Sandworm Wastes?

[Uziuke]

Uziuke never ventured off track while underground. But this day, he found himself lost while out and about. With his carefree attitude, he wasn't in fear of being lost forever, rather, this was yet another stepping stone to building character. Some said people never came back after venturing off course. To travelers, being underground within these tunnels, the lost caves could prove to be merciless if one were not careful. He kept a slow stroll, a duffle bag around his shoulder. He wore his bear ANBU Mask, with the rose petal designs of course. He wore a gray vest over a black tank top. A pair of black pants at his waist, and baggy at the top of his black boots. He wore the boots knowing full well that he would be exploring the cave. He could have applied for a mission to collect the crystals that were down here, but out of good will, he decided to farm the crystals free will. It was part of his "Suna has treated me right, so I'll do the same in return" campaign. He didn't want to test the threats that were down in the caves, so he stayed quiet as he did his work, careful not to alert anyone, or anything that would happen to be nearby.

He found himself in a corridor of the tunnels that help ponds of water throughout a giant enclosed cavern. The waters were beautiful, reflecting the natural glow of the chakra crystals that were around. Faint sounds of drips of water echoed through the corridor, giving Uzi a sense of peace. He would begin to try and find an exit either when his duffle bag became full, or he felt he spent too much time in the tunnels. Either or probably wouldn't come for about another few hours, because his sense of duty was very strong at the moment. He felt motivated, and moved off of knowing that it would be a benefit for the village.

"Maybe I should come down here to train." He said quietly, listening to the echoes of the cavern.

[ MFT | WC: +300 ]
[ Topic Entered ]

 

[Sabishii]

There was a stillness to the quiet around him. The quiet boy, Sabishii, used this area to train himself. He was trying harder and harder to make his steps lighter and lighter. With the train that dragged the village to and fro deep now, he'd find himself moving deeper into places he might not need to. He was armed with jutsu he'd learned... and his polearm that he'd received due to... actions within his past. And this would be a time that he would find good to push the envelope of what he could do. Shadow Manipulation was one thing but to use the shadows to his advantage was another. To melt into them. To become them. He would need to push the idea to be able to be the defender for Yuka. She was crazy, and Sabishii was not going to allow her to falter with her ambitions... as wild as they would seem. he couldnt speak of it for fear that she would do unspeakable things to him... the fear that gripped him when it came to her was... heavy for lacking of better words.

So he would find himself training, here in this dark tunnel deep within the mine shafts. Moving himself through slits of light and silently trying to make his way around the rail line. His dark clothing would help him blend in, but it was the silence that he was trying to maintain. Every loose rock and misstep would make him scoff at himself. . . this sort of thing would work when he was alone but, that wouldnt be the case today... he heard a voice. Not the words but a softness in the distance. 'Was it behind me?' the boy paused hiding behind a clearing in the darkness as his eyes darted around trying to find purchase on what he'd heard. A human voice? An animal? Maybe one of those sand wyrms he'd read about when he was in the Oracles library place. He didnt know, but he would certainly know, this was not a place he would want to be caught...

Was he even supposed to be here? The silent boy would channel his chakra silently causing a ghost of chakra to emerge from his shadow, "...do you see anyone?", a tool of his shadow manipulation, but maybe it would be a detriment if he couldnt make these things more incognito. They had a subtle glow to them but they would also be misunderstood as simple spirits to those that didnt know his abilities... and most would come to know soon enough. Thought as the spirit would look, the shadows moving forward and receding the ghost shook its head before whisking back into the shadows.

Was today the day his abilities would rat him out? He'd hoped not.

