Seaside Practice (Open)

[Takahashi Naoki]

"Ugh this water is so cold... But if I want to get better, then I have to swim here!"

Naoki was currently at the Undersea, wearing nothing but some swimming trunks, some goggles, and a pair of underwear, and was trying to train himself by staying in the waters as long as he could. It was one of his days off from Shiori's training, and since he wanted to surprise his mother by pulling off some training while he was free from her, but he really underestimated how cold the water was. As he tried to get used to the water in the Undersea, Naoki was still feeling shivers down his body, and as his hearing was interrupted by the splashing he was making, he could barely even hear where he was in the water. As Naoki tried swimming around aimlessly, he continued to shiver a bit as he tried to get used to the water.

Eventually, Naoki was able to get used to the temperature of the Undersea, and he was able to get used to the splashing, as he was starting to understand where he was in the water. Now that he was used to the water, Naoki decided to practice some hand seals while swimming, as he tried to form the different kinds of hand seals while floating in the water. By the time Naoki was done training on hand seals, he then tried swimming as fast as he could to try to practice on getting faster. After a hour or two of swimming, Naoki was finally getting tired, and he swam up back to the beach shore to relax for a few hours.

As Naoki was drying off, he was saying to himself "*Huff* That was some good *Huff* training. I think now should be a good time to train my brain rather than my body." As Naoki dried himself off with a towel, he placed the towel down on the beach surrounding the Undersea and started reading a braille book about ninjutsu given to him by his mother, and started reading on the pages on Wind Ninjutsu, since that was the kind of jutsu he was most interested in. After all, if he could manipulate the wind, maybe he could make a cold wind to cool himself off when he was somewhere very hot, and vice versa.

 

[Toraono Kuro]

A woman's hand although made of water would emerge from undersea and pushed Naoki away from the edge of the water gently. She smiled genuinely, as she emerged from the water and not a single drop fell from her body as she stood next to Naoki. He had not seen her while she patrolled the waters and maintained the filters. As one of the few Byakko clan members fully capable of water manipulation Byakko Issui was a constant guardian and maintainer of the undersea water filtration. She felt Naoki's presence in the water and it felt elemental, so she decided to check on him. "Hello youngling, I am Issui, an undersea guardian... your swimming techniques need work although from your presence I sense you don't fear the water. Would you like to learn how to walk upon the water as well?"<i></i>

Issui stood at six feet, and even in water form weighed one hundred and eighty pounds. In her natural human state she had pale hair, brown skin, and algae green eyes. She finally noticed why the boy was unafraid and why he had not noticed her safety signs. The elemental child was blind and that made her feel inadequate there were no safety measures to protect the blind in place she would need to talk with the family heads to inact some.

 

[Takahashi Naoki]

As Naoki was reading, he felt a surge of water shaped like a hand push him away from the shore, as Issui was beginning to introduce herself to him. He was overly curious on how a person could be made of water, but Naoki quickly remembered that both he and his mother had sand for blood, so he guessed that there were other weird kinds of people out in the world as well. As he listened to her talking, Naoki blushed a bit when she said his swimming techniques needed work, but besides from that he just listened to what she had to say, at least until she offered to teach him to walk on water, which was something that he thought would be impossible.

Even so, Naoki decided to go with it, and decided to accept the woman's training. "I didn't really think you could walk on the water, but if you can, I guess I'll try learning this. By the way, my name's Naoki if you need to call me by something." Naoki was still cautious on revealing a fake last name, since the last time he tried his tutor saw through his lie, though he was okay with revealing his first name. As Naoki stood up, he did some stretches, before walking to the edge of the ocean. "So how does one walk on water anyway? Does it have to do with Chakra? If it does, I've been training on how to use Chakra with my mother, so don't worry about training me on unlocking my ability to control Chakra."

