An Ode to the Sea [Privitish?]

[Tsukasa Mikasa]

Grains of grainy texture would silently slip through the streams within the Nara’s hands, his tundra gaze turning towards the semi-calm waters. Each lapping of foam against the banks would send a coral haired youth scuttling about, frantic sounds of laughter mixing into the airs above. The other in question was his other self, Sho’s personal embodiment of childish endeavors along with another important emotion would remain anonymous for the time being.

To provide insight, due to tragic events and hardening his soul for the task of former ANBU Sennin, he cast aside emotions to remain stoic and allowing a near perfect following of a Nara trait. This however didn’t mean he couldn’t allow himself to trail about in others, his others.

“Quiet down a bit, you don’t want to disturb any others nearby.” he comments, settling down against the sand, allowing for the waves to near reach. “Is the sea beautiful, Sho-nii?” the coral hair youth known as Keiko inquires. Upon further inspection one would be able to identify a key characteristic, hazed over spiraling spheres – blind. “I wasn’t aware we were near the sea.” he responds in a drooling tone. Of course this response would not fair well and the scuffling across the sand, louder thumps, would catch his attention.

Looming above was their trusty summon, Kuma, an ironic name and utterly against his species; though it was kept to due to Keiko growing fond of the creature and not understanding the visual difference between the two animals at the time. “Kuma-kun, raise your paw against Sho-nii, he is being rude!” she puffs her cheeks outward, the tiger known as Kuma (Bear), would press the pads against his bearers visage. “Ow....” he responds in a low tone, a clear sign of pain.

“Gotcha! That will teach you, Sho-nii!” a pause, “Come Kuma-kun! Back to the waters edge!” she commands, clicking her feet against the ribs of the beast. Much to his dismay the ivory stripped feline would march forward, halting against the oceans embrace. “You are a boring bear at times, Kuma-kun.” she comments, clicking her tongue to survey the sea. “It’s huuuuuge!” arms spreading forth.​

 

[Kari]

There was something to be said about Arcadia, about how it seemed to epitomize the most fundamentally core aspect of the country: rocks. There was no lack of it in the underground village, nor on the sea -- really, more accurately, an underground pool -- surrounding it. It wasn't exactly an exciting nor particularly interesting place; it was dimly lit and sparsely populated, nothing more than what could have been found on a late night at some beach on the Kiri islands.

It was a day she was wasting where should might have been able to complete another class and rid herself of the gods-forsaken title of being a student again. Rather than being annoyed with the condescending lectures of some kid who thought they were the hottest shit in the country, she had to content herself with some second-rate beach she couldn't fully immerse herself in. Supposedly the waters were naturally heated from some underground source, not that it mattered for her -- she couldn't feel. Anything. Such was the life of a puppet.

She vocalized a groan and stabbed her foot into the gritty sand repeatedly, considering what she could actually do here. Leaving would be a waste of a day; roaming around the town -- if it could even be called that -- would only increase the chance, as unlikely as it was, one might see through what she was. Perhaps roam the beachfront and find these jewels that supposedly littered the underground world like trash in a city? It was something.

The red-headed girl settled on that activity and roamed the beachfront. The calm waters lapping against the sand brought nothing up and acted only to add a calming sound to the already boring setting. Only the wet sand seemed to glitter against the limited light hitting the beach as she roamed; whatever larger stones were visible didn't seem like gems more than clumps of sand and dirt.

Some voices could be heard not too far off; three shapes, two people standing, one with their arms wide, and some animal. The former medical sennin paid no heed to them as she continued moving closer by, searching for any riches that the Sea might hold.

WC: 364​

In which Kari makes her way over but doesn't really do anything else.

 

[Tsukasa Mikasa]

Fortunately, the sonar of the coral hair youth would retrieve a series of various objects roaming about. In the distance were several, if not hundreds; the further away from the origin point of echolocation the ‘fuzzier’ the spectrum became. Never the least the nearest would peak her interest for the time being. “Let’s go, this way Kuma-kun!” she calls forth against the roar of the sea, jabbing a digit outwards against the water.

