Watashi woke up early with a terrible taste in his mouth and his stomach feeling as though it had made good acquaintances with some bad fish very recently. Maybe, just maybe this could be blamed on the late lunch that he had eaten yesterday – regretfully one of the only few meals that he had actually paid for – a few small sardines that he had found at the bottom of his bag. It had only been a few months since he had gotten the food from a tin that he had bought off of one of his least trusted street venders. Putting the actual task of eating it off for weeks might not have been the best idea either. In any case, this was shaping up to be a horrible day for the lad.
Getting off of the little fold-up mat that he brought with him and stretching, Watashi took in the sounds of his open surroundings before scratching his side once or twice. Pulling up his shirt, the blind lad rubbed around on his side before locating the spots of trouble. Right there, Watashi could feel a long row of bright red (probably) spots showing that again, he had companions in his bed that night. Even though he was used to the bugs, the fact that they showed up even on his mat was a bit unnerving. It just went to show that you can’t trust bought stuff at all. Anyone that sells anything in clearly intending to scam you!
Watashi rummaged around in his little mound of belongings that he had slept next to, sorting out what could be kept and what he would have to throw out. Any of the supplies that he bought obviously couldn’t be trusted, so his still-open mat, kunai and tools were the first to go, along with most of his remaining food. Anything that was willingly given to him couldn’t be trusted either; any kid who’s lived a year or two knew that anything free was some sort of trap. There went all of the items that the academy had given him, including the crappy ‘practice sword’ that he had been bestowed.
What was left? From what Watashi could feel, he still had the items that he had stolen. His metal kettle that he had grabbed back from the office of the Raikage after leaving it there for a week was one. His old, trusty lighter, stolen walking stick and sword were the others. As he rummaged around in his pockets for something to eat, Watashi remembered the handful of pens and papers that he had grabbed while leaving his alleyway a few days ago too. With his stomach rumbling, Watashi took his bearings and abandoned his sleeping mat to continue his journey.
The issue of Watashi’s journey, ultimately, laid in the fact that the crew’s system of organization was about as terrible and convoluted as it got. If you wanted to go looking for a pet, like Watashi was, you were supposed to put it down in writing. Step one was already enough of a problem for the blind kiddo as it was, and it only got worse from here! You took your written request to get a pet to one of the other crew members, and after they read it, they send it on to the rest of the crew for you. Then they discuss your request for a pet, send their decision back for you to read, which is always a denial.
This prompts the angry crew member to go to a crew meeting to raise the issue with the rest of the crew members again to argue your side of ‘yes, having a pet would be cool’, upon which the rest of the crew approves it and sends you back with another written decision. You forward this on to your original crew friend, who forward it back to the rest of the crew, who sends it to Naohiro where he says ‘No sorry, you don’t get a pet until the rest of us get one’. Or of course, you grab a bag with a few weeks of food, don’t tell anyone where you’re going and hope you come back with a pet to show for your troubles.
And that was how Watashi ended up halfway up a mountain, with barely any food and supplies, looking for some sort of friend or artifact. Anything cool that he’d be able to bring back to brag about and talk to. At this point, the Blind Lad was willing to talk to a nifty inanimate object, he wasn’t really picky in the slightest. Turns out that being along, blind and a few hundred feet above sea level will do that to a guy. But there was no point in whining about it to himself, Watashi figured, giving his bites one last scratch before tucking his shirt back in against the cold and righting himself towards the mountain’s peak.
Watashi had heard some rumors among the group that there was an abandoned weapons cache in some half-frozen wagon up here and came up to investigate the rumors as a sort of secondary goal to finding a buddy. He had to have some sort of excuse for dropping off of the face of the village for so long and if he failed in his goal of getting a pet then a collection of catapults and guns should be able to save him a bit of face. At the very least, he wouldn’t be mocked and that was all he could hope for after becoming friends with someone like Naohiro. Dumb blind-hater! Watashi would show him one day, even if he was physically incapable of showing himself.
Beginning to climb back up the mountain, Watashi kept to using the oar that he had poached as a walking stick for keeping himself fine. Climbing a mountain might be an ordeal for an ordinary blind person, but Watashi wasn’t just an ordinary blind person, but also a slightly incompetent shinobi! The kid had brought a few large spools of rope and a plan that would hopefully let him get to the top semi-safely, and drop it all to reduce weight before going back down. It was as close as Watashi would be able to get to having a somewhat charted out and safe path of ascension.