 

[Toraono Kuro]

Issui assumed a full human form and sat besides Naoki as she looked him over with her true eyes. "Oh, so you already know about and how to use chakra??? Well that is wonderful, then if you don't mind I shall teach you how to use water jutsu as well. Suna is in sore need of water manipulators and I have no children of my own to teach. So if you are willing and your mother does not disagree I would be honored to teach you. Make sure to ask your mother first though, some families don't want their children to learn arts unknown or generally unused by their heritage or bloodline. When you have rested for a bit I will get one of our braille machines to write you a scroll on the steps to walking on water. That way you can read it and need not simply listen to my explanation. I will let the dojo know what I require to teach you the liquid arts and when you are done you shall be a being capable of three elements if not four."<i></i> Issui was a bit lonely on her patrols of undersea so training Naoki would take a bit of the boredom and loneliness from her life. Teaching another her water manipulation would help her continue her legacy as well since she doubt she would ever find someone worthy or willing to marry her.

 

[Mikaboshi]

[col]It seemed perhaps Issui's wait for companionship would be longer still for as she approached Naoki an eerie stillness fell over the waters of the Undersea and the temperature of the air above began to drop suddenly. Stepping forward out of the blackness of the cavern came the Lord of the Deep Court, one of the last few remaining pureblooded ancients and one of the fewer still ancient lords to still be presently active in the world. As far as he knew only he and Suna remained; the others either too afraid to interface with the world of mankind or destroyed by the hand of humanity. At last free from the prison that had contained him for so long, Mikaboshi was allowed to go and do as he pleased and it was the fate of their kind that brought him to the Undersea on this day.

Though not a part of the Earth Court, Mikaboshi had felt the creation of Naoki as surely as if he had been there as each of their kind was connected through an unseen and undeniable force and since then he had been searching for that young spawn of the Earth Court if only to inspect what a human might define as his nephew.

"Permission should be sought, yes. But not from him."

Frost pooled at his feet as he walked creating platforms of sheer ice beneath him as if the still water of the Undersea itself submitted to the authority of the Deep Lord. Many years ago this body of water and all other things that dwelt within the shadow of the Wind Country's underground belonged to the Deep Court and by extension to Mikaboshi.

This had been his domain and in time it would be again.

"By what right do you seek to "teach" one of my kind, half-breed?" Snarled the Deep King, his lip curled in disgust. His hate for demon-kin was well known and only put aside for Kuro specifically for the respect that the Toraono Lord had paid to him in the past. "Begone before I decide to sample the flavor of your heart."

A shape-shifter by nature, Mikaboshi's appearance was one of constant fluidity though there was a pattern to it that only he knew. An order to the disorder, as it were. The guise that he wore this day was a first for him; taller than usual with blood red hair cut short and spiked, he wore a visor the color of bone over his eyes that was adorned with decoration that matched the color of his hair. Poking out from beneath his fiery hair were a pair of black horns that curved back with the spikes of his hair giving him a decidedly devilish appearance. His garb was relatively simple; a long black coat over a dark red shirt and long black pants. It was perhaps the most "normal" appearance that Mikaboshi had ever deigned to take but that would ultimately be lost upon the blind Naoki. Still, there was more to Mikaboshi than his appearance and truly it was the way that his presence manifested in the air around him that made his arrival truly noteworthy. Both the air and the water near him chilled to a significant degree as though his body devoured the heat of his surroundings and the lack of a discernible heartbeat made it clear that he was not a human being or at least not a living one.

"I have been searching for you Nephew." A deadly grin split his features as he continued to stride casually across small platforms of black ice that formed beneath his feet leaving a trail of icy footsteps in his wake. "Has my sister been hiding you from me?"|

Mikaboshi, Ancient Lord of the Deep Court

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[Toraono Kuro]

Issui had never heard of Mikaboshi, the threat passed over her soon enough. When he said nephew she realized the old feud over clan techniques was back in effect. "I am sorry sir, I meant no disrespect to your clan or your nephew. I am no halfbreed or whatever you may call a water wielder but I only meant to teach him how to walk on water should he want to learn. Since he is blind I was going to procure him scrolls in braille. Since it seems you use ice to walk upon water I shall leave his training to you. I am sure your family techniques will be better for his unique elemental nature. Have a good time Naoki, and please try not to sample too many hearts Naoki's Uncle. I am certain some hearts might be beyond your liking."<i></i>

