A Forest Walk [Free - Open RP]

[Kagetsu Yuii]

Bits of pine wood flicked towards the ground as Yuii shaved the end of a two-meter long stick into a sharp point and smoothed away a grip for her hand. She had found a good walking stick at the forest's edge the day before, and it would serve her well on her climb into the cloud-capped mountain hills surrounding the ancient forest. From where she sat in the small meadow that acted as a border between the wilds of the forest and towering buildings of Kumogakure it was already appeared to be a clear, beautiful day and she shook with anticipation as well as cold.

"I have the morning off," she spoke into the chilled mountain air, her voice sing-song light, "There are visitors and I get some time while they rest from their travels." She cocked her head, listening to whatever whispered back then laughed gently, "Yes, all the way to the black hills again. I want to see if the wild goats faired well over the winter and how many kids survived. Oniyuri is fond of them"

Yuii ceased her sharpening and turned to look over the mountains illuminated by false dawn. If she didn't hurry her travels would go beyond the morning and Ayumu would replace her in the meeting. He would pick someone like Shashu or Junko to look after him, which was acceptable, but it meant she would have to go back to her usual work again. Nobody wanted that.

The woman sighed and rubbed her temple, then answered her invisible companion again. "No, I suppose I don't, but I love the trip," she explained, rolling to her feet from the grass and stabbing her new walking stick into the ground. She adjusted the buttons on her soft woollen lined brown leather jacket and re-tied her scarf so that her lower face was obstructed from the cold. Winter was mostly gone, and in the rest of the world life was renewing but the upper mountains had yet to shake the last of the previous season's weather. Mornings would be cold for another month yet and one had to be certain to dress well.

Yuii reached for her walking stick, satisfied with her clothing. "Why did I what? Oh, the stick? Oniyuri wants a couple rabbits. I can probably spear one faster than I can pull a kunai. It's cheating if you use jutsu." twirling the makeshift spear once to check its balance (pretty good for a stick) she squared her shoulders. "I think that's everything," she hummed, surveying her light gear which was mostly food. The normally ravenous woman would have a late second breakfast once she reached the mountains then return in time for lunch whatever the later half of the day held for her.

Knowing the answer would be no, Yuii brushed awkwardly at her sleeve and teetered in one spot. Ghosts of this type rarely travelled.

"Do you want to come along?"

 

[Kaen]

With the dawn came brilliant soft rays of light that refracted oh so lovely on the tiny dewdrops that still hung tightly to the blades of grass below. The early birds, if you would, were already fluttering about in the morning sun foraging for worms, bugs and berries alike. Their subtle chirping was a lovely sound to be heard, especially on a early morning walk, such as the one Kaen had opted to take. He had only just arrived recently, in the Country of Lightning, it was only natural that one would wish to venture out into the unknown in search of new lands, adventure and faces alike. The cool air smelled pleasant, the hint of spring just around the corner weighed heavy in the air. It was a beautiful thing, nature, such a shame it was also just as fragile.

Kaen hadn't made it all that far by the time he came across a curious subject. A soft melodic voice was lightly audible across the meadow that laid in his path. In the distance he could make out the vestige of what seemed to be a girl, or at least at first glance. She seemed preoccupied with her conversation, a conversation held with herself and... nobody? Odd... This peaked Kaen's interest, after all he was on the lookout for new faces, why not this one? Using her distracting conversation and his own, somewhat, stealthy appeal, Kaen approached the female from behind. Upon closer inspection she was obviously a girl, she appeared older than himself. But what striked his fancy the most was the color of her hair. It wasn't everyday you came across another soul with a peculiar shade of locks.

"I think that's everything," She still carried on her conversation with the unseen entity. Kaen cocked his head to one side in confusion. What ever could she be talking to?! Still she continued, but this time gave way to an opportunity for him to interject. "Do you want to come along?" Kaen took a slight step forward, hoping not to frighten the woman. The last thing he wanted was to end up incinerating some helpless girl in a reactionary display of self defense. "I'll come along, if you need the company..." Kaen's words were soft and subtle, his intentions were honest and kind. If she turned to face him, she would see a simple young man, appearing no older than 21. His clothes didn't suggest any sort of allegiance with anyone, but given she was most likely native to these lands, she might recognize that he wasn't from around here.