[MFT]

 

[Uziuke]

"You know, your training would go much better if you didn't mock yourself after every mistake?" He wondered if the kid caught on to him being able to hear the rocks when they shifted under his weight. "I was really enjoying your training session. I'm ashamed I stopped you with my presence." Uzi would continue to collect crystals, not looking up as he filled his duffle bag. The drops of condensed water fell into the ponds that filled the cavern. He wasn't surprised to find someone training underground. But he was surprised to see that it was a child, and of a certain Clan that crossed his mind years before. Shadow manipulation, something that Uzi couldn't quite put his finger on. He was actually astonished that the kid could pull something like that off.

"I can't make you come out, but if you want to reveal yourself, it'd be no problem to me. I'm just you're friendly neighborhood spiderma- I mean ANBU here." Taking a closer look at one of the crystals, Uziuke could see why they were so valuable. "If not, I don't really think I can leave you down here by yourself. I mean, you've got plenty talent, and I'm not your parents... But if something were to happen to you, I'd for sure lose it." The joys of being a youth and training in areas that were not to be visited. This one reminded Uzi a bit of himself, but he wouldn't steal the thunder away from this kid. This was one of those great shinobi in the making. He could tell, breaking all the rules, spending those hard hours training instead of at the birthday parties, being hard on himself. The kid's training could speak for itself as well, but maybe simple conversation could prove more. Uzi tossed the crystal into the bag, wondering if the kid would pack it up and run away, or come into the clearing. It was all his choice, Uzi found himself a spectator of sorts.

Uzi moved over to the waters, looking at his own reflection. The ANBU Mask on his face reminding him of who he was as a shinobi. He looked at the one he came to be. During his youth, he wanted to be a great shinobi, one to serve his village, but he became something more. A shinobi that was able to serve the shinobi nations.

 

[Sabishii]

The sudden sounds of the man's voice would cut into the darkness of the mines. Though, he did not trust the male just yet, and he would shift himself into the ground sinking with the inner earth reflection lure technique but almost like he had dipped into his own shadow only to re-emerge a few feet away to give him a better view of the man below at the pond deeper in the caverns. He was dressed in the ANBU Garb. Cloaked from view looking down into the pool of water deep below. The words of the man speaking to him. They cut without him knowing. There was no parental guidance for him. He simply had someone that let him have a bed and he brought money to assist with the food needs in the house to allow him to be able to use the home facilities.

He had no parents. He was alone.

"...ANBU? What is... ANBU?"

The boy would call out from his position trying not to give his position away. He knew that with enough movement anyone would be able to catch him just as this man had. Or was it a man? Could there be a voice changing operation going on here? Sabishii didnt know but he would task himself to think of anything he would do with the appeal of being a cloaked assassin. Would this person be a remnant of the ones that took his mother from him? The ones that were tasked with the slaying of his father in cold blood? Was this just another part of the ever growing nightmare he would have when he was allowed to sleep?

"...why are you so nice?", his voice would croak as he would continue to move downwards to the ANBU's position. Was it to be that he would want to know more? He was training here but he was a sponge for information. He wanted to know as much as his brain would allow. History. Jutsu. Anything and everything possible... but that would take time. And with hope, Sabishii would have enough time to master the things he had set out to. To learn the diplomacy, rules, and history of Suna, but the world at large as well. Could this be a path to do such things?

Silently, he would fuller emerge from the ground near the ANBU, but a safe enough distance to be able to assess an attack if it were to come. He was taking a risk, but... what was life without risk? Calculated... or so he'd thought. Sabishii would stand with his arms crossed wearing his typical attire. Dark grey shinobi-esque with leather shoulder straps, a leg pouch with sealing scrolls and a back pouch on his right side for his utility.

"...And why are you down here?"

