A Hop, A Skip, and a Couple Sips from Home-Kibbles

Kin stood in, well, in a valley. Big surprise there, being in valley country, an entire region full of tiny one-street villages and grassy, hilly meadows stretching far as the eye could see. She stood somewhere in the middle of the country, a place of lush winter grasses and gold-tinged greenery that spited the cold, or perhaps evolved into a stubborn something that didn't much mind the snow sprinkled about its feet. A thin layer of the stuff covered the setting, the long grasses peeking out the top of the snow, whereas the sheer white blanket seemed to dip lower as it covered the long, winding trail through the valley. Despite some older evidence of foot traffic and a cart or two, a fresh dusting of snow had fallen recently, dusting over these older tracks. From the direction she'd traveled -- leaving Forest country, and having just forked towards Marsh, a few miles outside of a small village on the way to another, she was the only vagrant of the day, her new footfalls the only new ones since the dusting. It lent itself to a sort of peace, one that Kin did not oft find in her hard-edged travels.

Around her, everything was still but pointedly alive. A small, crisp, cold breeze rustled the grasses peeking through the snow, as well as the branches of a few scattered trees -- including the one she found herself beneath now, at the top of a hill on the path. It was quiet by a villaging perspective, but Kin felt attuned to the chirping of the daytime insects around her, the sparse birdcall, the skittering of field mice repairing the thresholds of their burrows. It was peaceful, and pleasant, and Kin couldn't help but appreciate the sight of it all.

It was enough that, taking it all in, she chose that moment to sweep some snow from beneath the foot of that tree and nestle a blanket beneath it from the travel pack on her back. It was hard, carrying everything she owned, and she hoped to find some sort of item soon enough as she couldn't help but with she had a few more creature comforts to spare. After nestling down the blanket, she slipped down onto it and pulled out a book from her pack, now at her side. Half of the book was already ripped away, having been burned after reading, and she would be sure to do the same next time she lit a fire. For now, though, she simply chose to continue flipping, digesting the literature while still listening for the smallest of human sounds.

--

wc: 436

If Akemi were to be honest, he was a little buzzed. Maybe slightly more than a 'little', but who was counting really. An unprecedented, given that Akemi had never actually drank alcohol before. One hour, he'd been holed up in the small temple of Shimon-Ji among pilgrims in similar situations to himself, the next he'd decided to go exploring and he'd ended up drinking alcohol out of pure curiosity. Okay, never actually drinking alcohol was a slight lie, he had once before; back when he was 17 and still a bright-eyed shinobi of Hoshigakure. Ah, those were the days. Before he got kidnapped and carried through the village without anyone stopping to consider "Hey, maybe we should do something to help this poor 4'8 kid ". Yeah, that had been a big blow to his already pitiful self-esteem; but, alas, there was a reason he had escaped Hoshigakure at the earliest possibility.

Alas, Akemi was getting sidetracked - as he often did - as he had decided to wander around the large valleys and pretty sights of the aptly-named Valley Country. It truly was a beautiful stretch of land, though he wasn't sure how much longer he would stay. Akemi was a wanderer by heart, ever since he left Hoshigakure; he loved to explore, take in the sights. Despite the shyness of his earlier life, Akemi had come out of his shell a fair bit and no longer had too much of an issue speaking with strangers. More often than not, though, he'd still fail terribly at making small talk - but he was slowly improving nonetheless.

On his way to the next town over, Akemi spotted a woman leaning up underneath a tree. Perhaps a more sober Akemi would deign to just carry on, but he still found himself incredibly curious as to what the woman was reading; reading books was, after all, one of his favorite past-times.

So, not attempting to hide his presence in any way, Akemi approached the woman with a friendly smile and perhaps a slight wobble to his gait. He was dressed in a simple black jumper and trousers, with big boots due to the cold.

"Hey! What are you reading?" Akemi asked, inwardly cringing at how awkward he sounded. Maybe one day he could introduce himself to strangers without putting his foot in his mouth, but today was not that day.

WC: 394

Kin heard Akemi approaching long before the man made his lackluster introduction, as the sound of crunching snow tended to carry in the quiet. She'd briefly glanced up at first, readied her spare hand on a kunai at her side, and continued to listen while keeping up a guise of contentment with her book. As his steps carried without a need for sneaking, she allowed the edge to taper off her alertness, but stayed alert nevertheless. As he approached, she became aware of his slight wobble, as well as the mild scent of alcohol on the air. It wasn't strong enough to suggest a drunkard was in her presence, but Kin knew the scent, being-- well, being a social drunkard herself, really. It wasn't a bad thing, as long as he didn't try anything slick. When he grew close, she dog-earred her page, and shut the book with a small tap just in time to meet his downward gaze.