[OOC MFT, Topic entered]

 

[Kagetsu Yuii]

The Sennin jumped, startled momentarily by the new presence in her field. Rather, she had been aware of the living man's approach but hadn't expected him to reply to her offer. The world was filled with people who passed one another by without interacting and in the early hours of the day, most people were only up if they had a task to complete. She wobbled uncertainly, large blue eyes picking over the young man, then crouched and shouldered her bag. She didn't recognise him as one of her shinobi, which meant nothing, but if he was just a civilian then the trip would lag horribly. She could, at least, humour him for a few minutes if the later was the case, however, as his subtle accent had peaked her interest.

Yuii cocked her head then shrugged non-committedly. "Come on, then. There's lots of ground to cover," she stated simply, not willing or able to explain that she had been speaking to a whispy, curious little ghost, and started It was far too early in the morning to go into long explanations.

Not one to normally take the ground level paths, one could skim along the tree tops at an accelerated pace and see wildlife far easier from above, Yuii found it strange to dive into the woodlands like a normal hunter. The last time she had played at being a proper huntress had been with the tiger-blooded Yanjirou in the early fall, but even they had not taken the main path that she lead her red-haired impromptu companion to. Down here the pine trees and snow damp earth smelled amazing and promised a quick spring. There was even a few willow bushes with fuzzy little buds. It was a shame her time was limited, otherwise, they could have stopped to enjoy it better.

The pace she set was quick, probably faster than any normal civilian should have been able to keep up with, but it had been so long since Yuii had properly integrated with the village's 'normal' humans that she didn't notice.

"Where are you from?" she ventured, guessing before that the red headed man wasn't a Lightning country native. There was a certain inflexion in the way he spoke that seemed familiar but she couldn't quite pin down its region. He didn't sound like the Leaf nin she knew, and it was nothing like the common as fleas Bear country refugees that had swarmed northward a decade before. That meant he was from somewhere farther reaching and exotic.

As expected, her little ghost friend lingered behind.

 

[Kaen]

Damn... He scared her anyways. He really didn't mean for it to happen but -- His thought process was halted all together as the woman turned to face Kaen. She was looking him over, poking and prodding with those... those gorgeous sapphire like eyes. Where he came from, most people only had earthy tone like colors. Red, yellow and brown seemed to be the norm. But this... this was heavenly. Time seemed to slow down for a moment when he first caught glimpse of her large blue eyes. The early rising sun made them almost sparkle in the light, what was this woman.... He was so lost in the deep pools of cerulean like eyes that he didn't even realize she was ready to go. Crap... did she say something? She must have realized he was in a daze as she cocked her head then shrugged non-committedly. "Come on, then. There's lots of ground to cover," Kaen blinked himself to reality and shook his head; "Uh... yeah, let's go."

Her pace was quick, so much so that had Kaen not been "more than meets the eye" he surely would have lagged behind. Either she was the most athletic civilian he had ever met, or she was a highly trained and skilled individual, such as himself. She didn't seem so concerned whether or not Kaen was keeping up, perhaps she somehow figured he wasn't normal either. Where were they even going anyways? At first he thought it to be a nature walk, but she had been passing up much of what people would consider nature's beauty. It was painfully clear that spring was coming, as the snow was melting and new life was sprouting everywhere the eye could see. Soon enough flowers of all colors and animals of all walks of life would be reignited in the circle of life. Shame they were on a quick path to somewhere.