 

[Uziuke]

Uzi now wondered a bit about this kid. The young talent didn't know what an ANBU was. He probably was in the Academy, or, as Uzi began thinking, he was one that found his shinobi abilities and wanted to put them to the test. "What's an ANBU eh?" Uzi would repeat the question, continuing to stare at the mask through the water's reflection. It was something that he had become. Back in Kirigakure, was it something he was aiming for? A flashback of his Chuunin Exams and his village being iced over were the only remains of his memory of The Mist Village at the moment. He remembered why he became an ANBU in Suna however. "An ANBU." Now he repeated the title, continuing to stare at his bear mask. The next question made him question things a bit more. It was now obvious that the kid rarely received affection. He felt a bit of backlash as the kid asked him the question, but it changed his expression none nevertheless. His thoughts began to race, pondering on who this kid was and his current situation, but it was something that he wouldn't ask. To force one to talk about their life, especially if they were going through something extreme, was a bit too much. He'd have to give this one space, even though he felt that this was the opportunity to get a few things off of the kid's chest. Maybe at a later date he could ask the kid about what was happening in his life, but for now, he'd answer the questions he was given. The last question would be the simplest to answer.

Uzi took a deep breathe in, and a deep breathe out. He zipped open his duffle bag, careful not to alarm the youngling that now was a bit closer to him. Uzi took out a crystal that he picked up from the cave and examined it a bit. "Tell me what you think of this." Uzi turned his head to the area the kid now stood, tossing the crystal towards him. "Examine it, think on it, even wonder what it means. Then tell me what you think of it." If Uzi's answers would have been simple, the kid probably wouldn't have captured the true meaning of Uzi's reply. But he would use the crystal to answer the kid's questions. He continue to take his time, zipping the bag back closed. He stayed squatted at the waters edge, continuing to look at his own reflection. He looked at what he had become.

 

[Sabishii]

'An ANBU.'

The words seemed to hang a bit. The idea of the question was the answer. However, was his question answered in that moment? Friendly neighborhood... ANBU. The words from before, he would run them and place them to memory. It didnt seem overtly important, but it did seem like something he would want a more direct answer for. The hollow eyes of the boy would watch the being before him with increasing intrigue. The cloak and mask woudl make Sabishii's brain begin to go haywire. What was it about this being before him make him feel like he wanted... what he had? Maybe it was a bout of jealousy. Maybe it was something even deeper? A way to cloak yourself from the world. A way to make yourself just a facade, unknown to the world at large.

Tentatively, Sabishii would take another step closer to the man before the ghosts from his shadows would appear by the boys feet. One crimson with hollow black eyes and the other white with the same eyes. They looked like children hidden under bed sheets but they were two of the three ghosts that tended to keep him up late into the night and even tormented him for days before he would finally succumb to his natural order of sleep days later. Before the hallucinations would begin. However, was he hallucinating anyways? He was a weird boy, weird in a sense that he had odd abilities that made him weird. And maybe it was this generation of students, or maybe it was living within the generation that was coming up now, but Sabishii felt like the weird one of them all was the most normal in Yuka. Which made him wary of her. She was the one with the normal family. Normal loving parents. Yet her darkness was greater than anything Sabishii would feel even within the darkness that loomed over him because of his past...

"...Crystal shard?"
"...Hard... Beautiful...Rock..."

Sabishii would examine the crystal for a moment himself, The red ghost catching it as the being would toss it his way. Sabishii blinked as this was a first for him. He had always seen them wiff on acting on their on accord. Or at least, thats what he'd thought up until now. Like a single flicker of the idea would peak through the veil of darkness and planted the idea. As he would look down at the crystal and the ghost that nabbed, Sabishii's mind would race. What was the message he would be able to absorb from the simple crystal that mirriored so many othersas they would look around these caverns...?

Was he looking to shallow? Was there something deeper he would be able to pull from the visage of the structure gleaming into the lights around him? Who knew. "...I dont understand... Am... I missing... something?" the boy would croak out, "I think there... are many... many possibilities. Many things that you could mention when you look at something. Many details to miss..." The Tired boy would pause looking down and examining the crystal still in he crimson ghosts 'hand'.