With the coming of his Uncle Naoki no longer needed her attention, her flesh became fluid then water once more as she became a true water elemental once more. "If either of you have any problems here in Undersea you need only tap the seal on the hearthstone near the beach and I will know the general location."<i></i>

Topic left Unless stopped

 

[Takahashi Naoki]

"Oh don't worry about, I'm sure that my mom is okay with this, after all she's helping me learn Ninjutsu like she can, and I'm sure she would be okay with me learning a bit more about it while I'm on break." Naoki was glad that he was able to find someone who would offer to teach him ninjutsu, unlike that one teacher who refused to teach him before Shiori started to tutor him. While Naoki was glad to be learning, he was also curious about Issui, since he thought that even with Ninjutsu, a normal person could not turn into water completely. Could she be an Ancient? It seemed unlikely to him, but if he was right, he could find a friend in her if she was.

Before he could ask her though, Naoki heard icy footsteps walking closer to him, and while Naoki was not sure who was making them, he could feel the eerie presence that Mikaboshi was emitting, which was freaking him out a bit. As the person got closer, Naoki could hear his talking, and as he listened, he was angered a bit when he threatened Issui away. While Naoki got a weird answer to what Issui was, he was more concerned and angry that the perrson implied a death threat to Issui which drove her away.

Naoki was still angry about the person, but he became more frightened than angry when he heard from Mikaboshi that he knew what he was, as he thought that only Shiori and himself knew the truth that he was an Ancient. What made him even more scared was when Mikaboshi called him nephew and asked him about Shiori. Naoki didn't even know that Shiori had a brother, but if it was true, then it meant that the person was also an Ancient. "Nephew? I didn't even know that Shiori had a brother, but why did you scare away Issui? She was going to teach me how to walk on water, but now that she's gone you made me miss out on something I really wanted to learn! Unless you also know how to do something like that, stay away from me!"

 

[Mikaboshi]

[col]"Sheep are not fit to instruct wolves." Mikaboshi remarked in reply to Naoki's question about threatening Issui away as he watched the watery woman go. He'd mistaken her for one of the demon-blooded ilk of the Toraono Clan but even having misidentified her lineage she was still not the equal of the beings that she addressed. Ancients had once been the undisputed rulers of the natural world and so many creatures in the modern world had grown comfortable with their absence. So comfortable that they forgot their place and needed to, on occasion, be reminded. He made a mental note to return at a later time to give Issui a more intimate demonstration of why he was to be feared as he turned back and put his attention back on his young nephew.

Ignoring Naoki's plea for him to keep his distance, Mikaboshi continued to stalk closer with slow steps upon the surface of the water. There was no obvious aggression in the way he moved his body nor did he speak in a particularly threatening manner towards Naoki but there was an ever-present dread in simply being near him. The threat of a potentially hungry predator hung thick in the air though Mikaboshi would never stoop to feeding upon his own kind if only because there were so few of them now. Drawing his hands behind his back and clasping them there, Mikaboshi made it perfectly clear with his body language that he was perfectly at ease in that moment.

"And what will you do if I do not stay away? Will you run? Will you fight? Can you do either of those things treading water as you are?" He said, his dark grin intensifying as he drew closer. Naoki was an ancient-- a creature inherently connected to the natural world and most importantly a vessel of phenomenal spiritual power. He possessed the ability to do what he had desired to learn from the Byakko water witch already even if he did not know it. He only required... motivation. "My senses tell me that you are one of us but my eyes only see a frightened child. There is much I might teach you but first you must earn it."

Each slow step brought with it the sound of cracking ice as Mikaboshi drew ever closer causing the temperature of the water around Naoki to begin to drop as he closed the distance. Soon the water would become intolerably cold for most children Naoki's age but he was, of course, was not "most" children. His was a lineage that claimed one of the most royal of pedigrees. But even for a creature with as auspicious a birthright as Naoki, how cold would be too much for him?