She kept her face forward as they continued on their beaten path, shame... Seems she grew curious about her new walking companion. "Where are you from?" That was a delicate question, as he knew so little about her. Too much information spilled from loose lips might cause distress, as Kaen was horribly uneducated in the current political standings between Kumo and Suna. And if she was as well trained as he thought she was, surely she would detect a lie if he chose that path. Perhaps the truth was best, even one that didn't quite give her the whole picture. He kept pace with her as he responded; "You noticed huh? Your accent is a far cry from what i'm used to myself. It's true, I'm not from around here. I'm here on business, with a side order of pleasure. Figure I might as well enjoy the sights while I wait for my partner to arrive. It's a lot prettier here, the trees, mountains and eyes.... err SKIES... Eeesh, that was a close one. Hopefully that would do for now, but if she pressed further he would just come out with it. The worst that could happen is she told him to get lost, she didn't seem the type to just attack outright...

 

[Kagetsu Yuii]

Unsurprisingly, he avoided answering the question and tried to distract her with the very basic information of his trip. Yuii snorted with amusement but didn't call him out on the simple trick. How could she when that was exactly what she would have done in his place? She just wasn't that invested in finding out, not right at that moment, but if he wanted to play games she was more than happy to. If she wasn't satisfied by the end of their talk, well, Yuii did lead both the gate guard and the spymasters.

"Hard not to," she conceded with a lopsided smirk. Oblivious as always, she assumed the reference to eyes was a trip of the tongue. The female Sennin was too busy being jealous, as always, of the people who could just flit country to country for what sounded like a working vacation to really notice any fascination he had with her face. The Main Branch sennin had been banned from travelling the day she reached her rank, a fair and just punishment for ignoring protocol for her own needs, and now near the end of her penance, she was getting antsy to get out awhile. "This is an off day, as you might know by now depending on how long you've been here. Sunny days are as rare as ascending gods they say. We would not be Kumogakure without the Clouds, though. I won't disagree that our topography and vegetation are pretty. The mountains here are said to have been created by Raiden himself during one of his final battles with a monolithic creature and its bones formed the pillar mountains through the village. If you've seen a map- well it's unlikely you have as ones of this area is rarely shared, but if you were to see one Kumos peak are an odd crater in the midst of the flatlands and look relatively out of place compared to the God's spine range in the northeast. I don't suppose you're planning to head that way, but the mountains there are completely different but equally stunning. Their peaks easily dwarf those, and when you approach from sea level they're incredible. It's at least a day's train ride to get there, however, as you end up going straight up the valley to Raiden's eye before you can head east or south to the coast before heading north along the coast. The people up that way aren't crazy about foreigners or shinobi though, so its best to stay in the larger cities."

Yuii loved talking about her country, and geography was a perfectly safe topic as long as one did not speak of battlefield tactics or speak of military routes. There was no harm in pointing out that bailed willow tea could help with a stomach ache or that pine needles could sustain a person's life either- she would just not speak of the poisonous things. She was looking to prompt him into giving up more information about himself, but in a way about manner. It didn't really matter if it worked though because Yuii had a plan.

The aqua haired woman pivoted on her foot and continued at speed walking backwards."I know, I'll guess," she decided aloud, stretching her thumb and forefinger along her chin in the classic thinking pose. He had to be from a further outlying country than bear, marsh, or fire; Yuii dealt with all three on a regular basis. She wasn't too familiar with Moon, but that just didn't feel right. Iwa, perhaps, or even further abroad. "Hmmm I'd guess-"

The distinct sound of a small animal moving through the brush sounded ahead and in a flash, the blue haired woman turned and brandished her neolithic hunting stick ready to spear herself a plump rabbit. She barely caught her own throw as what instead appeared was a very tiny, doe-eyed and stark white deer fawn with large blue eyes. "Oh! Shoo. I almost made you into baby steaks," she squeaked, turning from huntress into her normally awkward self. Fawns were tasty, as Oniyuri always said, but Yuii saw no point in killing the little ones. In two seasons this one found be feed a family instead of being one tiger snack, though its odd colouring would probably get it killed sooner. The tiny creature had no sense of self-preservation either and wandered over to nose curiously at them both.

