensing chakra. Initially, there was no change in her perception, even as she closed her eyes and began to focus in earnest, tuning out the world around her.

For perhaps ten seconds she let herself drift on the wind, feeling the soles of her feet against the packed earth, and the sun on her face. The smell of turned earth, fresh grass, the desert, and the nearby trees filtered in. Then, as she focused on her own person, even those began to fade away and she felt only her own body, the clothes on her skin, the way her hair draped about her shoulder and down against her back. As she took another breath, drawing air inwards she felt something click click in her mind. It was in that moment that rather than simply recalling the layout of the chakra system and visualizing it, she actually saw hers as it was. A flowing network of intricate pathways throughout her body, and at her core a swirling nexus of power. Above that pool of energy at her center was a thrumming coil of a different nature. It lay where her heart was and within it she perceived something other than regular chakra, no, instead this felt like her earth affinity looked, but beside it was something else. It flowed in gentle waves as it coiled within her heart, always in constant flux. It was cerulean blue and it shone faintly, though as she focused it became more distinct.

A small gasp escaped her lips as she realized she’d just unlocked her second affinity, and following it a smile spread across her face, even as her eyes remained tightly shut behind their lids. Reaching out with her Will, Meiyaku slipped the tendrils of her intention into the stream of her water affinity and then gently withdrew some of the power, drawing it down from her heart and into the pool near her navel. Then, remembering how she had done so with her earth affinity, Mei pulled both the affinity and her chakra up through her body, from stomach to chest, to her shoulders, and down her arms till the energies pooled just beneath the flesh of her palms.

Gathering just beyond the physical threshold, Mei listened closely to the resonance of the energy within her and then with a deft push, she exerted her will upon her affinity and the power within her and brought the two into alignment. In an instant they merged, and in the next moment she stretched her senses outwards as Honey had instructed her to do.

For an instant she felt both his clone and him, then one intersected the other and the sound of water splashing down against packed earth reached her ears. Grinning, Mei opened her eyes, turned her gaze to where she’d heard the sound--as the man had dropped out of her sensory perception completely--and then flicked her hand in his direction.

With her will not holding the leash quite as tightly as before, water formed on her palm and then sprayed through the air to hit Honey in the face. Giggling a bit, Mei took a deep breath and drew more chakra up through her body, before flicking her wrist at him again, now more playfully, spraying water at him once more.

“What a delightful trick you’ve taught me,” she teased, her eyes shining, her lips spread in a mischievous grin. The levity was something she’d needed more than usual after the harrowing experience a few minutes earlier. Her attacks always left her off balance, and being playful and open with someone else helped tremendously in putting her back into balance.

So, after having sprayed him a second time, Mei let her chakra cease its flow to her hands and instead stretched out her senses to their limit. Breathing in the clear air, Mei’s smile couldn’t help but persist. She was in good company, someone who seemed to respect her, perhaps even understand her on a level--even if she hadn’t intended to show him that side of herself. It was nice, and considering her mother had never really given her time for friends as a child, this was more than slightly refreshing.

“Of course, a deal’s a deal,” she said, suddenly changing tacts as she turned back to Honey, meeting his gaze, clearly comfortable again--if not even moreso than she had been prior to the attack.

“So how about I tell you about my bloodline?” She tilted her heard questioningly, closely watching him as she awaited his response.

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