Half assedly smacking a wooden practice dummy, the brightest shinobi around (if only in color) was trying to see if she could use this stupid kunai with a large cloth bow efficiently. To her, it seemed like a stupid weapon that barely did much of anything unless it was being thrown and for her to hit it, it'd have to be a stationary target. In the distance, Sashine saw a small raven flying as she tightly held the stupid weapon which she hadn't even picked out for herself. Honestly, she wasn't sure why she had been putting time into using it. That stupid bird flew closer as she drew her right arm back, over her head, throwing it at the damn bird. It dodged away from the weapon easily, the bow probably ruining a lot of the aerodynamics on it as well as her lack of practice with weapons in general affecting the throw. A small scroll fell from the bird's mouth as it flew in the direction it had come from. Obviously, Sashine had to pick it up and read it. She could be intercepting a spy message and get some reward but the contents were almost as exciting, at least to her. She walked to where the kunai had fallen after that bird had defied her and held the kunai over her shoulder as she threw it back toward the wooden dummy, skimming the side of its head. She smirked despite the failure. It had been a lot closer than she expected.
_____________________________________________
She tied up her hair. She knew that the coordinates were somewhere in the forest but who even went there enough to know where anything was? Sure, she had gone into the forest before but not far enough that she'd ever encounter an animal that wasn't wearing clothing. There was nothing wrong with wildlife really but something about getting dirty bothered her more than getting killed or poisoned. Then again, the fact that she wasn't wearing bright clothing would help her from being distracted by the dirt and pests she would face simply by walking into the forest. Who knew what would come after that.
She sighed and got up from the jewelry cabinet where she usually fixed herself up. It was still early in the morning but by the time she got there, she estimated it'd be close to noon and the sun would likely consume her by overheating the black lace. If she had to do something in the outdoors, she'd need to be there before the sun hit its high point. With another sigh, she decided it'd be best to jog to her destination. It'd also look less awkward than if she was running straight down the forest as well as helping her from tripping.
It had been a monotonous jog through the forest so far. That was probably a huge reason why Sashine found no comfort in it. She cared little if the plant with pointy leaves was deadly and the circular one healed wounds. It seemed like information that wasn't necessary. She could always pay or ask someone to filter out which one she might need at whatever moment in her life it might come up. Beyond the bland information about the forest, there was little stimulation here. What would you do for fun? Watch the plants grow? Find a large mushroom to jump on? Wait until animals found your food stash and killed you for it?
Sashine had come to a downward slope that any ordinary shinobi would have just slid down, to cut the time short but Sashine stood there for a moment completely cutting that option out of the list of possibilities. It seemed that she could walk around and take twice as long to get to what she could see was the clearing she needed to get down to, she could try to back up and jump, hopefully landing 20 feet from where she stood but something told her that would end in failure. Alternatively, she could try to catapult herself using a tree and hope that wings grew out of her miraculously.
The pink headed girl shook her head as nonsensical ideas started to pour out and started her walk around the slope, smacking every tree she walked next to as a sort of revenge to mother nature for not creating stairs.
"Green is such an ugly color to match anyway. That's why they put you next to browns, the mushiest of colors.", she complained as she hit every branch that her hand could reach as she walked past it. A small creature poked its head out of a tree, it's claws scratching against the tree's wood as it stared down the pink child as she continued walking along and mumbling insults to the decor in the forest.
"This place is so overcrowded. You know too many decorations is just tacky. Get a fa- Ah!!!", Sashine felt something tug at her hair, stuck in it and moving, she squirmed as she attempted to run away, unable to shake the creature from her hair as the animal slowly tangled itself further into the pinkness.
"Get OUT!", she said, disorienting herself by shaking her head, Sashine took a step without proper vision, getting her foot stuck on a bush's branches, quickly moving her body to the opposite side to stop her foot from being poked as her body reactively moved and fell down the slope. Her body began to go down the slope quickly at first, the rocks and twigs scratching against her skin and getting caught in her dress, her body heading head-first towards the bottom of the slope. She closed her eyes to brace for impact, her hands covering the sides of her head.
She opened her eyes to find... she was alive and... well, not badly hurt. the young girl stayed on the ground for a few seconds, making sure to inspect herself before making any sudden moves. Her right hand reached to the back of her head where she was sure to impact the ground. There was a warm moisture in her hair and when she moved her hand in front of her vision, she saw it, the red liquid that was actively pouring.
"Fuck.", she wasn't one to use bad language but if there was ever a time, it was now. Despite the blood, Sashine felt no pain on her upper half, only the pain of the scratches against her skin. She reached to the back of her head again to inspect and surely, there was no pain or bruise there, not even a wound but when she lifted her head from the ground, she realized what it was. The body of the small woodland creature lay in her hands, twitching as she undid the bows in her hair to allow the creature to untangle.
It was still alive but it wouldn't last long. In a way, the creature had caused this but also saved her from taking the damage and in another way, she had caused the trouble and the creature had paid for reacting. Sashine sat on the ground and though it was noon already, she could see the clearing ahead of her. The, now, pink and red-haired girl took a moment to look at the furry thing in her hand. It seemed like a chipmunk but she wasn't sure at this point. Sashine didn't feel strong enough to end its misery but she would stay with it until it died at least. She stood up completely, walking toward the clearing, her two hands cupped under the creature as she walked toward the large stone structure. With the strike of the lightning, Sashine felt it, the last breath as her hands fell to her sides, the chipmunk hitting the ground. She rubbed her hands against the sides of her dress to remove excess blood as she got her bows, did her hair and readied herself. With a pause to take a long breath, she exhaled it all in a deep sigh and patting the dust out of her dress. She stepped into the building.
------------
WC: 1353
We are getting close to the end!