Where there were babies, there was usually a mother, and a quick look found her this little one's dead just off the side of the path. It had probably been curled up with the carcas until they started it. "Oh, I see. Damnit," She left her guest hiker to deal with the deer trying to huddle against him for warmth and went forward to investigate. It appeared to be a bear attack, but one could never be sure in this forest. The medical branch had a habit of releasing their mal formed creations into their tiny corner of wilderness then pretending they didn't exist until accidents began to happen. Any other day, she might have tried to track what had killed it, because leaving so much of the body intact was odd for a predator, but not today.

"I...hm... I guess it'll have to come along?"

 

[Kaen]

As the quick trek continued, the sapphire girl continued the conversation. But Kaen was hardly even paying attention as he was still entranced by the oddity that was she. "This is an off day, as you might know by now depending on how long you've been here" He was feeling a little off himself, but that was probably the overwhelming unseen forces that propelled his gaze towards her way. "I won't disagree that our topography and vegetation are pretty" Even the flowers paled in comparison to this woman... Her eyes, brighter and more awe-inspiring than the clearest of spring skies. Her skin fairer and softer than any cumulus cloud, hell the village of Cloud might as well be named after her... "the mountains there are completely different but equally stunning" He himself was stunned, awestruck by the anomaly of a woman, he needed to know her name! "The people up that way aren't crazy about foreigners" Yeah but he was sure crazy about this foreigner, he couldn't quite help himself, it was as if some internal wiring was taking over and rerouting his original subroutines of life. "so its best to stay in the larger cities." He suddenly snapped out of his trance at the end of her conversation. "Hmm? Oh yeah, I'll be sure to stay safe. It's better to go in groups, i'll be sure to stay by your side for the remainder of our stroll." In truth he never wanted to part his gaze from her anytime in the near future, he would be sure to tag along as long as possible.

Surprisingly she, without skipping a beat, turned on her heal to walk backwards, keeping the exact same pace as before, impressive... she was no ordinary gal after all. "I know, I'll guess," She struck a curious thinking pose, still following the path, even stepping over fallen logs and rocks alike, never tripping or faltering. "Wait... what are we guessing again?" But before she had a chance to respond she reacted in a flash of silver-blue. In a blinding burst of speed she, in the same motion, threw her spear and caught it mid flight, saving a small deer from certain death. "Oh! Shoo. I almost made you into baby steaks," Her voice reached a higher octave than before, it was cute really. Despite obviously being trained to hunt and kill, not unlike himself, she still retained her humanity and outwardly appearing innocence. "Oh a fawn, how sweet. I wonder where her mother is..." Sure he was highly trained to remain emotionless and hardened, but no amount of training would diminish who he was on the inside. His heritage was hardwired into his existence, and to deny that would be the same as denying the air that he breathed.

"Oh, I see. Damnit," The woman ventured ahead a bit, leaving Kaen to look after the baby deer. It was so young, so innocent. It was shivering, obviously chilled to the bone from lack of heat she might normally have received from her mother. Kaen slowly reached forward to pet the fawn. surprisingly it didn't flinch away, but instead nuzzled up closer to him. The deer might have been young, but it was no dummy. It knew a perfect heat source when it saw one. It was strange really, usually the heat he emanated was harsh and cruel, scorching everything in reach. This in part was why he usually tried to suppress his aura and his very nature. But something about this little one triggered a different kind of warmth, it was warm, almost glowing. Kaen sat on the ground to allow the fawn easier access to his warmth. As the deer nestled into his lap, the warmth spread outwards, a soft hue of light seemed to almost exude from his body. In this very moment he felt so at ease, it was strange really. Perhaps it was the peaceful day, the pretty woman or just the innocence of the deer or maybe even some combination of it all, but he felt like, in this moment, at peace. The warmth that he gave off was so strong it even began to melt the snow around him, revealing bright green growing foliage. The woman's voice, again, snapped him out of his trance. "I...hm... I guess it'll have to come along?" It would make things more difficult, but this wasn't exactly a mission. So they could spare the extra baggage. "Yeah I suppose it will, I can carry it. The poor thing..." And with that he gently picked the deer up and set it upon his shoulders. Hopefully it wouldn't be frightened easily, he wouldn't want for it to escape and run out into the wilderness alone.

