Kobayashi Maru [Exam/Tutor - Teke]

[Mikaboshi]

[col][Quick qualification-- gonna mark this thread as a Tutoring thread.]

The sun was still high in the sky as Katsuo waited for his examinee to arrive at the appointed place. She wasn't late by any means but he'd arrived early to ensure everything was prepared for the coming exam.

A straightforward man, Katsuo had a straightforward exam planned and it involved escorting a group of merchants across the desert to Soon's Haven. The trip all together would be just shy of a week long-- roughly three days out and roughly three days back --and wasn't planned to be dangerous in any way. Still, it was customary for any merchant cavalcades moving between the two cities to avoid any trouble. There were a lot of things out in the desert which could pose trouble to an unprotected group of travelers out in the winds. Between large desert predators, bandits and now the looming threat of potential predation from members of the enigmatic Sovereign Academy there was more to be concerned about than ever before.

Still, these merchants weren't the type that usually got themselves wrapped up in things like kidnappings or politically motivated terrorist attacks. A bunch of men and women who sold spices and tailor supplies, they were just regular folk trying to make their way in a world that had more hungry teeth than good hearts. The objective of the mission was simple; escort the caravan, protect the cargo and don't let anybody get killed. All together there were two hooded caravans, three merchants and their families making fourteen people and four horses. From the state, Katsuo had requisitioned two domesticated riding birds called sandrunners for himself and Teke. He wasn't sure if she knew how to ride one but now was as good a time as any to learn.

He'd been hesitant to agree when Sousuke had asked him to proctor an exam for this teenager that he'd apparently taken under his wing but the Kazekage had somehow talked him into it and as a result, here he was. Already settled into the saddle of his riding bird, Katsuo leaned forward against the outer feathers of the sandrunner's neck and waited with his hands folded beneath his head. He really hoped Sousuke's protege wasn't a weirdo.|[legend="[[b][u]OOC Notes[/u][/b]] - [[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkJZVNC21Cw]BGM[/url]]"]

Sunahoshi Katsuo - The Last Sunahoshi

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[Teke]

The tiny, blonde girl moved hastily through the streets of the village with excitement radiating from her body. Finally, she had gotten instructions to meet an instructor for her long awaited exam. In fact, she was so excited she'd not even bothered to sit down for breakfast, instead deciding to eat on the run before dashing out of the door in her... questionable... battle suit, obviously made by Sousuke to anyone who knew him. She was getting a few stares thanks to the combination of the suit and the food hanging out of her mouth, but it was probably the choice of food that was getting the most attention as the girl had decided to grab an uncooked slab of sirloin. So she had blood smeared all over the lower portion of her mouth and jaw which was only getting messier as her shark-like teeth tore through the meat with no mercy.

Sousuke would probably be mad if he'd managed to catch her eating the raw beef, he'd been trying so hard to wean her onto more acceptable foods. She'd certainly tried but raw was just the best and she refused to give it up just yet, at least she hadn't eaten anyone yet but this exam could get interesting and that was the one thing giving her butterflies in her stomach.

This was her first time passing through the Toraono Dojo since she'd entered the village nearly six years ago at this point, having being knocked out at the time she was initially captured. She didn't know who she was looking except for the fact that the exam involved a caravan of which she expected to see several. Traders were always coming back and forth to peddle their wares after all. She had since finished her meal but had failed to realize the mess her face was in thanks to the excitement. She looked over to the exact place that had been detailed in her letter and spotted a man riding on a giant chicken. "Yeah, looks like a sand ninja." She thought to herself before heading over his way with a big, messy faced smile that showcased her dagger-like teeth. "Hey, you must be Katsuo right? Teke reporting for my exam!" She stood to attention, giving a mock salute the mounted man.

[OOC - Suits current look]

Spoiler

[WC - 386]

 

[Mikaboshi]

[col]With his hopes dashed almost immediately as Teke approached, her mouth region smeared with blood from her breakfast, Katsuo blew a winded sigh and reached over into one of the saddle bags of his sandrunner for one of the filled canteens. He didn't mind the battle suit that she had arrived wearing, he'd certainly teamed up with folks who wore considerably less reasonable attire for adventure before in the past but the blood on her face was too much. Hopping down off of his sandrunner, Katsuo wet down a piece of cloth with the water in the canteen and approached where Teke was doing her salute.

"Yeah, that's me. Teke, right?" He said as he casually tossed the wet cloth at her. "Get your face washed up, you look like somebody busted your teeth in all over your face. You'll scare the civvies."