"The history and culture of sake. It's interesting, but not riveting," she replied, even. As she spoke, Kin took in the man's appearance, nearly missing before noting his almost... surreal averageness. Like he'd gone out of his way to look Normal with a capital N. Did he have something to hide? Or was he just born with features so plain they unnerved people? Was she just an asshole? That last one made the most sense, since she was an asshole sometimes, but it wouldn't be the first time she'd run into -- or read about -- a cloaking technique of some kind.

With that small greeting out of the way, Kin rose smoothly to her feet, and extended her gloved hand in greeting towards Akemi. Her forehead protector, worn around her neck, thudded dully against her collar bones with the motion, it's Juyuu (Freedom) symbols glinting briefly in the light. "Kin Satou. And you are?"

--

(Forgot we had to claim starting equip but I'll post the claim tomorrow, if that's alright with Nova.)
total wc: 748

As he approached the woman, Akemi noticed the presence of a village headband around her neck. Immediately, alarm bells were sounding out around his head as he sensed he may have made a slight miscalculation. After all, as a ninja who was technically on the run, it wasn't really a good idea for Akemi to be associating with village ninjas like she appeared to be. The symbol, though, was not one he recognized which was the only reason he hadn't immediately run away upon seeing it. Perhaps she was a part of a brand new hidden village that was being formed in Valley Country, or just from a hidden village that was, well, extra hidden.

"Not bad, as far as books go; I've read worse." He shrugged, speaking with a casualness that he definitely wasn't feeling. He was on edge, still, but at this point backing out of the conversation would be even more suspicious. He wasn't exactly making his nervousness inconspicuous, either - as a fully trained ninja, he may have been able to do so. Unfortunately, at this point, Akemi was but a glorified laborer who could lift much more than the average adult. The days of running along rooftops and getting into high-stakes fights were far behind him.

As the woman, Kin, introduced herself and offered a hand for a handshake, Akemi paused. Not because of the handshake - he'd thankfully gotten past the constant stuttering and blushing when he'd turned 20 - but because he couldn't remember what the false name he'd introduced himself with to Ume was. After all, however dumb the assumption was, Akemi still wasn't entirely sure whether or not Kin was an assassin from Hoshigakure sent to bring him back to the village. After a brief moment of silence, Akemi finally remembered and he spoke up.

"Akihiro," He lied, accepting her handshake if she was still offering it after the pause, "I'm a traveler and a laborer; just trying to live day-to-day." He shrugged, the second part of his sentence the complete truth.

"What about you? What brings you to Valley Country?" He asked casually, somehow expertly hiding the suspicion in his tone despite the alcohol.

WC: 361
TWC: 755

Kin noticed the pause. It was as true as his narration implied, which she didn’t have access do but didn’t really need at this point: the kid (might be older than her?) was nervous. Of what, she obviously couldn’t be sure, but these days she wasn’t quite in a place to test that. Despite training, she’d been without guidance for a long time, and these trail miles were hard ones… especially with her pack. She was quick, sure, but not the strongest; her muscle was lean and agile, but her natural frame was almost delicate. These miles did a number on her body, draining her energy almost as fast as she could build it. This Akihiro seemed to be in a similar boat but definitely stronger. Even the way he moved suggested physical prowess, an adept control of his body, one that outmatched her own. His handshake, firm and controlled, spoke for itself.

She followed through with her handshake, feigning a sense that she hadn’t much noticed his hesitation. Kin studied him very briefly as he spoke, trying to note the source of his nervousness. It wasn’t quite jumpy or threatening, like one would expect from a missing nin or other sort of villain. It didn’t seem he wanted to cause her harm, and instead seemed suspicious of her, rather than if he might be caught if he hurt her instead. But she couldn’t be sure.

Silently, a chunk of bangs slipped into her face. It was getting long, and would now be a perfect excuse.

With the last few moments of his speaking, she reached up and undid the knot of the headband around her neck, before slipping it up over-her-bangs-and-back like a headband. Smoothly, she tied it through the hair at the back of her head in a way that held her bangs back while preserving some face-framing locks at the sides. From here, the symbolature — writing, really — on her headband was clear. It said freedom. In other words, she was unaligned, but not defected.

“Something similar. The eastern continent has been lovely to travel, and there’s always something that needs doing without a major village nearby,” she said, fiddling with a stubbornly looped lock at her cheekbones. With that, she straightened up a bit, and allowed her appearance to fill in the subtle, silent blanks. Her pack was full, the size one would expect from a bare-bones wanderer destined for long periods to the roads. On a thigh pouch, the handle of a kunai peeked through. It said enough, she hoped — that she was strong enough to exist on her own out here, but wasn’t looking for trouble.