[OOC sorry for the wait, I got to it as soon as I could]

 

[Kagetsu Yuii]

The scene Yuii returned to was peaceful in comparison to the carnage of the little creature's mother. It was sweet to see that the little fawn had warmed up to her walking companion(literally) but it made her a bit uneasy as well. Allowing the white deer to imprint on him was probably a very poor idea if she wanted any hope of getting it a stand-in mother especially when Yuii had no clue if she could manage it in the first place. In the worst case scenario, she decided, at least it would have someone it felt safe with when they tried to figure out new arrangements.

"She likes you," Yuii laughed, stepping close enough to give its face a gentle pat. It was hard to say how trauma affected animals but this one seemed starved for affection and more frightened of being alone then of being with them.

Like always, Yuii's plan for a simple day was unravelling into a complicated mess. She would now need to contact and create a task force to deal with whatever had made that kill because the forest would not handle yet another murder happy apex predator taking out its herbivores. Decisions would need to be made about what to do with the deer. It's rare white colouring made its survival doubtful in the best of cases and now it had no mother. If it still needed milk, which she guessed at its tiny size it likely did, something or someone would need to take care of it until it could eat on its own. There was probably a long list of other tasks that came with raising a fawn that Yuii wasn't aware of too, things she would never have the time to complete.

Any other day she might have called her trip short in light of their discovery but Yuii was determined to make her trip. It was a relief when her red-headed companion literally shouldered the responsibility of helping the baby deer keep up. "Can you? Thank-you!" she chimed happily, thrilled to not have to worry about it, "It's kind of the gods to send you across my path this morning. I'll take it as a sign they want the little one cared for. One of our ascended Raikage was white like that one, perhaps he didn't want to see it killed?" Or maybe the god Aion wanted to as a sacrifice and she was reading into things wrong. It would be just like her fickle deities to send unclear signs.

Yuii returned them to their original pace, leading them ever deeper into the thickening foliage along the thinning trail. She kept her spear ever at the ready, though Yuii was prepared to drop it to deal with anything larger too. "The last southerner I took out this way had never seen a deer before but he was just a child." she mused, remembering the little Byakko tiger child and their odd hunt together. The Cub, as Oniyuri liked to call him, hadn't known a thing about either her country or his own. It had led to an embarrassing moment when a dog had corrected the child about rabbits being in his own country.

"Ah! That's where I've heard it before. Are you from wind country?" Yuii asked suddenly, rounding back to her earlier duty to guess her walking companions home of origin, "Am I close!?"

 

[Kaen]

"The last southerner I took out this way had never seen a deer before but he was just a child." The little fawn nuzzled into Kaen's warm shoulder, somehow it knew that it was safe for the moment and took the opportunity for a much needed nap. Kaen smiled, nature was quite amazing sometimes. "My sister and I spent a small portion of our early lives in a forested area, deer were no stranger to those parts." It had been so long since he reminisced about those times, so long ago... "Ah! That's where I've heard it before. Are you from wind country?" Kaen gave a soft chuckle, she sure was determined to know more about his origins. "Am I close!?" She must have been well educated to pick up on his accent so easily. His last few years were spent in Sunagakure, but that was not his birthplace. He didn't know it way back then, but he was born on the border of Wind Country. "Well... You're pretty spot on honestly. I was born in a small village near the borders of Wind Country. Grass Country was only a days journey away. We even saw a few Konahan Ninja pass through on occasion." Kaen's voice trailed off momentarily as he thought back to his dark and painful past... Pushing the cloud of black back he continued. "So are you Cloud born or do you hail from a distant land yourself?" He hoped he wasn't being to direct, he still wasn't sure on the political standings between Lightning and Wind country.