While he still had a lot to learn himself about particular aspects of shinobi strategy, Katsuo was a venerable desert hunter and tracker and knew blood when he saw it. Teke didn't seem like she was injured so he decided not to press the issue any further for the time being but he made a mental note of it for later if necessary. Hooking the canteen on his belt, he gave her a once over and for the first time since her arrival it hit him how ridiculous the design of her battle suit was. There was only one man in all of Sunagakure who would have a sense of style that bad.

"You already know my name so we'll get right to it. We've been assigned the task of holding this merchant caravel's hand on the road to Soon's Haven. They're pretty mundane as far as cargo goes so we shouldn't run into any real trouble but don't let your guard down. The desert eats people who underestimate it alive."

He'd pause for a moment to allow Teke to ask any questions she might have before moving on to the next part of the agenda. Gesturing over to the other sandrunner, Katsuo indicated it with a jerk of his head in the large flaxen-feathered bird's direction.

"You ever ridden a sandrunner before Teke?"|[legend="[[b][u]OOC Notes[/u][/b]] - [[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkJZVNC21Cw]BGM[/url]]"]

Sunahoshi Katsuo - The Last Sunahoshi

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[Teke]

The tiny girl would nod as the man climbed down from his odd mount and approached her with a damp cloth. She tilted her head to one side as she caught it as she still hadn't caught on to what he meant; She reached up with her hands and ran a finger over her chin and pulled back for a look before chuckling at the sight. "How fuckin' embarrassing!" She exclaimed cheerfully and quickly used the cloth to clean her maw right up, once done and looking sparkly clean she handed the thing back over to him. "Sorry about that, I was eating breakfast on the way over and forgot about the blood." She rubbed the back of her head embarrassedly and grinned wide giving him another good look at those terrifying shark teeth. "And anyway, it'd take some kind of Kage level attack to bust these teeth! They're built to last." She explained proudly, she had little knowledge on how or why she simply knew they were.

With that out of the way she was given a general mission briefing, it was about what she had expected to hear from the gist of her invitation to this exam but she did have a few questions. "I'll assume they aren't all simple fodder if something does happen, being that this type of journey is one they need to make a lot. I am curious about the cargo, more specifically are they transporting any food stuff that could attract things to us?" She asked as she folded her arms across her stomach as she spoke. "I used to live out in the desert so I know a lot of what to expect, though it has been a few years since I've been out here. So long as a Sandwyrm doesn't pop up I think I shouldn't break a sweat." She smiled with a confidence that would tell him that this girl thought extremely high of herself.

Teke eyed up the giant, yellow bird and tried to recall if she truly had even ever seen one of these things, she was pretty sure however that she'd never ridden one. "Can't say I know, the only thing I ever tried to learn to ride was a horse and that didn't go too well." She walked up to the bird and placed a hand on its feathery chest gently. "It does look kinda fun though and it's pretty soft." She was always up for learning new things but she never thought this would be one of the things she would learn during an examination.

[WC - 430]
[Total WC - 816 (2)]

 

[Mikaboshi]

[col]Teke's strange teeth didn't give Katsuo any real pause. His adventures as the Iron Wolf and his tenure in Sunagakure had led him to see many strange things and a young shinobi with sharp teeth was pretty tame by the standards set so far by the Sovereign and their bizarro shinobi wanna-bes. She mentioned that she'd spent some time living in the desert and he marked that as good. For now he'd assume that she knew the basics of desert survival and not have to harp on any of the basics like hydration but still he tucked away a reminder to verify that during the trip. They'd have plenty of time, after all.

As Teke went up and attempted to place her hand on the plumage of the sandrunner it squawked and and firmly pushed her hand away with it's beak. The creature had clearly not made an attempt to attack her but there was a very obvious message behind the action: "Don't touch me".

"Well, lesson number one then. Sandrunners are a lot smarter than horses. They're not quite human smart but they might be the smartest thing walking out there in the winds besides us. They're like dogs in that they can read your mood and emotions and they'll react to that." Laughed Katsuo as he walked up to the sandrunner that had balked at Teke's touch, raised his hand for a moment before the bird looked at him and lowered it's head into his hand. "They're remarkable creatures. Smart, fast, loyal. But also prideful. If you're gonna ride one, you have to ask permission first. Trying to just mount one like you would a horse can get you clawed up pretty bad. Try again, do what I just did. Raise your hand and ask for permission first."

