Written in the Stars

The young world walker had seen many places. Many different landscapes had stretched beyond his view, decorated by the flora native to the different parts of the world. Trees. Mountains. Rivers. Plains. Joski had seen it all. Still, in every land he was welcomed with the same welcoming of the night sky; radiant stars burning as distant pinpricks of light forming an entire sea overhead as Joski sat upon one of the many plateau within the land of Heaven. Wind swept at his unkempt black hair as he laid upon the ground, comforted only by his traveling equipment. "For all the rotten things about this place- the bandits, the heat- at least the nights are the clearest I have ever seen." Running a hand through his locks, Joski would lean back in slow motion, slowly falling onto his back and lacing his fingers behind his head. His face turned into the night sky as Joski focused on a distant point in space, letting him drift back to memories of the Land of River.

His eyes glazed over as he thought back to the humid jungles of the Land of Rivers, where one mostly traveled by boat and the land could get so humid it almost felt like you were choking on the air. Strange as it might sound, the distant dreams of the warm, dank home that confounded travelers and offered refuge to anyone that was brave enough to wander the jungle, or clever enough to navigate the many perils of the river. How long had it been since he had been there? How long would it be until he returned? Perhaps a trip home was in short order. Unlacing his fingers from behind his head, Joski would dig through his pack and withdraw a scroll, unfurled it, and rest the display of a map on his knees that propped the display up for him to read by moonlight, quietly contemplating the lands that surrounded him.

WC - 326

His finger trailed upon the map that was propped up against his lap with some nostalgic slowness to it. The nail of the finger lining the curvature of a river that traveled north until it intersected with the Land of Rain. In the quiet of the evening presented by the Land of Haven, Joski would let his finger pause and linger upon a mark on his map that he had made himself; the notation was that of a small fishing village that resided by a great waterfall coming from the north that was known to harvest a certain sort of fish that was actually capable of jumping up the water with its incredible strength, though the local stories often said that there was a water spirit that lived up at the top of the falls and called the fish to it, giving them a portion of its chakra from the water to give it the strength to conquer the water. So too did the inhabitants of the village believe that living near and getting nourishment from the river would imbue their people with similar strength. So the village offered thanks to the spirit by keeping the river clear of invasive species and allowing the fish to flourish while only taking some for their needs. Joski recalled his visit to the place with a sense of fondness; the people there had good spirits and simple lives. They didn't seek coin and welcomed him with open arms, feeding him and allowing him to sleep in a place that was off the muddy floor of the forested land. He recalled having stayed there a few days despite his intention to move on shortly after arriving. Something about that place felt welcoming. Perhaps that was why he couldn't get as comfortable as he wanted to. Ever restless, Joski would continue the trail of his finger along the map towards the next destination.

WC - 318
TWC - 644

The map bore many a trail of a marked pen, the original outline of the continent having been mostly blank save for notable geographical figures. The lines between countries, the roads that wind between them, and the little villages along the way had all been marked by his own hand. Some of them had been as small as a dozen people, while others numbers in the hundreds. Joski had preferred to stay away from most larger settlements as it made it easier to avoid people often looking for trouble while giving him the opportunity to dispatch any lowland thugs that thought playing banditry along the road was an admirable profession. The habit of sticking away from villages would come to a close when the finger trail Joski drew on his map crossed the border into the Land of Claws. Well-earned was its name by the inhospitable mountainous land that gave refuge to no small manner of beast. Predators engorged from the surrounding lands made their way here in order to move into the next echelon of territory claim only to find themselves contended with a vicious population. Days were spent dodging or ducking monstrous creatures that freely roamed the road, revealing to Joski why most people avoided this place and traveled through the Land of Earth on their way to Haven; at least the mountainous roads of Earth had a bit of safety away from the fauna of the land. 

Joski would scrunch his face as he remembered his travels through the land of Claw. Shaking his head, he'd release a sigh into the night air and quickly moved along the penned path headed northward.

WC - 275
TWC - 919

The lines of the map all began to converge as the smaller countries bundled up between the borders of three much larger countries, particularly Earth and Wind, which both hosted a mass of land that was both rugged and challenging to those that live there. The lands between- Fang, Mountain, and Claw- all shared the same characteristic aspects of harsh environment and unwelcoming terrain. His finger traced the lands he remembered stumbling through. His half-lid gaze would fall upon the final resting spot of his finger: The land of Haven. Although the arid crags of Haven were a little more welcoming than the lands surrounding it, the heat and open plains left a lot to be desired. At least for one that was partial to the wet, humid rivers. Still, there was one spot in particular in this place that he had heard about, his driving goal for having come here, to begin with. It was said that Hoshigakure contained one of the largest libraries in the entire world with knowledge related to almost anything anyone might want to know. A place that avoided conflict with other lands and had welcomed distant travelers in the past.

Sighing, Joski would remove his eyes from the map and look upwards once more into the pins of light that decorated the sky in a brilliant cosmic display. He had come a long way, and it was nearly time to get some answers. Scrolling up the map once more, Joski tucked the well-weathered parchment away for safekeeping before rolling over and pushing himself back to his feet. With a quick brush-off, Joski would gather his things and begin making his way back towards the camp.

WC - 281
TWC - 1,200

[Exit.]

Claims:
+12 Stats
- +12 Cha

1,200 WC
- 1,200 towards Imitation White Hole [1,200/1,750]

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