Nanjiro Tsubame, twelve years old. A trained child warrior from Kumogakure. Despite her age and stature she is worth a few dozen normal civilians. Having attained the rank of Genin, she is now a contract soldier in the village’s military endeavors. Today’s contract is a simple one… Clean The Dojo. Yes, shinobi even get hired out to complete these kinds of task once in a while. Usually they’re genin just like Tsubame and usually the client has a matter of wealth or connections to make it happen. Such was the case on this day. A swordmaster who had once trained many shinobi and civilians alike had grown weak with age. His students have abandoned the temple and now Kumogakure sends him a low rank shinobi to tend to the play every so often.
Worn down red shrine archways greet the young girl as she ascended equally worn down cobble steps. There must’ve been over a hundred of them as she climbed the unused mountain path to the small mansion like school at the top. The kunoichi usually enjoyed the sound of her sandals clapping against cobblestone, but intrusive moss and vines tore the stone apart and dampened the sound. The air was thick and moist as she breathed in the breath of the dense woodlands that blanketed this mountain. At the top and through the last archway, Tsubame came to what could only be called a clearing in the most generous of ways. The woods had almost claimed this once proud school. Even though this was the correct place and the correct time, Tsubame was certain that no one could possibly live here. Her green eyes scanned over the place as she searched for a sign of human life to go to. In her idle she entered the grounds and went in search of her benefactor.
”Careful Tsubame.” The ghost inside her ancient sword warned. ”Old men are prone to grab at young things like you.”
”You know this from experience Ganesh-san?” She playfully teased but could feel the spirit’s unamused gaze through their empathic link.
The girl traveled through halls that were untouched by human feet for years, halls that had trees growing through them, and rooms that no longer had four walls. This was a hotel for vegetation now. At the heart of the compound though, the layout shifted ever so slightly to something more man-made. At least, man-maintained. The hardwood floors were routinely polished and the paper screens had been repaired. Walls erect and decorations placed against them. A scripture was repeated over and over again in the artwork but the script was so elaborately flourished that Tsubame couldn’t quite read it. It was something about a true cut coming from the body instead of the blade.
Into a large open room, she found what she could only guess to be the main instruction hall. This was the heart where man still laid claim on these ruins. A large wooden plaque at the far end listed the school’s name, there were candles lit along the side, and chandeliers hung from the vaulted ceiling. Racks of wooden weapons lined the walls, painted lines were on the floor as markers for the students, as well as several large squares for sparring sessions.
”Act like you were raised with sense!” Ganesh barked before Tsubame could take her first steps into the room. ”This is a school for the sword. Take of your shoes and bow.”
The girl did just as she was told and bowed out of respect for the blood and sweat people had shed in this place under the pursuit of a pure sword. She came to the center of the room where there were cleaning supplies like floor wax, rags, and buckets to fetch water with. Upon closer inspection of the splendor of the room, it was really only decent because of the ruined state of the rest of the building. There was a thick layer of dust on everything. Beside the supplies she found a note.
“I can’t be bothered to babysit you. Clean the place proper or I wont pay.”
There was a momentary silence greater than before- destroyed by Ganesh’s laughter from within Tsubame’s mind. It was like he finally met his kin.
”No job worth doing is worth doing incorrectly!” Tsubame took the black ribbon from her hair and used it to tie up the sleeves of her kimono. She traded Ganesh for the mop and bucket and set to work. For the rest of the day she ran up and down the floors, hunched over so her rag wearing hands could clean. She used the wall walking technique to clean the fifteen foot high ceilings. She even went through the added motion of wiping down every weapon and candlestick throughout the room. It took nearly six hours to clean the place from top to bottom and the client still hadn’t arrived. There wasn’t much more for her to do so the kunoichi left the room with another placed, placed on her sandals, and returned to the village to report a completed mission.
WC: 862
[End Thread]
Worn down red shrine archways greet the young girl as she ascended equally worn down cobble steps. There must’ve been over a hundred of them as she climbed the unused mountain path to the small mansion like school at the top. The kunoichi usually enjoyed the sound of her sandals clapping against cobblestone, but intrusive moss and vines tore the stone apart and dampened the sound. The air was thick and moist as she breathed in the breath of the dense woodlands that blanketed this mountain. At the top and through the last archway, Tsubame came to what could only be called a clearing in the most generous of ways. The woods had almost claimed this once proud school. Even though this was the correct place and the correct time, Tsubame was certain that no one could possibly live here. Her green eyes scanned over the place as she searched for a sign of human life to go to. In her idle she entered the grounds and went in search of her benefactor.
”Careful Tsubame.” The ghost inside her ancient sword warned. ”Old men are prone to grab at young things like you.”
”You know this from experience Ganesh-san?” She playfully teased but could feel the spirit’s unamused gaze through their empathic link.
The girl traveled through halls that were untouched by human feet for years, halls that had trees growing through them, and rooms that no longer had four walls. This was a hotel for vegetation now. At the heart of the compound though, the layout shifted ever so slightly to something more man-made. At least, man-maintained. The hardwood floors were routinely polished and the paper screens had been repaired. Walls erect and decorations placed against them. A scripture was repeated over and over again in the artwork but the script was so elaborately flourished that Tsubame couldn’t quite read it. It was something about a true cut coming from the body instead of the blade.
Into a large open room, she found what she could only guess to be the main instruction hall. This was the heart where man still laid claim on these ruins. A large wooden plaque at the far end listed the school’s name, there were candles lit along the side, and chandeliers hung from the vaulted ceiling. Racks of wooden weapons lined the walls, painted lines were on the floor as markers for the students, as well as several large squares for sparring sessions.
”Act like you were raised with sense!” Ganesh barked before Tsubame could take her first steps into the room. ”This is a school for the sword. Take of your shoes and bow.”
The girl did just as she was told and bowed out of respect for the blood and sweat people had shed in this place under the pursuit of a pure sword. She came to the center of the room where there were cleaning supplies like floor wax, rags, and buckets to fetch water with. Upon closer inspection of the splendor of the room, it was really only decent because of the ruined state of the rest of the building. There was a thick layer of dust on everything. Beside the supplies she found a note.
“I can’t be bothered to babysit you. Clean the place proper or I wont pay.”
There was a momentary silence greater than before- destroyed by Ganesh’s laughter from within Tsubame’s mind. It was like he finally met his kin.
”No job worth doing is worth doing incorrectly!” Tsubame took the black ribbon from her hair and used it to tie up the sleeves of her kimono. She traded Ganesh for the mop and bucket and set to work. For the rest of the day she ran up and down the floors, hunched over so her rag wearing hands could clean. She used the wall walking technique to clean the fifteen foot high ceilings. She even went through the added motion of wiping down every weapon and candlestick throughout the room. It took nearly six hours to clean the place from top to bottom and the client still hadn’t arrived. There wasn’t much more for her to do so the kunoichi left the room with another placed, placed on her sandals, and returned to the village to report a completed mission.
WC: 862
[End Thread]