[OOC, sorry for the short post, but I really didn't want to let this thread get stagnant ^_^]

 

[Kagetsu Yuii]

Ah hah, I knew it!" Yuii cheered, mentally patting herself on the back. It had been an educated guess, but a guess none the less. His clarification of region made sense though, and Yuii stored that information away. It was easy to forget that even shinobi came from a wide variety of places before they moved to and gave their allegiance to a village. Yanji had definitely sounded different to Kaen though. Smoother, well spoken, maybe even better 'educated'.

As Yuii contemplated the differences, Kaen countered with his own question. It both figuratively and literally tripped her up. One could as easily blame the root that caught her heel for knocking her backwards if she hadn't easily navigated a hundred more like it. From her back, Yuii sighed and glared up at the tree canopy as if the brilliantly sunny morning beyond was to blame for her own clumsiness. "I honestly couldn't tell you, but the assumption is Cloud," she replied truthfully, shrugging off the crypticness, "but I spent a good number of years in northern lightning. Apparently I have a slight accent from that, though I can't hear it."

Yuii picked herself up from the ground just as her headset began to make the tell-tale crackle of an incoming message. She left it on an emergency line just in case but hadn't actually expected to be bothered that morning. It was meant to be her time off. "Ah, crap." she grumbled, fumbling through her coat pockets until she found the little metal device in the last one. She gave Kaen an apologetic smile and held up two fingers to signal that she would only need a moment. Yuii didn't bother finding somewhere private, but she turned her back to hide the frustration and anger she felt over being disrupted so soon.

"What!? No. I told you the forest. No.... No. I said I was- NO! Oh, Raiden's tits, how the hell do you expect me to solve that!?" She started out at a hiss, trying to be respectful of the fact that she had a listener but whatever the person on the other end of her headset had to say had the cheerful woman yelling with murderous intent. There was a pause as the headset hummed with inaudible chatter and Yuii turned a ghost white. Her tone changed again, becoming soft, pleading and desperate. "Nononono! Don't quit! You know I'm doomed without you," more buzzing, and Yuii's posture dropped. Her final words before turning the headset off were a concession of defeat. "I'll be there as quickly as I can."

Deflated and bluer than blue, Yuii turned back to address her red haired friend. "Come on, I know a place that can look after that one. I was going to try and find her herd, but realistically they're probably long gone and unlikely to accept her back." No word on the headset exchange, but the turn in direction and difference in the woman's mood were telling.

 

[Kaen]

Quite ecstatically, she proclaimed her victory on the question-less game of twenty questions. "Ah hah, I knew it!" Kaen chuckled lightly so as to not disturb his precious cargo. His own inquiry seemed to cause her to stutter a bit and misplace hit footing directly under the roots of a nearby tree. Had Kaen been free from his luggage type burden, he might have reached out to try and catch her. But sadly his shoulders were occupied and all he could do was watch as she started her decent towards the ground. With a soft and subtle thump and a little plume of dust flying in the air, Kaen stared in awkward silence as she begrudgingly accepted her fate. She surprised him as she continued the conversation from the ground, staring, or glaring rather, at the sky and trees above. "I honestly couldn't tell you, but the assumption is Cloud, but I spent a good number of years in northern lightning. Apparently I have a slight accent from that, though I can't hear it." Seeing as Kaen was a foreigner of these lands, it was difficult to ascertain the accent she spoke of. That and the fact that he had only directly spoken with a small handful of people since he had arrived here. "I suppose that's a fair enough questions given the implications of international affairs." Hmm, that almost sounded a little to professional... she didn't need to find out who and what he was. Then again she was probably thinking the same thing.