WC: 441
TWC: 1189

Akemi noted the woman's movement to adjust the way her hair framed her face and, as his gaze followed, the writing on the headband became clear. Before he had just thought it was another village symbol, but after the woman moved her hair out of her face it became clearer that it was just writing, simply stating 'Freedom'. Almost instantly, the nervousness of the young man's frame eased up; if she truly was just an unaligned ninja then he probably didn't have that much to worry about. Of course, there was still the issue that she could be a mercenary of some sort, but he was the one who had approached her, not the other way around. Maybe it was time he cut off all his paranoia and actually enjoyed someone's company without fear of being stabbed in the back for once.

"Indeed," Akemi agreed, "I'm not good for much other than heavy lifting but I can thankfully always enough work to live by." Akemi, feeling a lot more comfortable now - though it could be the alcohol - suddenly remembered something that could help this Kin person, "Oh yeah! If you're looking for a place to stay, I've been living at a temple called Shimon-Ji up in the mountains, asking around could probably give you better directions. They've given me food and shelter for simple labour for the past couple months,"

WC: 230
TWC: 985

Kin knew she made the right gesture when the tension bled from the young man's body, and a relaxed breath of life seemed to flow back into his face. He seemed to straighten up -- literally or metaphorically, she wasn't sure, as she hadn't been paying that much attention -- and already he seemed more open about his endeavors. She offered a small smile at his comment about strength, silently wishing it was the case for her. What she wouldn't give for a few more points in her strength stat... er, so-to-speak. Or maybe a "bag of holding," a satchel that could hold almost anything and stay feather-light, like in that strange table top game she'd played once in a tavern. What was it again...? Mazes and Monsters?  Wanderers and Wyrms? Oh, maybe it was Adventurers and Abyssal Chickens-- No, that one was dumb. Anyway, bag of holding, gods would that do her joints some justice. Ooh, Joints and Justice, now that sounded like a good time...

Anyway, Kin considered his words for a moment, taking a second to come up with a proper response. "I'm actually on my way to the next village over, for now. I've got a small parcel to deliver to a tavern owner in need of wall repairs," she said, and gestured to the edge of a small paper-wrapped package strapped to the edge of her pack near the tree. "I've heard it's a decent area, if you want to accompany me there, and the tavern's got a brewery. Afterwards, though, the mountains seem lovely, though I've admittedly never been much of a holy monk myself."

------

WC: 269
TWC: 1502
Stat Progress: 15 pts

Akemi smiled happily at the woman's invitation and nodded - it felt nice to not have to be on guard around someone all the time. Though, part of him wondered if he'd warmed to the woman's company so quickly because he was so starved of companionship with kindred spirits. The people at Shimon-Ji were nice - incredibly so - but none of them shared Akemi's wanderlust. The majority of them seemed content to remain in the temple and, whilst it was something that Akemi could understand, it wasn't what he desired; he wanted to explore the world, see the sights, hide from Hoshigakure and meet new people. You know, the simple stuff.

"I haven't visited any villages around here so it would be great if I could join you," Akemi nodded after realizing he'd been completely silent for several seconds. Old habits die hard, and ever since he'd been little Akemi had had a tendency to forget to vocalize his thoughts when answering someone. "I have some experience with construction so I could maybe lend a hand with the wall repairs as well?" He offered with a hint of hope in his tone. Akemi was pretty strapped for cash at the moment so he was having to leap at any job he could take.

WC: 211
TWC: 1196

Kin fought the urge to lift a brow in curiosity as she watched the man's face go through his mental calculations. She didn't want to seem rude, but a second was a long time in the midst of a short and fluid conversation, and she wasn't sure what to make of it yet. Luckily he seemed to, relatively quickly, settle on a positive conclusion, and she smiled in response to the hope in his tone.

"Yeah, you're welcome to, it's a few hours walk from here at a civilian pace. We should make it by sundown. And the contact I spoke to mentioned something about the recipient needing as many hands as he could get, so I'm sure he'd welcome the help," she said. Kin herself was pretty poor right now, having just spent the last of her coin on new supplies, so she understood his unspoken position.

With a small huff and a precursory glance to the East, the woman bent down and grabbed her pack, slinging it across her shoulders. God, she'd never get used to the weight of it, she was sure of that much. Why did kunai have to weigh so much? Couldn't they be made of a lighter metal? She'd take bamboo at this point, lethality be damned. After a moment or two of fidgeting with her chest and hip straps, she turned down the path to the West, squinting and eventually lifting a hand in the direction of the slowly descending sun. The road seemed clear, as did the eastern path she came from when she'd checked a moment ago, so all seemed well for travel.

With that, she looked to Akihiro. "You ready?"

---
EXIT
WC: 280
TWC: 1738