"Your chakra is your will made manifest. Your desire inflicted upon the world around it. Expressing that desire is what we define as power. Nothing else matters because nothing else exists."

His lesson was a simple one. To master a technique like walking on water, first it's user had to possess the desire to do so. At their heart all chakra arts were simply different methods to manipulating the physical and spiritual worlds around them by manifesting their will and desire. The stronger one's conviction behind their desire, the more easily an effect could be made manifest. It was a basic lesson behind all of Ninjutsu. To create an effect, first one had to envision and desire it. In essence all Naoki had to do was want it badly enough and his instinct would take over. Mikaboshi was not anxious to waste the life of the first member of his kind to be created in many generations but the First Law had to be observed. This was the way of their kind. If you are strong you live and if you are weak you die.

Survival of the fittest.|

Mikaboshi, Ancient Lord of the Deep Court

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[Takahashi Naoki]

Despite the words Naoki has said, he could still hear that Mikaboshi was coming closer to him through the icy footsteps he was creating. He was not sure what the person approaching him meant when he said that sheep were not fit to instruct wolves, but he could hear from his body language that he didn't mean to harm him, which calmed down Naoki a bit. As Naoki continued to listen, Mikaboshi offered to teach him if he could earn it, but he was not sure what the person meant from earning it. "Earn it? Do you mean I have to prove myself to you so I can learn? If it's like that I'll try to do my best..

As Naoki finished talking, Mikaboshi explained Ninjutsu to him in his own way while continuing to walk torwards him. Naoki was curious about this explanation of Chakra, since in the braille books on chakra he had read about, he read that chakra was just a mix of physical and spiritual energy that acted as both life energy and a way for humans to perform ninjutsu. But if what the person was also true, then Naoki could possibly do the same thing he wanted to do and walk on water. "Expressing desire on the world as power? It's a weird way of describing Chakra, but it's very interesting. Hold on just a second, let me try something. With that, Naoki started running torwards the water, pulling his Chakra to his legs and trying to desire to walk on water to test out if Mikaboshi was right.

Amazingly for Naoki, as he was able to run on the water for 30 full seconds before he started getting tired and falling into it. "I can't believe that worked! I mean, I couldn't do it indefinitely, but I was able to run around on the water without even learning to! You have to teach me more, please!" Naoki was still unhinged from the eerie aura Mikaboshi emitted, but if he was able to help him how to walk on water without even teaching him, then imagine what he could learn if this person started teaching him for real! "Oh, before I forget, my name is Naoki Takahashi, but considering you know my mom you probably knew that."

 

[Mikaboshi]

[col]Naoki did not seem to grasp Mikaboshi's explanation of manipulating his chakra at first but he didn't find that surprising. Mikaboshi had always been accused in the past by others of their kind for having a soft spot for humans and there was a case to be made for that to be true but in the recent years it was Suna that seemed to have gone completely native. Taking a demi-human form with human family... she had been obsessed with them for a time. Perhaps that was what had led her to spawning Naoki. And in true fashion he'd been taught so far as though he were a human being. A human used hand seals as a method of bridging the gap between themselves in the world by ancients did not require such crutches. Being creatures of the natural order rather than agents of chaos, ancients were connected to the natural world in the way that a human being could never understand.

True to the words Mikaboshi had given to him, Naoki focused and with the wellspring of his desire to be free from the now freezing water the young man rose, stood and then ran for a few paces before falling back into the water some distance away from where Mikaboshi had last taken a step. Leaning forward, Mikaboshi stepped once more and this time crossed the distance between where he'd been standing and where Naoki was treading water in an instant as though he'd stepped through the shadows of the cavern.
Expensive-looking shoes touched down upon the surface of the water and he stopped without falling in. Gone was the aura of freezing chakra though the temperature above the water was still noticeably lower than it had been before Mikaboshi had arrived. Instead of ice he simply stood now atop the surface of the water as though it were solid to him without disturbing the water in the slightest.

Oh, before I forget, my name is Naoki Takahashi, but considering you know my mom you probably knew that.