Absentmindedly climbing as he thought about his plan, Watashi planted the oar in a big solid piece of thin air and followed up with his foot before realizing that he’d fall. Shifting the oar into one of the inner loops of rope around his waist with a practiced shove, Watashi pulled out a pre-prepped tightly-knotted loop of rope and tossed it gently upward before bringing his hands up. Quickly making the hand signs for a stone bullet as he oriented himself to face slightly upward and forward while falling, Watashi waited for the rope loop before releasing his jutsu.
The blind lad felt the rope felt the other end of the rope loop around his waist continue to stay slackened and his stomach metaphorically fell for a quick second while he physically fell before feeling the stone bullet slamming into the loop and pulling him forward, burying itself back into the side of the mountain. Holding the rope that led from the loop around his waist, Watashi stayed hanging in the air for a few seconds while catching his breath before pulling himself back up along his makeshift tether. It was always the first one of each day that was the scariest – from here on out the day would be easier, and he’d have this tether behind him until he had to make a new one.
And it was always after the first dangerous fall of the day that Watashi would go back to thinking in relative safety. What was he even doing up here, hoping for a pet? Was his recklessness supposed to convince some cool monster that he was worth following around? While the blind kid liked to call it bravery, even he knew that most people wouldn’t see it that way. Was it his adventurous spirit that was going to attract a companion? Watashi shook his head in exasperation at himself before looking forward into the great unknown as he walked with a hand around the rope. What was he even doing up here, ditching everyone back in the village to go dashing off to ‘make new friends’.
Ultimately, it might have been the loneliness, Watashi figured to himself. While having friends and all were nice, at the end of the day when he closed his eyes to sleep and saw the same pitch blackness that he saw every day, in the end he was always alone. His family was either dead or run off while he was left to fend for himself every day in eternal darkness. Maybe the end of his rope was approaching just as quickly as the actual spool of rope weighing him down was. In stories, wasn’t it always some sad kiddo that got the big power? The bullied child draws the kunai from the rock – the solitary youth gets the wise old mentor to teach him.
Maybe this time, it would be the blind kid that gets the friend. As Watashi looked out ahead of him, he closed his eyes. The symbolism might do some good, and there wasn’t anyone to make fun of him out here anyways besides potential friends. Hesitating for a brief moment at how lame it looked, Watashi gritted his teeth before croaking out, his formerly solid steps up the mountain now uneasy. “..Hey. Anyone there?”
WC: 1615
Using ‘Discovery of Contract of Your Choice’ card, purchased here for a Tsukumogami contract.
Getting off of the little fold-up mat that he brought with him and stretching, Watashi took in the sounds of his open surroundings before scratching his side once or twice. Pulling up his shirt, the blind lad rubbed around on his side before locating the spots of trouble. Right there, Watashi could feel a long row of bright red (probably) spots showing that again, he had companions in his bed that night. Even though he was used to the bugs, the fact that they showed up even on his mat was a bit unnerving. It just went to show that you can’t trust bought stuff at all. Anyone that sells anything in clearly intending to scam you!
Watashi rummaged around in his little mound of belongings that he had slept next to, sorting out what could be kept and what he would have to throw out. Any of the supplies that he bought obviously couldn’t be trusted, so his still-open mat, kunai and tools were the first to go, along with most of his remaining food. Anything that was willingly given to him couldn’t be trusted either; any kid who’s lived a year or two knew that anything free was some sort of trap. There went all of the items that the academy had given him, including the crappy ‘practice sword’ that he had been bestowed.
What was left? From what Watashi could feel, he still had the items that he had stolen. His metal kettle that he had grabbed back from the office of the Raikage after leaving it there for a week was one. His old, trusty lighter, stolen walking stick and sword were the others. As he rummaged around in his pockets for something to eat, Watashi remembered the handful of pens and papers that he had grabbed while leaving his alleyway a few days ago too. With his stomach rumbling, Watashi took his bearings and abandoned his sleeping mat to continue his journey.
The issue of Watashi’s journey, ultimately, laid in the fact that the crew’s system of organization was about as terrible and convoluted as it got. If you wanted to go looking for a pet, like Watashi was, you were supposed to put it down in writing. Step one was already enough of a problem for the blind kiddo as it was, and it only got worse from here! You took your written request to get a pet to one of the other crew members, and after they read it, they send it on to the rest of the crew for you. Then they discuss your request for a pet, send their decision back for you to read, which is always a denial.