Katsuo would step away then and allow Teke to re-approach the sandrunner which looked from him to her and then back to him. Despite being just an animal, the look in the avian's eyes made it very clear that the gears in it's head were actively turning. There was an intelligence behind them in a way that didn't exist with simpler animals like armatunks.|[legend="[[b][u]OOC Notes[/u][/b]] - [[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkJZVNC21Cw]BGM[/url]]"]

Sunahoshi Katsuo - The Last Sunahoshi

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[Teke]

Teke withdrew her hand slowly, narrowing her golden eyes at the feathered beast as she did so. She hadn't expected such qualities in a bird that were also present in animals from the canine family. She took a small step back but her eyes would remain focused on the birds as if trying to stare into its very soul. "If it had wanted to bite me, I doubt it would have held back. It's unsure of me because I'm a stranger." is what she would think to herself as the watched the beast closely whilst listening to Katsuo who had begun to explain the situation.

She watched him approach the same bird and offer his hand to the thing who after a few moments bowed its head in acceptance, allowing him to touch it. "That makes sense, they're the last thing I would have assumed to act like dogs but then, I have little experience with birds so that doesn't help." She took a deep breath and approached the bird once more, eyes still locked confidently onto it own and she raised her hand carefully, a little higher than Katsuo had due to her height but that was expected. She waited patiently for the beast to do whatever it would, she wasn't a girl who lacked confidence and was quite prideful herself so in a way she very much understood the types of things going through the birds mind as it looked back at her.

"I get it you know. I wouldn't just accept anyone coming up and trying to touch me all friendly like so I apologize for acting so uncouth." She cracked a smile up to the bird. "I would like to ask your co-operation during this journey. This is something very important and I would be honored if you were to share such a life changing event with me... If you'll have me." This wasn't a way she enjoyed speaking, it made her feel so weak needing to ask for help and yet, she was sure that this was the right thing to do given the situation.

Perhaps it was okay to ask for aid in this manner though, gaining the trust of something that is sentient could come in quite useful in her life. Humans were still something she had trouble disconnecting from being food, she was at least intelligent enough to realize it and sate her hunger through sheer mental stability but that would only get her so far in life.

[WC - 417]
[Total WC - 1233 (3)]

 

[Mikaboshi]

[col]Teke raised her hand and for a second the sandrunner turned it's head to look at her as if deciding whether or not to bite before pushing it's beak into Teke's hand the same way that it had Katsuo.

"That gesture means you're good to go for contact. Once you're up, a light pull on the reigns'll tell'em that you want to go but really they understand enough of what you say just by how you say it that they'll get the picture if you're clear enough with your intent. Before you do that though, that lesson number two: once you have a sandrunner's trust, remember to honor that trust and respect because these guys have long memories and they're real mean when they want to be. An adult sandrunner like these guys is easily a pretty dangerous threat for anybody genin rank or lower. So basically don't do anything like pull their feathers or yank hard on the reigns. If it seems like a bad idea, it probably is."

It might have seemed hard for Teke to believe that such a benign looking bird creature could be so dangerous but at each of their three-toed feet was a set of nasty talons which they could bring to bear at frightening speed and with an overland top speed of sixty or so miles-per-hour it wasn't likely that escaping from one on foot was going to happen. It was a lot of information to take in quickly but Teke would be expected to pick up new skills like this on the fly in the future during more advanced missions. Being asked to learn to ride a fairly docile creature that only asked that it's rider not kick it in the sides wasn't much compared to being asked to infiltrate a highly secure facility and kidnap a princess, for instance. As Katsuo explained how potentially dangerous sandrunners could be, the bird that he'd been riding only a few minutes ago came up form behind him and knocked it's head into his shoulder playfully with a warbling chirp.

"Yeah that's right, I'm talking about you." He laughed as he touched the top of the bird's head and gave it a light rub. "As for your earlier question, these merchants aren't carrying anything that'd attract any real dangerous desert predators other than maybe the armatunks themselves if we get real unlucky and run across something nasty." Katsuo was referring to the large beasts of burden which pulled the carts for the caravels. Called armatunks, they were similar to cows from more temperate zones but were acclimated for harsh desert life with thick leathery skin and heavy armor plates to ward off the many, many predators that called Wind Country home. Occasionally caravels with armatunks would find themselves the victims of a raid by a large desert predator like a young sandworm or a pack of hykels looking to eat the livestock but that was pretty uncommon.

"Nah if anything I'd be more worried about people. Been a lot of talk of raiders on the trade ways in recent days so keep your eyes out for anything that looks... off. Our mission is to protect the lives of the merchants, the livestock and then the mercantile goods-- in that order."