Needless to say the feline was not so keen on treading through the chilled waters and would immediately halt in place until the young girl could gather her bearings. “Oh . . . Oh!” she swivels about upon the stripped large cat, repositioning her posture and initial bearing. “This way!” she commands as a low growl would emit from the lips of the beast, “Humor me, this once.” he mutters, with a faint uttering of a sigh.

With the command from the superior issue, the summon would follow suit and guide his other upon his back, still cursing the day his name became that of a mockery; even if it wasn’t intentional. “Something wrong, Kuma-kun?” Keiko inquires with a faint laugh, excited to have a free ride.

Never the least the young woman would cease the movement of the feline, heels clicking into his ribs and in result issuing a low groan. “Hello there!” she calls out towards Kari, though her general line of sight wasn’t entirely pointed in the correct vicinity. In fact the young woman had managed to rotate about, still facing towards her superior. It wasn’t helping that his eyes were closed, blocking all attempts at vision, not that she was ever allowed to peer through his gaze.

Thankfully the feline would serve about, allowing the teen to make proper contact with the other, another attempt taking place. “Hello there!” a pause, “You are in front of me, correct?” she inquires before clicking her tongue. “Yup, you are there.” she nods before leaping down from her perch, “This is Kuma the bear and I’m Keiko!” she introduces herself. Though, Kuma was a tiger.​

 

[Kari]

Perhaps a life ago, Kari might've given up the menial task she imposed on herself to talk to strangers. It wasn't that she couldn't be bothered with distractions; rather, she was actively seeking to avoid attention: her mannerisms might attract it of those related to the Isaki should the name of "Karurosu" slip, anything else -- if the two were Arcadians -- might give them reason to realize she wasn't exactly normal. Not that they were, either, with their crazy colours and all.

Her eyes scanned over the area she had just checked, seeking any kind of unfamiliar glint with half-assed effort. A woman's voice rang out from the direction those people were. Had they noticed her? Friendly or not, them noticing her was troublesome. She leaned up to face the people, a questioning "hmm?" murmured as she did.

They were approaching the Akiyama, yet only the beast seemed to be facing her. Was it Kari they had called to? With the beast's steady approach, she steeled herself; she couldn't make a mistake. Pink and blue hair and some exotic beast? They fit the bill for being Arcadian fairly well; would they discover what she was, it was more likely they would want her dead. Kari didn't want to have to resort to violence to leave here.

She brought herself to give a friendly grin to the girl sitting on the big cat. She vocalized a tongue click before coming to the total realization of where Kari was, apparently. Blind? If she was, that was one she wouldn't have to worry about. The man, however, was still a wild card.

"Hello, I'm Kari," she responded, neglecting to comment on the tiger. If her clicking, which apparently she was adept enough (somehow) to locate a person could not discern a creature, Kari definitely hadn't anything to worry about from this Keiko.

"Did you need something?"

 

[Tsukasa Mikasa]

Immediately the youth would bow politely, “Pleasure to meet you!” she beams upwards, though her glance at first would arc wide before settling on a general location. For a brief moment in time Keiko would find herself puzzled towards the initial inquiry; did one truly have a need to communicate with one another or was it mere human nature to seek such?

Delicate digits would begin to stroke her loose locks, eventually settling them behind her right ear, “Mmm…” she pauses before resting her left palm against the feline. In a far more ordinary encounter and response the coral hair girl would’ve been able to click together in a reasonable amount of time; however she found herself momentarily perplexed.

“Mmm…” she glances to the side, upon further inspection her toes creating circles in the sand, “This is the sea, correct?” she mumbles in the initial stages, “Sho-nii won’t play with me and Kuma-kun is pretending to be a cat so he won't go into the waters with me!” she declares, fingers curling against her palms – coming to a rest against her chin. Behind the coral hair youth a low groan would surface from the feline, though this would go ignored for the time being.