Before she could really respond to his response, her headset crackled to life after picking herself off the ground. She was visibly upset over the fact, perhaps because she was out of town and busy. "Something the matt--" He started, but was cut off with a hand signal saying -gimme a minute-. Turning her back to Kaen she began to argue with whomever was on the line. By now the baby fawn was done with its nap and was looking around and fidgeting in place, most likely wanting to get down. Kaen gave the blue haired enchantress her space and walked a few short feet away where he could set the fawn down to play. From the short distance he could still hear her frustration in her tone. Kaen turned to the fawn who was looking up at him expectedly. "What are you looking at you goof? You wanna play?" The fawn reared its front legs up a bit and pranced from left to right as if it understood him. "Alright then, um... How about..." Kaen looked around for a moment before finding a stick. Sure it was no dog, but honestly how does one play with a deer? Kaen tossed the stick a short distance and the fawn dashed after it. As the little deer went to chase after the stick, Kaen turned his attentions back towards his new blue haired friend. Even in the midst of a heated conversation something about her just stood out. Yes she had uniquely beautiful blue hair, but it was something deeper than that. Kaen's gaze lingered a bit longer than it should have, but he really couldn't help it. She turned so quickly he didn't have time to avert his eyes. Perhaps she was too caught up in her conversation that she hadn't noticed his prolonged staring. At that moment the fawn returned to his side still looking up at him, without the stick however. He couldn't be surprised, it wasn't a dog after all. "Come on, I know a place that can look after that one. I was going to try and find her herd, but realistically they're probably long gone and unlikely to accept her back." Kaen reached down to scratch behind the little deer's ears as he asked about the call. "Everything ok? If it's none of my business just say so. But you're right, we do need to find somewhere for little pepper here to stay." Yup, he named her. Was it a bad idea to label her and get attached? Maybe...


[OOC MFT]

 

[Kagetsu Yuii]

The scene she returned to was sweet, like a boy and his dog except the boy was grown and the dog was a deer that had no idea what was going on. Yuii smiled apologetically and shrugged her shoulders at his question, "Oh, yeah, it's fine. I was meant to have the morning off is all." she explained without explaining, unwilling and unable to give more detail than that. The private matters of the Main branch were not for sharing. They might have been the simple main force of Kumogakure, but between the spies and the diplomats, Yuii actually handled a lot of sensitive information. "Pepper, huh? Not what I would have picked, but it's cute enough."

"I meant, I don't know if I was born here by the way. That information is as much a mystery to me as it is you." Yuii lapsed into a friendly conversation, sharing a rare piece of information about herself as a peace offering for ending the trip so suddenly "There were some rumours when I was little that I am a changeling. You know, a fairy child left behind to be raised by humans? Just sort of showed up one day." The blue haired woman shrugged, seemingly unbothered by her famllies accusations. In truth, Yuii had endured a lot of abuse during her formative years based soley on that rumour. Afterall, the best way to make a changling to admit its true nature and leave was to physically harm it.

Soon enough, they were back out of the forest. The farm yuii had in mind bordered the tree line, tucked between teh safety of the village and the monsters in the dark. It wasn't far from where they exited the forest, only a quick walk over a hill blocking veiw. "Ah, there it is. Yarabe should be able to look after... Pepper." Yuii assured, side eyeing the tiny fawn with amusement. Something tld her that her red haired companion would loath giving up his new friend, quick as humans were to connect with nature's creatures. "She's probably hungry." the kunoichi added, scratching gently under Pepper's chin, "when they're this young they rely on their mother for food and hydration so its likely she wuldnt have lasted long if we didn't arrive.

The farm itself was an older, stone, wood and plaster building that appeared to have been updated over several centuries. Kumogakure's ancient history showed in each additional building. Unlike normal farms, this one didn't have the usual cows and sheep. The fields beyond were populated instead with deer, large furry bison and stocky ponies. As they apprached, several farm hands stopped shovelling a mixture of hay and feces into the back of a wagon. One older, well muscled and bearded man broke off from the group to meet them, "What have we here?"

Yuii obviously knew the farmer, and didn't bother with greetings. Like usual, everyone knew Yuii, "Found her in the greens, not far in. One of them gutted her mother." She replied, jutting her thumb towards Kaen and Pepper. The farmer raised his catipillar like eyebrows and whistled through his teeth.

"And your friend?" He sked, eyeing Kaen curiously. He was just exotic enough to draw attention, and the company the village Sennin kept was always of interest. Especially when they were male.