Katsuo questioned Teke's usage of the term "cannon fodder" and made a note of talking with Sousuke about it later but chose not to make an issue out of it immediately. To him no life was just "expendable". It was true in their line of work that people died and sometimes that was unavoidable but there was no such thing as people who were okay to be left to die and the very concept repulsed him to his core. Moving over to his sandrunner, Katsuo turned back to Teke one last time before preparing to re-mount his bird's saddle.

"Any other questions before we get under-way?"|[legend="[[b][u]OOC Notes[/u][/b]] - [[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkJZVNC21Cw]BGM[/url]]"]

Sunahoshi Katsuo - The Last Sunahoshi

[/legend][/col]

 

[Teke]

[col]Confidently she placed her hand atop the birds smooth, orange beak where she allowed it to rest for a moment. As she did this, various thoughts manifested in her head, things she'd never thought about or questioned before. "How was I able to so easily offer this creature my respect. I know I am on my best behavior for this exam but... it's something more, but what is this feeling?" It wouldn't be now that the small girl realized the implications of the emotions she was feeling, it would perhaps never occur to her but without realizing it, in that moment, something deep inside her changed.

For the time being she figured it would be best to get out of her own head and back to the task at hand, she'd have time to think on things once this was all over. She took her hand back to her side and moved around to the side of the bird and looked up at the saddle which was higher that her heads level. "Yeah, to carry a full grown man, I would assume they're strong creatures, I'd be surprised if just one well-placed kick couldn't straight up maim someone. It's admirable." She complimented as with a little bit of athleticism she managed to hop straight up onto the saddle with a soft thud, where she wriggled and got herself comfortable. She was quite pleased that she'd recently been training up her body and stamina or she'd never have made that jump in a hundred years.

She made note of the creatures that would be pulling the wagon through the desert, they were something she was familiar with but at the same time knew little about. Sure she says she'd lived out here but in the end she was young and the adults of the tribe protected the kids so the only things she learned was when she went off on her own adventure, which she was always scolded for. "I think it would be a good idea to keep an eye on those then, the most likely targets are the humans and the beasts of burden." Referring to people as merely humans was something new and it took even her by surprise, quickly she cleared her throat and looked ahead. She took to reigns of the bird she was sat upon and started to practice a little, moving and steering with careful pulls on the straps, careful not to yank and anger it.

"Raiders do seem pretty likely, they're like vermin in this country... I wonder what it is about the desert that attracts vagabonds and ne'er-do-wells in droves." She asked knowing there was really no true answer. "I do have a question though or... more of a request actually." She turned her Sandrunner about so that she would be facing Katsuo directly before she continued. "If we do come across raiders and battle ensues. Once we finish with them would you be able to... turn a blind eye to me, attend to the caravan masters and their families for a short while, keep them distracted... just for a short while." She looked him straight in the eyes as she asked her strange half request half question, she didn't want to come right out and say it if she didn't need to, for Sousuke' sake at the very least as she had come to like him and didn;t wish for him to be judged for hiding her true nature.

[WC - 582]
[Total WC - 1815 (4)]|

[/col]

 

[Mikaboshi]

[col]Katsuo held Teke's gaze as she asked her strange question. In his life he'd met plenty of folks with lots of uses for dead bodies. Necromancers, defilers, cannibals. None of them usually ended up being decent folk and he considered for a moment dropping the exam entirely to ask Sousuke some choice questions about this girl that he'd apparently adopted but decided against it. He'd give her a chance to show him what kind of person she was and if she ended up looking like she'd be dangerous to the people around her... well.

He once had a reputation as a monster hunter for a reason.

"Girl asks a question like that, well. I'd be a fool not to ask why." He said, holding Teke's gaze. There was no fear or revulsion in his eyes, nor judgement really. That's not what this was about. Katsuo wasn't the type of person who put a lot of stock in the mysticism behind corpses. His people-- the desert nomads called the Masashi Clan --burned their dead and scattered their ashes to prevent their bloodline secrets from being stolen by their enemies. What he was looking for was any hint that Teke might be a danger to others. He'd run across families of people eaters before and there wasn't a one of them that ever stuck to the practice of eating the dead. Eventually one or another of them got the bright idea to treat other human beings like livestock and once that line got crossed there wasn't any going back.

Teke had taken a risk in asking that question of a man she hardly knew and Katsuo respected the fact that she was up front about it but just the same.