"And I am Mikaboshi, Lord of the Deep Court. You may call me Lord Mikaboshi." He said quietly, leaning over where Naoki was in the water. "Your first lesson is thus: you are not a human being. You are different than they. Better than. Above them. Never allow yourself to be constrained by what a human thinks is possible for the limits of what they are capable of and what we are capable of are as day and night. Do you understand?"

Perhaps he would, perhaps he wouldn't. In time he would come to understand. The men and women of Wind Country's grudge with ancient-kin ran deep and sooner rather than later it would become important for Naoki to fundamentally understand the difference between himself and the others who would no doubt be attending the Sunagakure Academy if he knew Suna as well as he thought he did. With her fascination with humanity she would likely seek to give Naoki a "human" childhood which would be an utter waste for him but he was not of Mikaboshi's court so it was not for him to decide. The best he could do was arm the whelp properly and aid him where possible.

"Now, try again. You know what it feels like now. Focus on that and make that image in your mind real."|

Mikaboshi, Ancient Lord of the Deep Court

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[Takahashi Naoki]

"Deep Court? I never heard of that before, but it sounds very ominous." Naoki was getting out of the water as he continued listening to Mikaboshi, hoping to hear more from him, since Mikaboshi's explanation of Chakra worked out really well, he was hoping that he would teach him even more new stuff that could be useful. As he listened to his talkings, Naoki simply nodded as Mikaboshi explained on how he was different from normal people, and how he was not as limited as others. "Yeah, my mom already told me that I'm different for others, and when you bleed sand you know your definitely not the same as others."

After Mikaboshi told him to try again, Naoki dried himself off and got near the water, saying "I guess I could try again. Maybe this time I can walk for even longer." As Naoki started focusing on his desire more and more, and as he drew chakra to his legs, he started walking on the water again, this time slowly so he would waste less Chakra. As Naoki stood on the water, he faced the shore and gave a thumbs up in what he thought was Mikaboshi's direction. "Hey, I think I'm getting used to this. As long as I focus my mind on walking on water, I can do it in real life without even needing to learn about it through a scroll!"

After around 15 minutes of standing and walking on the water, Naoki slowly walked back onto the shore from the water, and grabbed his braille book to hand to Mikaboshi. "If it's that easy to learn new techniques like that, then maybe I don't need some of these easier scrolls. I mean, I may need some books for when I go into advanced Jutsu, but for now I have no need for this." Naoki then grabbed the rest of his stuff, and started heading up for the exit. As he started to leave, he gave Mikaboshi a wave goodbye as he walked away to talk to Shiori about him.

[Marked For Training + Will leave unless Stopped]

 

[Mikaboshi]

[col]Mikaboshi stayed and watched the youth practice for some time, saying nothing while he did. His thoughts were elsewhere and more concerned with the question of why Suna had chosen now to bring a new one of their kind into existence. They were hated and feared by the state of Sunagakure and actively hunted and preyed upon by the Wind government and their Sovereign Academy. What did she stand to gain through it? Mikaboshi did not pretend to understand many of the choices that Suna had made since her reconstitution and this one was equally puzzling to him. Still, Naoki existed now and there were too few of them in the current age to allow for them to come to harm at the hands of humanity. After a short period of time Naoki returned to the shoreline where Mikaboshi stood observing and commented about his studies as he attempted to hand his book to the wizened ancient lord. Raising a gloved hand in a gesture which would have otherwise been interpreted as one of a polite declination of the youth's offer by someone who could see, Naoki would feel a gentle push against the book as the shadows of the cavern moved and twisted at Mikaboshi's desire.

"Keep it. May it remind you of the things you have learned here today." Mikaboshi instructed. Whether or not Naoki actually kept the book was of little consequence to him. The young man then hurriedly gathered his things and began to head back into the village, pausing only momentarily to turn and wave back at the enigmatic Deep King that had seen fit to give him instruction that day.

But as Naoki turned to look back over his shoulder, Mikaboshi had already disappeared without a trace.

[Topic Left]|

Mikaboshi, Ancient Lord of the Deep Court

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