“Will you play with me? It’s difficult to go into the sea by myself.” she lies, but it wasn’t often she met one close to her appearance; rather she was going off height due to her abilities. “Kari-chan!” she leans forward, if her eyes weren’t hazy then a brimming diamond would surely appear in each blue sphere.

In the distance the Nara would continue to settle against the sand, hands behind his back and not a care in the world. A mere shepherd watching over his other; Keiko was particularly important to him, though that went without say. " . . . . "​

 

[Kari]

Kari kept reserved as far as her motions went, giving only a nod to Keiko's bow. It didn't give any kind of indication of what it was they wanted with her; the guy kept to himself a bit farther away and the beast -- quite the bear it was! -- at the very least wasn't aggressive. Her only worries was to see what it was that this Keiko wanted to get rid of her sooner rather than later, or at least limited what it was she could determine about the Akiyama.

Kari's attention turned from the guy in the back back to Keiko, still lost in thought over just what it was she needed her for. The coral haired girl gave a second hum before asking what seemed an obvious question. Without leaving room to answer, she added a bit more, leading to the obvious question -- the one thing Kari didn't want to hear: she wanted for Kari to accompany her for whatever. Though Keiko seemed well enough natured from the few seconds she interacted with the adopted Akiyama, it still wasn't something Kari should do.

Would she play with her. It was honestly amusing how innocent the request was; despite appearing a child, she was formerly a man, former sennin no less, of mid-twenties. Perhaps were Kari what she appeared, she'd be excited about a request like that, perhaps she'd already be in the cave waters. The first two rounds would likely go with Kari declining before Keiko pleading or insisting on it.

"Well..." Kari hesitated, the girl then leaning forward calling her name as some kind of plea. "I actually don't know how to swim," the lie came to her all at once. "Besides, don't Arcadians learn how to swim at pretty young ages?" she added, referencing the odd hair colours. If it were false, that'd be one less thing for her to worry about, too.

"But if you have any other ideas on how to play, I guess I could play with you and Kuma and, uh, Sho-nii you said?"

 

[Tsukasa Mikasa]

Briefly for a mere moment of time, the coral hair youth would find herself perplexed; how could one dwell near the sea and not have the capability of swimming? Truly perplexing, however this would not demotivate the youth, “I’ll teach you then! I’m an excellent swimmer!” she assures Kari. To note, was one truly capable of being an excellent swimmer if you were blind? Odds were not more than likely and Sho never once allowed the venturing past waist deep waters.

Finally, the term Arcadian would register within their minds, pinging back and forth in order to retrieve a definition. Before the Nara could raise himself from the sands his other would respond for the both of them, “We aren’t from around here, we travel quite a bit.” she chimes before leaning forward upon her tipy-toes. Needless to say this would suffice as a proper response, “I mean, we aren’t from Iwagakure!” she nods before turning about, arms spiraling outwards, “Though I enjoy being here.” A pause, “At least so far.”

To be truthful, the Nara hadn’t found a ton of faults outside of the regular village conflicts, not that he wasn’t used to such ordeals.

“Correct.” the male would respond, muffling a yawn as he draws closer to the trio. “It isn’t often that she is allowed to be a child.” he comments, his vocals were particularly drooling, but they were not a peak of excitement either; far too neutral. “I would be thankful if you gave her the opportunity.” he mutters while saddling the feline, leaning back to gaze up at the sky.

Silently the male and the feline would distance, in case of causing unease. “Are you sure you don’t want to swim?” she gestures towards the wrong direction, her bearing being lost once again; though this was becoming quite normal at this stage. "You won't melt, promise!"​

 

[Kari]

A predictable move by Keiko, her insistence on swimming; though, really, she couldn't. She wasn't she sure enough with this body yet, despite the months she had to practice with it. She couldn't feel, she wouldn't know how strong the tide would pull against her nor how hard she should resist; she didn't know how the water would react against the corpse she wore. She didn't know what could happen and she refused to discover those answers with these strangers.