He had to know.|[legend="[[b][u]OOC Notes[/u][/b]] - [[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkJZVNC21Cw]BGM[/url]]"]

Sunahoshi Katsuo - The Last Sunahoshi

[/legend][/col]

 

[Teke]

[col]

She would continue with her practice on the sandrunner, moving back and forth, seeing how sharp it could turn when asked, though without being at full speed it was probably impossible to test that truly. She was still listening to her instructor of course and could hear the judgment in his voice already, maybe it was just in her head but it was starting to look like all humans were destined to think poorly of her; and for what? Being a step ahead on the evolutionary chain? Bullshit. She cleared her throat and looked to the sky with her golden eyes.

"I eat people, I like it, I crave it and I can not change that about myself. I'm smart enough to know people look down on my kind, instead of looking up like they should." She spat out venomously, venting a little of her pent up frustrations. "This is how I was born and you'd better believe I am trying my fuckin' hardest to not cause trouble for the village." She came to a stop on the bird, pulling its reigns lightly, and she looked back down at the man across the way. "I realize none of that is what you wanted to hear, but I can't just pretend to be something I am not. The most I can do is be polite, pick the time and place carefully and hope that being locked in that shitty asylum was enough training that my mind doesn't eventually snap because of these shitty cravings and I go on a rampage, only to inevitably get myself killed by people like you." She came to a stop red in the face and breathing heavily, all these rules just because others can't understand or accept that she is different... no, better than them.

She leaned forwards a bit and lay her forehead against the back of the giant avians neck and let out several long sighs, just trying to calm herself down and listen to whatever backlash was or was not going to come her way. Once she had adequately cooled off she would speak once again. "Look, things haven't been easy, I'm finally free yet it still feels like I'm trapped. I appreciate what the shinobi side of the village has done for me, I really do. I wouldn't have stuck around in the academy learning all this shit if I didn't want to return the favor by getting strong and protecting the h-... people... that live in the village that can't protect themselves." She looked toward Katsuo and bore deep into his eyes, she might be a pissy little teenage brat, but there was determination brimming from her core that showed she at least cared enough to try as hard as she is.

[WC - 461]
[Total WC - 2276 (5)]|

[/col]

 

[Mikaboshi]

[col][BGM: Falling Rain]

Katsuo quietly endured Teke's emotional outburst, saying nothing as she vented the pent up bitterness from a short lifetime of enduring the judgement of those around her. She was a powder keg packed to the brim and Katsuo wondered as he listened to her words if Sousuke knew or understood what Teke was going through. Was that why he'd asked him to proctor her exam? He hated to think it so but had Sousuke made that choice knowing that Katsuo would be forced to do the cold arithmetic of weighing her life against the potential lives she might harm in her lifetime? As Teke looked up to the sky she might notice that the previously sunny skies had begun to accumulate a handful of slowly growing cloud formations over the last few minutes and as her face lifted skyward a soft rain shower began to fall from the sparsely populated clouds that were beginning to form and smother the sun.

Rain showers were not unheard of in the Wind Country, despite it's reputation as an inhospitable desert wasteland, but rapid sun showers such as these were uncommon at best and extremely rare at worst. Even still the rain fell and incrementally began to grow heavier with time as Teke raved and their clothing, hair and gear began to grow heavy with the weight of soaked moisture. By the time Teke looked back to Katsuo, his expression was difficult to make out beneath the soaking wet sheet of green hair that had settled in about his eyes and face.

There was a moment of heavy silence between them with nothing but the sound of the rain falling upon the waterlogged sand Teke delivered her last statement towards Katsuo. Still silent, Katsuo dismounted his sandrunner and attended to it for a moment, giving it a rub on the beak and receiving a playful bonk in the side of the head as a thanks for the attention he'd given it before taking a few steps away from it and stopping, his back to Teke now. Turning his head, Katsuo "looked" over his shoulder at her and jerked his head towards the distance in front of him.

"Dismount your sandrunner and come with me." He demanded, his voice neutral in it's volume and tone and betraying nothing of what emotions might have been playing underneath the surface of the indecipherable mask that was his expression as he turned his face back to the road ahead of him and put one foot in front of the other.

This too was his duty.|[legend="[[b][u]OOC Notes[/u][/b]] - [[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkdnrgA9j5w&t=31s]BGM[/url]]"]

Sunahoshi Katsuo - The Last Sunahoshi

[/legend][/col]

 

[Teke]

[col]

Teke didn't even notice the rain had begun to fall until long after her clothes were already soaked through. Slowly she pulled the pins and clips from her hair, letting the noodle-esque mess fall down past her shoulders. She watched Katsuo closely as he dismounted and played with his sandrunner, she would do as she was told in as far as getting off of her own, stroking the creatures neck before her feet hit the damp sands. She took a dozen steps forwards in the direction he was going before coming to a complete stop.