This prompts the angry crew member to go to a crew meeting to raise the issue with the rest of the crew members again to argue your side of ‘yes, having a pet would be cool’, upon which the rest of the crew approves it and sends you back with another written decision. You forward this on to your original crew friend, who forward it back to the rest of the crew, who sends it to Naohiro where he says ‘No sorry, you don’t get a pet until the rest of us get one’. Or of course, you grab a bag with a few weeks of food, don’t tell anyone where you’re going and hope you come back with a pet to show for your troubles.
And that was how Watashi ended up halfway up a mountain, with barely any food and supplies, looking for some sort of friend or artifact. Anything cool that he’d be able to bring back to brag about and talk to. At this point, the Blind Lad was willing to talk to a nifty inanimate object, he wasn’t really picky in the slightest. Turns out that being along, blind and a few hundred feet above sea level will do that to a guy. But there was no point in whining about it to himself, Watashi figured, giving his bites one last scratch before tucking his shirt back in against the cold and righting himself towards the mountain’s peak.
Spine of the World<i></i>
<i></i>Watashi had heard some rumors among the group that there was an abandoned weapons cache in some half-frozen wagon up here and came up to investigate the rumors as a sort of secondary goal to finding a buddy. He had to have some sort of excuse for dropping off of the face of the village for so long and if he failed in his goal of getting a pet then a collection of catapults and guns should be able to save him a bit of face. At the very least, he wouldn’t be mocked and that was all he could hope for after becoming friends with someone like Naohiro. Dumb blind-hater! Watashi would show him one day, even if he was physically incapable of showing himself.
Beginning to climb back up the mountain, Watashi kept to using the oar that he had poached as a walking stick for keeping himself fine. Climbing a mountain might be an ordeal for an ordinary blind person, but Watashi wasn’t just an ordinary blind person, but also a slightly incompetent shinobi! The kid had brought a few large spools of rope and a plan that would hopefully let him get to the top semi-safely, and drop it all to reduce weight before going back down. It was as close as Watashi would be able to get to having a somewhat charted out and safe path of ascension.
Absentmindedly climbing as he thought about his plan, Watashi planted the oar in a big solid piece of thin air and followed up with his foot before realizing that he’d fall. Shifting the oar into one of the inner loops of rope around his waist with a practiced shove, Watashi pulled out a pre-prepped tightly-knotted loop of rope and tossed it gently upward before bringing his hands up. Quickly making the hand signs for a stone bullet as he oriented himself to face slightly upward and forward while falling, Watashi waited for the rope loop before releasing his jutsu.
The blind lad felt the rope felt the other end of the rope loop around his waist continue to stay slackened and his stomach metaphorically fell for a quick second while he physically fell before feeling the stone bullet slamming into the loop and pulling him forward, burying itself back into the side of the mountain. Holding the rope that led from the loop around his waist, Watashi stayed hanging in the air for a few seconds while catching his breath before pulling himself back up along his makeshift tether. It was always the first one of each day that was the scariest – from here on out the day would be easier, and he’d have this tether behind him until he had to make a new one.
And it was always after the first dangerous fall of the day that Watashi would go back to thinking in relative safety. What was he even doing up here, hoping for a pet? Was his recklessness supposed to convince some cool monster that he was worth following around? While the blind kid liked to call it bravery, even he knew that most people wouldn’t see it that way. Was it his adventurous spirit that was going to attract a companion? Watashi shook his head in exasperation at himself before looking forward into the great unknown as he walked with a hand around the rope. What was he even doing up here, ditching everyone back in the village to go dashing off to ‘make new friends’.
Ultimately, it might have been the loneliness, Watashi figured to himself. While having friends and all were nice, at the end of the day when he closed his eyes to sleep and saw the same pitch blackness that he saw every day, in the end he was always alone. His family was either dead or run off while he was left to fend for himself every day in eternal darkness. Maybe the end of his rope was approaching just as quickly as the actual spool of rope weighing him down was. In stories, wasn’t it always some sad kiddo that got the big power? The bullied child draws the kunai from the rock – the solitary youth gets the wise old mentor to teach him.
Maybe this time, it would be the blind kid that gets the friend. As Watashi looked out ahead of him, he closed his eyes. The symbolism might do some good, and there wasn’t anyone to make fun of him out here anyways besides potential friends. Hesitating for a brief moment at how lame it looked, Watashi gritted his teeth before croaking out, his formerly solid steps up the mountain now uneasy. “..Hey. Anyone there?”
WC: 1615
Using ‘Discovery of Contract of Your Choice’ card, purchased here for a Tsukumogami contract.