"Really, I shouldn't!" she insisted, her eyes shot down to feign embarrassment, "not without my big brother here, at least. He told me I shouldn't swim alone." A lie like the rest, but it seemed a believable enough excuse, and something that didn't seem too far-fetched for him to actually say; it was a shame Kazuhiko never seemed to show up, as him being around would make for a safer environment to tread the new waters as he knew more about this body than even Kari.

Travelers? From one of the other major villages? Minor village? Refugee? Calling themselves travelers was too vague. Kari's chance to question it was cut off by the cut off by the guy -- Sho, apparently -- joining in on the shot conversation. "I -- uh, of course. I have no problem with it, I just really shouldn't swim," she was mildly surprised by how formally he spoke opposed to Keiko's more casual nature.

"Sorry, but I really can't! I'm still up to play, though," she offered. "If you want to, still, do you have any ideas?"

 

[Tsukasa Mikasa]

Kari would prove to be the victory amongst the pair, Keiko would having to accept that her newest companions refusal. The very instance the subject of a sibling surfaced, the coral hair youth instantly understood and would no longer inquire further; having one herself made this fairly painless to accept. “Oh, alright.” a momentary pause, “Sho-nii doesn’t allow me to do something by myself either.” she nods profusely for a few moments. An apologetic grin would be given towards the tomato hair lass, “I’m sorry if I seemed pushy, I was a bit too excited!” she admits, rubbing the back of her head and in turn sticking her tongue out playfully.

“Hmm..” the girl begins to ponder as her attention would shift towards the silent other, Sho was not going to make his presence known further unless inquired upon. “Oh!” she swerves a thumb towards the older one amongst the two, “Does your brother often watch over you?” she inquires, her vocals dropping into a whisper, “He is afraid I’ll get lost, but I always tell him I can find him again; people are usually nice to me!” she nods before making a gesture with her hands, a sign for Kari to grasp upon her own.

“Since you don’t want to go swimming, then would you mind showing me something fun to do around here?” she inquires sweetly. “If you show me a certain place you’ll have to describe it though..” she drifts off the ending of her sentence.

Regardless of Kari’s status in the village, to learn more about it was desirable while having fun doing so; Sho’s orders. “We can even ride upon Kuma, he’s a big bear and can support both of us easily!” she encourages. In her mind, those around her age would more than likely be overly eager as much as she generally was.

"That would be desirable, I can take a brief nap, if you wouldn't mind looking after Keiko-chan for me." a pause, "Only for a mere bit." to signify that he acknowledged she could be quite the handful.​

 

[Kari]

Had she known Keiko would've submitted to a brother's authority, she would've started off the case with that comment. Probably. Perhaps not, as it had only come to her forethought just then. Kari remained response-less until the unprompted apology: "Its fine, really. I'm excited too!" she returned quickly. Perhaps she was; it wasn't as though she wanted to avoid all chances at socialization, hypothetical fears of what might occur if some conservative native discovered her secret just outweighed the desire due to how likely it seemed.

The girl had said it before, they weren't from Iwa -- whether it were true or not was not completely certain, but it seemed likely -- so staying with them for now, if not just for a little bit, was alright, wasn't it? The girl kept trying to make small talk, rather than plea-ing for the sea as she was before. Perhaps she hadn't any idea of what to do here; admittedly, Kari hadn't, either, sans entering the Arcadians' living areas (that, however, was probably the worst thing they could do).

Did Kazuhiko often keep an eye on her? It was laughable, really; after those first few weeks of rehabilitation, he practically vanished, leaving Kari alone in this strange land and strange body. To begin, then, she could hardly move or even keep a conversation due to the exhaustion that came with even talking. "No," she admitted, "he mostly left me to myself until I got sick. Since he's a doctor, whenever I did, he'd take care of me." It was close enough to the truth to not reveal anything.