"I suppose this was going to come sooner or later." She spoke in a monotone drone, the passion from moments ago seemingly gone. "I'm not some stupid kid, not like those savages out in the desert... I was the chosen one, the one able to break free from the brutal, unthinking animals that my people had become." She looked to the skies one more and a smile crept over her lips. "You, who walk this plane basking in the light of the warm, cruel sun? Prove to me that you deserve my favor. My Forgotten have lived in peace for many years. They worship me from the dark, basking in their misery and filth." Perhaps a little strange for her to suddenly blurt out and yet it was the thing at the foremost of her mind right now. Her people worshiped a nameless god, for it was her who turned them into the thing they had become and it was written that one day a chosen one would rise to power. Teke had scoffed at the idea back when her parents taught her of this, yet her ascension from her primitive people brought all these thoughts back to her.

It was at that moment that Katsuo would notice something strange, clearly, Teke herself did not as she didn't react to it. An ethereal, sickly green hand placed itself upon her shoulder but the small girl just looked ahead to the man, droplets of rain streaming down her face. "I don't plan on dying, Katsuo. If this exam is no longer going to happen I will be returning home one way or another." She would remain stood in her spot, defiant to the mans instructions, quickly a crackling sound would come from her hands and forearms and sparks would ark across the surface of her skin. "I might not make it back in one piece, but as long as The Misstress of Decay, goddess of sundry, dark, and shadowy spirits is watching over me, You cannot possibly remove me from this world." As the electricity arched the hand on her shoulder would lift off of her and fade back into nothingness. Teke had steeled herself for the inevitable oh so long ago, death was a subject she had thought about every day that she'd spent tortured and tormented in the Asylum by their so called doctors. She knew that there was no hope for her of defeating him, again she wasn't some mindless beast, but she knew that she would not die here on this day.

"Time draws ever close, Child." A whisper cutting through the rain and winds spoke.

[WC - 535]
[Total WC - 2881 (6)]|

[/col]

 

[Mikaboshi]

[col]Noticing that Teke was not following him, Katsuo stopped and let the rain pour around him as he continued to listen to her outbursts. She assumed that he was taking her out to the desert to put her down, her words revealed that much to him. They might have given her confidence in this moment where she faced an almost literal specter of death hanging over her but they meant nothing to Katsuo. This would not be the first time that someone had claimed to him that they were immortal by the hand of some god or demon. He knew that some of them believed it but also knew that just as many of them used such words a litany against the fear of mortality that they were coming face to face with as the Katsuo in the guise of the Iron Wolf had not been known for his mercy. They both knew that if Katsuo truly wanted to kill her then this excursion would be her end and there was no amount of brave words that could change that.

"Look up." He commanded, the rain falling around them seemingly quieting down a little for his words to be heard as he spoke them. Or had the sound of the rain fall just echoed the words he'd spoken? It was hard to say for sure. "This is the legacy of my family. I am able to command the skies themselves with only my thought and will but that power comes with a price."

The skies overheard boiled with rage as the storm continued to build above them. Lightning danced ominously between the clouds causing a clap of thunder every now and again as the black clouds swirled and shook with the continuous rain that poured forth from them.

"With power like this tied to my thoughts and emotions, I have to take care that I never let myself lose control for even a little bit for else I could cause a disaster. Can you imagine what sort of damage could be caused to the city if I just stopped holding back this storm for even a minute? Two minutes? How many people might die if that happened?"

There was a lesson in the words that Katsuo was speaking. Teke had spoken of how hard things had been for her and of self-control. How difficult it was living a life where a piece of her that she could not control made her dangerous to those around her. In that, she and Katsuo were somewhat alike. The last son of the Sunahoshi dynasty, Katsuo possessed dominion over the skies and all that it entail. His was a power that was mighty indeed but also limited in many ways for while he could control when and where the rain fell he lacked the ability to choose who that rain fell upon. If he fought a battle alongside allies he could not afford to lose control of the powers that he wielded or else they might harm his allies even more than his enemies. Beyond that, the storms were tied to his emotional state as well. When he'd first experienced the process that transformed him into his mightiest state during the battle that signaled the end of the Diamond Maelstrom he'd lost control of his powers and nearly killed his teammates with that power.

"Don't think you're alone in that there is a part of you which is dangerous to those around you. The hard truth of the life we lead is that we are capable of terrible things but that doesn't need to define us. I am more than this black maelstrom because I choose to be. I refuse to let this," he indicated the falling rain and the raging storm above with his arms, "rule me. The life we lead is never going to be fair but whether you are able to shoulder that burden and stay on the path is always up to you. A beast will always be a beast but a human being has the right to choose who and what they want to be."