Yuii looked at her red haired acquaintance and shrugged, devoid of a name to give. "He's named the fawn Pepper." She laughed, "and you know once they have a name ts hard ot to save em."

The farmer rolled his eyes good naturedly, and leaned heavily on the fence between them. "Right. I'm full up, but I'll take it till its weened. Then it's your problem or I'll have to turn it out." Yarabe stared at them wth teh steady gaze of a hardworking man who had already made up his mind. Yuii's face fell, and she rubbed at her neck nervously as she tried to work out what she would do with a half grown doe She glanced back at Kaen, but decided the wind country denizen probably wouldn't have a place for her either.

"Ehhhhh? Where do you think I'm going to put a deer?" She groaned to herself, then with more volume she added, "Ugh, fine. My friend will be find to visit her wont he?" The farmer nodded affirmative, and Yuii sighed. She wasn't sure how close her companion had decided he was to pepper, but at least he had the option to visit beore he inevitably left. "Sure, he can clean up after a few of em, too," the farmer laughed. Yuii gave he red head a sheepish smile and left it for him to agree.

"Well, thats settled then, I guess. I need to get going," Yuii chimed, gesturing for Kaen hand pepper over at his own pace then taking her first steps towards the village, "I'll see you around!" She called back one last time before powering off.

[topic left, to the ceptiooooon]

 

[Kaen]

Kaen was all to familiar with the "joys" of always being on call. Ready to respond at any given moment could be stressful at times. Pepper might not have been the name she would have gone with, but honestly he just looked at her and it was the first thing that popped into his head. The mind works in mysterious ways sometimes. "I meant, I don't know if I was born here by the way. That information is as much a mystery to me as it is you." She cast aside the conversation she just had on her headset and continued with the original conversation. "There were some rumors when I was little that I am a changeling. You know, a fairy child left behind to be raised by humans? Just sort of showed up one day." How curious... Kaen wasn't quite sure what she was going on about, he had never heard of anything like that. He wanted to inquire more, but he could probably look it up later in a library. That and she was quick to return on the path through the forest.

The pair and fawn sidekick continued their way through the thick forest, heading towards an unknown destination that would supposedly care for the little fawn, pepper. It was a shame, the circumstances that transpired today. But hopefully this new place could give the little deer what it needed to survive. "Ah, there it is. Yarabe should be able to look after... Pepper." Fantastic! I'm sure she will fit right in, this place looks big." Kaen wasn't entirely sure how to feel about all this, but Yuii seemed nice enough and she was familiar with these lands, she would know the best course of action for the fawn. Strange really, to care so much about something so little... but Kaen did undergo a significant internal change that turned up the emotion dials in his mind to 10.5. Kaen shook his head to clear his thoughts, he needed to remain focus and not get attached...

Upon closer arrival, they could make out the old and weathered architecture that the farm was built with, it looked a little shoddy, but what else can you expect on a farm. Instead of traditional animals, this one seemed to house forest type creatures, bison, elk, those types of things, Pepper would fit in nicely here. A few of the workers stopped and stared, maybe it was their hair? Yuii and Kaen did have a unique set of hair color. Kaen remained rather passive in all this, he was a stranger in these lands and the last thing he needed was to make a scene... A bearded man approached them both, clearly a leader type. "What have we here?" His voice was deep and wise, someone to respect. Whether Yuii was impatient, in a hurry or she just knew the guy, she jumped right in without hesitation. "Found her in the greens, not far in. One of them gutted her mother." Them? She might have mentioned something about a dark and nefarious creature lurking deep in the forest. Seemed it was lucky circumstances that he and yuii came across the little fawn when they did. The bearded man questioned Kaen in all this, but Yuii quickly chimed in, drawing the attention away from the red headed Sunan. The man begrudgingly accepted the fawn, even though he was full up. Kaen gave the fawn one last chin rub before setting out just as Yuii had done. He wondered if he would ever see the blue haired enchantress again...

[OOC MFT, Sorry it kinda just fell off at the end lol, I have no excuse other than being lazy. Also Topic left/closed]