She continued with a whisper, not wanting the man to hear; it was cute in a way, perhaps it would've been moreso if they were more acquainted: Keiko almost seemed upset of her brother wanting her nearby. He was protective of her. It was sweet. Keiko offered her hand, Kari returned her's, latching as lightly as she could to ensure she didn't hurt the girl. "Its good that he's protective! If you're not from here, its easy to get lost!" A sad truth; Kari had wandered Maruishi for weeks before getting her bearings. Iwa and Arcadia were still entirely uncharted territories for the Akiyama.

Then on to what they would do: since Kari had already plead for it to not be the Sea, making a similar request to avoid others would be a bit suspicious. "This, uh, is actually my first first time here," she admitted what was perhaps the first wholly honest thing throughout the entire conversation, "I'm from Maruishi, the city way up from here."

Regarding what they could do, Kari left a little pause before continuing, "little ways from here, there's a huge village -- but I'm sure you saw that on your way here -- and there's a lot of cool nature stuff! Apparently you can find a bunch of gemstones in and on the ground; that's what I was trying to do before you found me, but I couldn't find any on the coast." She tried to push for the latter: the farther they could keep from the Arcadians, the better. "I can describe it all, no problem!" she added, returning Keiko's level of enthusiasm.

"Uh, sure, I guess?" Kari hadn't even ridden a tiger, nevermind a tiger others claimed to be a bear, and wasn't sure how to react to it. If it got violent, she was certain she could handle herself against it, but not without revealing that she was, at the very least, a shinobi. Still, it seemed an easier method for getting around, and she wouldn't decline it unless some reason came about to do so.

The guy spoke, then. Too trusting, in all, these two were; Kari was some complete stranger in a strange land and he seemed completely content with leaving her with some stranger they just so happened to encounter on a beach while he napped. "Sure thing," she answered back without too much delay, "it should be a lot of fun!" It wasn't that Kari was going to do anything malicious; it was just that this situation allowed for so much to go wrong for them. The village's culture was a violent one; were Kari not a shinobi, they could easily be overwhelmed.

"So then," Kari returned her attention to the pink-haired girl and away from the hypothetical dangers with this scenario for the two, "any ideas on what to do? See the town? Check out nature and see if we can find some gems? Anything else?"

WC: 753​

 

[Tsukasa Mikasa]

"I don't get lost that easily!" she remarks gesturing about, "The sea is behind us!" she comments, pointing towards the buildings lining the distance. Within a few moments of time would she notice that the general direction was not the desired; resulting in a flurry of jabbing in the correct general vicinity - a brief laugh following suite. On an entirely different note, to be met with the hand of another was a welcoming experience; it wasn't often that the youth was allowed such a privilege outside of pity.

Upon being notified that Kari hadn’t traveled towards this specific area within the village was a surprise; though, judging by voice, they were similar in age – at least that was her basic understanding. In short, it might have not been such a daunting concept to adhere, “Then we are the same!” she nods, “I wasn’t allowed to travel as often as I would have liked in our previous village.” she murmurs before shrugging her shoulders, “Not sure why though.” she laughs gently, though in reality she certainly had an inkling of an idea.

“Where do we wish to go…?” she inquires rhetorically aloud. A single digit would begin to prod against her chin, her hazed gaze wandering over the lands as if able to spot an amusing aspect to explore. Unfortunately, with the vast sea behind their backs, her sonar would only be able to identify a flat mass and one with a lot of buildings, foliage, trees, and items of that nature. To be more blunt, nothing extremely helpful. However, the mere mentioning of gems, not entirely sure if this was a farce, her spirits would be lifted tremendously. “G-gems?!” she exclaims before swiftly maneuvering Kari’s hands upon Kuma’s back, “Lead him to where we need to go; though usually he responds by tugging on his ears!” she nods with a widening grin. “I rather you not, merely gesturing is sufficient enough.” he finally speaks with a groan, a rich baritone - Kuma was in fact a Feline summon.

“Don’t be such a stick in the mud, Kuma-bear!” she pats him on the ribs, “I hope we find a nicely colored one!” not that she could detail such items; though the thought of further interacting with Kari was an entertaining thought. Keiko’s mind had been made up, though for better or worse the duo would find out at some further point. Perhaps they would find a nicely smooth pebble; either way she wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.