As Katsuo's arm dropped to his side, the rain suddenly stopped as though someone had turned some cosmic valve and cut the water supply to the storm. Moments passed and the darkness brought on by the angry storm faded with shafts of sunlight breaking through the black cloud cover as it dissipated. Walking forward, Katsuo would stop next to Teke and place his hand on her shoulder if she let him but would still offer his final thoughts regardless of whether she allowed his gesture of comfort.

"It's our greatest power in this world of monsters and demons."|[legend="[[b][u]OOC Notes[/u][/b]] - [[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkdnrgA9j5w&t=31s]BGM[/url]]"]

Sunahoshi Katsuo - The Last Sunahoshi

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[Teke]

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She did as he'd instructed and turned her face to the skies without much thought and stood silent, statuesque as the rain beat against her face almost soothingly. She did not interrupt him after this point, she felt she didn't need to because it wasn't his fault that her life had gone the way it had and she realized that venting it all at him so aggressively was getting neither of them anywhere. She remained silent right up until the point his hand was placed upon her head, she hadn't even noticed him beginning to move and he'd feel a slight jump as he touched her, the electricity that danced along her bodysuit had since vanished and left the small teen with a head rush of things to contemplate. One thing stood prevalent in her mind though, one thing she could not overlook. "Humans have the right to choose... but me, my people. We gave up our humanity long ago, I am not a human..." She gave a single laugh at the words. "I'm... I don't even know what I am, maybe I am a monster. Maybe I'm just... a fuck up." She laughed at her half joke and shrugged.

This wasn't a new thought in the young girls head but it was probably the first time someone had helped put things in real perspective for her, unintentional as it may have been it still echoed in her head and weighed heavy on her heart. "I will admit though, it's not being able to control what I am that worries me, not really." She turned to look over at him with a mournful expression on her face. "It's what if I don't want to control it... what if I just... want to let loose and be the chaos?" She paused and put both her hands over her mouth, slowly sliding them up and onto her head, removing a lot of the still dripping moisture. "What if I am just crazy, just... what they said I was... it goes through my head every day you know? I never used to think these stupid things, I just... existed until... those fucks went digging into my head... like it was some kind of game, a puzzle they had to solve..." She sighed and turned her gaze down to the sand, leaving a long, lingering silence as she thought.

Time passed slowly for the young girl but it realistically was but a few seconds. "Should we continue? My problems aren't about to solve themselves out in a damp desert." She chuckles to hide her frustration and turned around to face the sand runner she had previously dismounted. She was starting to understand the feelings she'd had when talking to the creature and deep down the thought scared her, more so for the sake of the village than anything else. "I believe we had some caravans to watch over and some colds to catch." She jokes, tugging as best she could at the very wet, very skin tight jumpsuit her adoptive father had pretty much forced down her throat. "This is turning out to be less of an exam and more of a psychiatric evaluation... though... I don;t want to rip your guts out... quite yet." She laughed, oh how she hated the asylum and it;s doctors of questionable qualifications.

[WC - 557]
[Total WC - 3438 (7)]|

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[Mikaboshi]

[col]"Then it all comes back to family, doesn't it?" Katsuo responded to Teke's question about wanting to unleash the hurt that she had on others. "If you care about Sousuke even a little bit for what he's done for you then you have to come to terms with the fact that hurting his people hurts him. I'm not telling you not to feel those things, you can't help that. But what you can do is focus it. You keep a lid on it until you need it and then draw on it when you need to fight for the things you want to protect."

Katsuo spoke from experience now more than ever. The first and only son to a murdered father and heir to a legacy which was built upon a lie, Katsuo was no stranger to mind-numbing rage. Every step he took closer to the confrontation with the men behind the assassination of Sunahoshi Hiro unveiled new and atrocious information about that faceless enemy that he'd been fighting all of his life. He had their names now. He knew from the information he'd gathered that the daimyo of Wind Country Ishii Shiro and his confidant Ogasawara Nao were the masterminds behind the plot even if they were not the men that had carried out the assassination themselves. Thanks to Nao, Katsuo had even been forced to battle and destroy the reanimated corpse of his uncle Sunahoshi Daisuke as if he needed any other reasons to hate the man. Oh yes, Katsuo knew rage but he also knew what to do with it. If his spirit were a sword, the anger he felt in his heart was the whetstone upon which he sharpened that sword and kept it keen for the battles to come.