 

[Uziuke]

"These crystals are an important part of Suna. They give the village electricity. Enough to power the Commercial District to cook for you. Enough to run the water to boil some ramen noodles. Even to grow crops from the Earth, these crystals supply the village with enough power to keep us going." Uzi paused, letting his words sink in. "Each Shinobi of the village has the power to keep the village going, just as these crystals." Uzi stood up from his squat, looking around and gesturing at the many crystals around. "If it were up to only a single crystal to power the village, we wouldn't make it far. But, with the amount of crystals laying around, we could power the village for months, years, even decades." He put his hands behind his back, walking away from the kid and the duffle bag with a slow stroll. "As Shinobi, if only one of us tried to run the village, we'd be run over by the amount of work that it takes to complete the tasks we are given. But, as many Shinobi working together, we can run this village without much problem at all. Much like the crystals here." Uziuke stopped in place, wondering what the child was thinking. "And you ask what an ANBU is. An ANBU is one that is willing to help this village continue running. It may be from the shadows, but we are given an important job nevertheless."

He stopped once more. He walked back to his original position, observing the kid closely. His chakra flow was steady. "One thing that's set in stone about ANBU is, you can't allow fear to stop you from your duties. You could one day be someone's hero." He didn't give a complete answer on what an ANBU was, but he gave the boy a general direction. Most kids said they wanted to be something and changed direction later in life. Some kids pondered on things while young, and never thought of them again. This one seemed to have no direction, so Uzi decided not to take control of what the kid had in front of him, a life to live. What he decided to do with that, was beyond Uzi. Of course the white haired Shinobi could help with this young one's walk, but the ANBU wouldn't make the shadow manipulator's decisions for him.

As he eyed the boy, only one thought lingered in his mind. 'Maybe one day he would become an ANBU, and create his own definition of what an ANBU is.'

He now squat down before the kid, giving him his breathing room. "So, what is your definition of ANBU, from what I just told you?" He now studied the kid, wondering what his answer would be. He kept the other question, the one about being nice, to the back of his mind.

 

[Sabishii]

Suspiciously Sabishii would listen to the man, watching the movements and subtle twitches. However, would it be so daft to think that there would be a shift in his posture? Would it be something that Sabishii would notice at this stage in his training? Yes. It was, because he was different than other children in his generation. Where he would lack in physical prowess he would make up for mental ingenuity. He was ever progressive in his thoughts but maybe he was placing himself too high on that pedestal in his mind. It would be counter-intuitive for him with the looming examinations coming up to think too highly of himself. They were all putting in work to progress... but he would attempt to think highly of himself to be able to think himself out of any bad situation.

Or so he would hope.

As the masked one would speak, he would look back down to the crystal, noting the ability of the ghosts that he would be able to conjure. Listening to the words and allowing them all to fill him. What was it that brought all these walks of life together? The ability of one above the ability of a group would be noticeable. The ability of one could only go so far, but to place that ability within the clutches of a village all working in unison for a singular goal. One purpose. To progress everyone forward, to raise the tide to lift all ships. To raise everyone up.

'Hero?' he thought.

"Hero?..." He said.

His voice, uncertain because of his inner thoughts. He would never see anything within himself that could be considered heroic. Would he throw his life on the line for someone other than himself? Yes. Yuka... Maybe Shinda and Goro... What could he become if he would walk that road? What could he be with the guidance of someone that cared? What could he become to someone behind him? No... he had his own ambitions, and he would use whatever means to reach those goals. Was it power that he sought? Glory? No. He wanted knowledge... much like many before him who failed... he would look to succeed. And he may not be successful, but he would attempt it by any means necessary... but his words would ring something different....

"By what you say... ANBU could be many different things... what defines it is the thought that binds the village together? The glue... that brings all things in our village?" He would pause moving the crystal from his own hand to the hands of the outstretched hands. Now though, he would watch and look back up to the now closely standing ANBU, "I... believe ANBU... by... your meaning... Are the strength of our nation? The... energy that brings life?" Sabishii would think for a moment, his thoughts whirling about the ideas of possible answers...