One final blurting of breath would escape her lips, "What is your brother like?"

[OOC: My apologies on the wait, holiday fun.]​

 

[Kari]

Keiko gave a short defense about herself; with it, how bad her eyesight really was grew apparent. Kari couldn't pity her, she had seen plenty of people with varied disabilities in her time; hell, she was a puppet who could barely even move for months. Eyesight seemed like the only thing she had that was a constant. She return a grin in response to the girl's laugh. At least Keiko didn't seem outwardly bothered by the obvious difficulties -- who knew how long she had to adjust?

"I suppose we are," Kari agreed. It wasn't entirely true, but, really, it didn't matter too much; it ended the topic. She was free to travel where ever, now moreso than before given Kazuhiko's absence. Beyond the gates was perhaps the only place the Akiyama might have difficulty, given her current identity as a student. "You came from one of the villages?" she'd inquire on; that was an interesting tidbit. "One of the major ones?"

The pink-haired girl put some thought into what they should do when Kari gave her the option to decide; the suggestion Kari soon gave of gems got her excited. She was tugged towards the 'bear', and told to lead them to where ever they'd find the gems. "I-I really don't think I shoul--," then came a voice from perhaps the last place she might've expected: Kumo himself. The feline talked. What.

"So you talk..." Kari muttered, doing what she could to not overreact. "Gesturing would probably be better for both of us. There, uh, is one problem though," she added, "I'm not exactly sure where the gems are. I only know that they're supposed to be pretty common here -- they're not. Not at the beach, at least -- so we could go anywhere to look for them."

"We could look a bit more inland," she added as a suggestion. She walked ahead of the group, slow enough for them to know to follow, as her method of gesturing. "Hmm?" she reacted to Keiko's final question, "I dunno. I guess he's pretty dedicated to his work? He gets to work on these projects of his and he dedicates all of his energy towards it until the next one catches his eye, regardless of how complete or incomplete the last one was." She could've made something up about Kazuhiko to make him seem a bit better, but it didn't matter too much.

"Your Sho-nii seemed pretty quiet before. How is he like?" she returned.

WC: 414​

<i></i>
Sorry about the delay on the post.

 

[Tsukasa Mikasa]

Despite the mentality displaced upon the vessel known as Keiko, even she could understand the interest Kari held towards learning where the pair had ventured from. A delicate index finger would begin to prod against her cheek, there was no harm in telling of such an item; “Kirigakure!” she finally chimes. In truth, Sho felt that the villages downfall befell onset to his hands, he had ventured for far too long and the outcome was crystal clear - as clear as the icing that encased the frigid wasteland.

Keiko would streak a hand through her coral locks, her thoughts momentarily became mingled, though she was quickly returning to her natural state. “Of course Kuma-kun talks!” a pause, a quick patting following upon the beasts ribs, “He is just stubborn and hasn’t returned to the other world in quite some time.” she comments, lowering her vocals into a whisper, “He is homesick!” she mutters yet again. In truth, once again, the creature was a personal summon which was granted extensive amounts of time to wander about with Sho. Concerning Kuma? No comment from his end, quiet as could be.

The pitter pattering of heavy paw against the lands below would be enough to signify they were trailing behind Kari, “He is sometimes like that.” she addresses, “I suppose it just depends on the topic?” she questions herself aloud. “Though, usually he is more conversational!” Keiko would begin to assure her newest companion, “He is protective, as you can tell!” another pause, “He is generally always serious –" her digits beginning to shape her facial expression to make it slate.

“Venturing is fun.” her vocals lacking any sort of happiness.

It wouldn’t take long for the façade to end as her lips would part to allow fits of laughter to escape. “I would say he is also dedicated to his work as well.” she nods.​

 

[Tsukasa Mikasa]

[OOC: A solid month has passed since my post. If you wish to roleplay once again sometime, send a PM my way! Safe to call this a topic left due to inactivity.]