With his words of wisdom given to Teke, Katsuo turned and as he did an enormous bolt of lightning erupted from his palm towards a near-by outcropping of rocks. The thunder clap from Katsuo's attack was unreal at such close range but the destruction that the bolt wrought upon the large stone formation was even more so. Teke was a lightning specialist shinobi but the blast that Katsuo had unleashed was something on a scale far beyond what she was capable of at her current level. In a single instant the attack was done and all that remained of the stone formation was a molten heap of obliterated minerals and earth that glowed furiously as the sand around it was fused into fulgurite from the ferocity of the attack. Katsuo's lightning was his outrage given form and it showed from the swiftness and magnitude of the blast and given time and training Teke would be able to achieve power like that as well.

"Let's get back to the group. They're probably confused and worried." He replied to her question about getting back to the mission at hand,
a smile creeping over his face in hopes that he'd managed to get through to her even a little bit. Though this day he hadn't chosen to put her to the sword, he hoped that a day would not come where she forced him to make that awful choice. "Admittedly not what I had planned for this trip but hopefully you're getting something out of it. I'm not usually great at this sort of thing."

He would continue heading back to the caravel group as they talked, walking over to his sand runner who had been a little spooked by the sudden coming and then departure of the rain and offering it his hand and receiving the requisite permission before daring to attempt to touch the bird. For all his big words, Katsuo wasn't the type who liked to lord his power over other people and it showed in the way that he interacted with the sand runner. He showed it respect even though a man of his skill set and experience could easily have just overpowered the creature and subjugated it if he wished.

"You ready to get under way?"

[At this point, I think we've probably reached a good narrative stopping point. If you'd like we can end it here and say that the escort was uneventful and the "exam"-- such as it was --was a pass or we can continue. It's up to you, just let me know one way or another.]|[legend="[[b][u]OOC Notes[/u][/b]] - [[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkdnrgA9j5w&t=31s]BGM[/url]]"]

Sunahoshi Katsuo - The Last Sunahoshi

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[Teke]

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She sighed loudly, she couldn't even argue the points Katsuo was making at this point. Not many people could probably understand how much she really appreciated what Sousuke had done for her, when she'd gone to him that day all she wanted was a way to live in the shadows, continue at the academy and eventually join the ANBU corps and just be a ghost that the village would never know anything about. It seem however that this was not her destiny, not completely at the very least as she still planned on becoming one of the village's ANBU but, being the daughter whether adopted or not of the Kazekage kind of made her a public figure and that was a little scary even if she didn't admit to it. "I think he and I need to have a talk when I get back. not in a bad way but... I think he wants to change me more than I am comfortable with which is why I am having these thoughts." She grabbed at her wet, golden hair and slowly rung out the water casually as she spoke. "I'm willing to do some things to keep him and the village happy, I'd never have agreed to the things I did if I didn't want them, but it's going to be an impossible task... I want him to accept me for what I am, not what he can turn me into with training. I am not a dog who will just obey blindly at gifts and pets." She complained, she found it quite difficult to talk about serious things with Sousuke, thinks tended to evolve into bickering and teasing when he was involved, all in good fun mind.

Since leaving the asylum Teke had become a much happier being in general. Access to just the blue skies and the blistering sun was enough to have sated her frustrations at those that had wronged her and though she knew that one day she would do something bad, make people sad or angry she knew that this was the right decision for now. Something was deep inside her, it wasn't just the hunger, that would be easy to keep in check but at the back of her mind there was something trying to push her toward the extremes and it caused her to think about those situations a lot. "If I ever do go... well, wild... I would hope that the loyalty and restraint I present now would allow me some leeway." She commented having now finished with her hair and turning back around to face the caravans. "Not that I think I'd deserve such kindness, I just know that letting me live would hurt far more than ending me, that would be a fitting punishment I think." She shrugged, she felt it was safe being honest in this moment if for nothing else it was a good stress relief for her ailed mind.

She would give a confirming nod to the man finally and started to make her own way back toward the sand runner she was borrowing for the journey. She put a bright smile on her face as she approached, this was no time to be thinking about painful and complicated things anymore, it was time to take a big step on her long journey to whatever the future held for her. Her hand raised toward the bird once again as she waited for its beak to make contact, she was being careful seeing how spooked it had become. "You've no reason to fear, I'm the one riding you after all so I'll protect you from the scary." She grinned with a chuckle, eventually climbing onto the back of the creature and giving a thumbs up to Katsuo.

"Yeah, I'm ready and thank you."

[OOC - I feel we've hit a good point, a lot happened despite nothing really happening xD I'm happy to move along as though the travel was simple and peaceful. ^^]

[WC - 634]
[Total WC - 4072 (8)]|

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