Shiren was sitting cross-legged, hanging his head down low in quiet reflection and remembrance. The flowers he had brought to his mother's grave fluttered lightly in the breeze...they were blue. That was her favorite color. A wreath of those blue flowers sat atop the mound where he knew her coffin was buried, having watched it enter the ground himself, watching her being laid to rest among the other Leaf ninja decorated enough to earn a place here. She was known as a fine kunoichi to many, well-respected for her abilities as a medical ninja...she probably could have made that branch's equivalent of Jonin if she had wanted to. If she hadn't preferred the love and companionship of her family to her work. Yes, indeed, she was known as a skilled doctor, but only to Shiren, his father, and three brothers was she known as the best mother to walk the face of the earth.
He sighed. He wasn't really sad anymore about losing her; more, he was merely confused, if anything. Death never truly felt that far away from him, and there was only six feet of dirt separating him and his mother's physical body. Surely, her soul couldn't be separated by much either, could it? Where did she go? She couldn't be far, she just couldn't. He...he couldn't explain it. But everytime his dad told him "she's watching over you..." that's the feeling he seemed to constantly get whenever she was brought up. Like she'd never gone in the first place. Like she was right there. Like he could just reach out and...
Something touched his back.
He whipped his head around, clenching his hands into fists and prepared to use whatever meager amount of taijutsu he had learned if need be. But there was nothing there. He blinked. Maybe he just needed some sleep.
As he got up from his seated position, however, he felt that touch again. And this time, he saw ethereal fingers creeping over his shoulder as that tactile feeling followed. But somehow...he knew this wasn't dangerous. He could feel it. He knew it somewhere deep inside of him...perhaps because his mother used to hold his shoulder in just the same way.
"I haven't gone anywhere."
His head turned at the sound of his mom's unmistakable voice, seeing half-visible humanoid figures cloaked in a pale light out of the corner of his eye. For the briefest of moments...he could've sworn he saw leaf shinobi. And chief among them, his own mother, smiling at him, looking to be on the verge of holding him close in a hug like she always did.
" I am always with you. We, are always with you."
Shiren blinked. And as quickly as these ghostly figures had appeared to him, they were gone.
He was surprised, somewhat. He hadn't truly experienced anything like this before...at least, not until he began to learn how to control his chakra in the Academy. He'd begun hearing bumps in the night and the like, having dreams of strange realms beyond his own, around that time. But nothing quite like this.
Yet at the same time it reassured him. He smiled as he turned his body around fully to bow towards his mother's grave, closing his eyes in contentment. At the very least he now knew...he too, would always be with her. That...and he now knew that whatever just transpired here, he had to learn more about, post haste. He exited the graveyard quickly, before sprinting off in the direction of the academy. He had no idea what answers he would find there, but it was the best chance he had at understanding this new, unknown facet of his budding abilities with his sensei's help. And, perhaps, at understanding how he could hear and feel his beloved mother reassuring him once more from beyond the mortal coil.
(WC: 641 for discovering Ghost Walker)
He sighed. He wasn't really sad anymore about losing her; more, he was merely confused, if anything. Death never truly felt that far away from him, and there was only six feet of dirt separating him and his mother's physical body. Surely, her soul couldn't be separated by much either, could it? Where did she go? She couldn't be far, she just couldn't. He...he couldn't explain it. But everytime his dad told him "she's watching over you..." that's the feeling he seemed to constantly get whenever she was brought up. Like she'd never gone in the first place. Like she was right there. Like he could just reach out and...
Something touched his back.
He whipped his head around, clenching his hands into fists and prepared to use whatever meager amount of taijutsu he had learned if need be. But there was nothing there. He blinked. Maybe he just needed some sleep.
As he got up from his seated position, however, he felt that touch again. And this time, he saw ethereal fingers creeping over his shoulder as that tactile feeling followed. But somehow...he knew this wasn't dangerous. He could feel it. He knew it somewhere deep inside of him...perhaps because his mother used to hold his shoulder in just the same way.
"I haven't gone anywhere."
His head turned at the sound of his mom's unmistakable voice, seeing half-visible humanoid figures cloaked in a pale light out of the corner of his eye. For the briefest of moments...he could've sworn he saw leaf shinobi. And chief among them, his own mother, smiling at him, looking to be on the verge of holding him close in a hug like she always did.
" I am always with you. We, are always with you."
Shiren blinked. And as quickly as these ghostly figures had appeared to him, they were gone.
He was surprised, somewhat. He hadn't truly experienced anything like this before...at least, not until he began to learn how to control his chakra in the Academy. He'd begun hearing bumps in the night and the like, having dreams of strange realms beyond his own, around that time. But nothing quite like this.
Yet at the same time it reassured him. He smiled as he turned his body around fully to bow towards his mother's grave, closing his eyes in contentment. At the very least he now knew...he too, would always be with her. That...and he now knew that whatever just transpired here, he had to learn more about, post haste. He exited the graveyard quickly, before sprinting off in the direction of the academy. He had no idea what answers he would find there, but it was the best chance he had at understanding this new, unknown facet of his budding abilities with his sensei's help. And, perhaps, at understanding how he could hear and feel his beloved mother reassuring him once more from beyond the mortal coil.
(WC: 641 for discovering Ghost Walker)