Private The little things in life (Michi)

[Kureji]

Sumire would of course go for a run. It is mainly one of her nightly activities at this point. Well... maybe every other night activity. Tonight Neko was up on cooking food for the family. So the hachimon would take this opportunity to go out for a run. This time her feet took her to the Luminous Mountains. The sun was nearly fully set, making a beautiful hue of orange, violet, and blue.

Due to her speed and sheer strength of her muscles, she would make quick time in getting to the top of a mountain. "Whoo!" She would exclaim to herself. "It's a bit chilly out here!" She would snap her finger and a flame would spark up. She was thankful for her affinity to the fire element. She would warm up as she would stare out into the horizon. "Wow. It sure is beautiful out here. Nature really is something."

She would think back to her late Sensei. He had told her to live life to its fullest and enjoy each day as if it were her last. And to ultimately, enjoy the little things in life.

 

[Michi]

The luminous mountains were days away from Sunagakure. Kimiko was apparently nothing short of a marathon runner who allowed her feet to take her miles out of the way. The luminous mountains were renowned for their beauty but possessed a terrible legacy. The range glistened as if it was encased in millions of tiny diamonds was a sight to behold but the reason why this range looked the way it did was because of the diamond maelstrom. The diamond maelstrom was a storm that engulfed most of wind country for nearly two decades that isolated the various villages during a period of time often referenced as the Silent War. At the time nobody knew the cause of the sandstorm that possessed sharp cutting blades of sand that threatened to slice apart those that traveled beyond the safety of their walls. It was the reason why Sunagakure had lowered itself into the earth, the reason for the great walls that surrounded the most ensuring of the cities - Soons Haven and Sora. It was also, in part, the cause of the destruction of dozens of other smaller, less prepared villages.

The cause was far from natural, at the heart of the maelstrom was a man in perpetual suffering - Sunahoshi Daisuke. In a cruel act of perpetual suffering, Daisuke's soul was tethered to the site of his death and in this perennial state of suffering he would manifest the storms that would inundate the country, turning Mother Suna's blessing into a terrible curse. In the wake of Daisuke's second and final death, the desert could finally rest. The fulgurite created by the electrical activity of the storm that had created those 'diamond-like shards' remained, like a sparkling film that covered the desert.

Michi was there, not at the heart of the storm but likely close to it. A site where the diamond shards became solid ground. She was seeking the fall of the would-have-been king. The Sunahoshi were a unique and dying breed, the favored of Mother Suna, blessed with dominion over the desert and celebrated as the 'One King' of Sunagakure. It was strange that the Ryuzaki Raizō had taken the mantle of Kazekage from a living member of the Sunahashi Clan, Sunahoshi Katsuo. It was not something she spent a great deal of time musing, she was not one to involve herself in politics. She was more fascinated in origins, in truths that did not require context or opinion and were not made in the heat of the moment. Facts such as the alleged site of Daisuke's purgatory.

She had been at this site for a little over a day, chipping away pieces of fulgurite, taking samples of heated stone, measuring the depth before glass became sand once more to estimate the heat involved and to better understand the subsequent shattering. She had come to several early conclusions during this period of assessment - that the Sunahoshi portfolio was not akin to the Sunaku as many believed, but rather power over storm and wind. She wondered why this powerset in particular was given to Primus and his kin if the legends told were ever true.

She would not expect to see anybody else in the desert and yet of all things a shinobi comes jogging past her dig site to view the luminous mountain range. Michi would stop what she was doing, she had gotten all of the samples she had needed already. She had already taken all of the measurements that she required and was by this time merely taking a second set to ensure accuracy, not that it was ever in question. She would carefully slide the phials she bad used to collect the various samples, she wanted to look them over under a microscope to get a closer look at them. She had always wondered if the Sunahoshi were a created line of hybrids with a consistent presentation of this likely dominant trait or is their biology was simply altered, or as simpler people would say 'divinely blessed.' Michi was far too pragmatic to allow religious mythology to sway her cold logic but she wanted to understand where stories ended and facts began.

She would close the flap of her leather satchel and brush off her knees as she stood up and addressed the stranger. "Salutations, you are rather far from home," she would call out as she made a curious approach. She was not particularly fearful of strangers but she was wary of them. Random encounters in deserts should be uncommon. When so far from civilized lands, even less. At the site of a horrific tragedy that was still not fully understood, she was only faintly aware of the circumstances of Daisuke's death, subsequent dark resurrection and perpetual storm at the hand of the man she knew simply as Nao. So as she rose and as she approached, she would silently wonder and appraise this 'jogger' and wonder why is she out here and what is she about to do? A not so small part of her wondered if this young woman was a Sovereign, someone sent to look over the site, recover a bone, a fragment of sorts to try and again bind Daisuke to Nao's will. "What brings you out to a place like this?"

 

[Kureji]

As she would reflect, someone's voice would catch her attention. Someone else was here and inquired that she was far from home. She would give the stranger a warm smile before saying, "Oh, I could probably make it back to the Village in about five or six jumps. Four if I do a running jump."

She would listen as the other girl would ask her why she is out in a place like this. Sumire would think about it for a second before saying, "I'm just doing my nightly run. I usually end up somewhere out in the desert by the end of the night. Sometimes I end up at Soon's Haven. But after a while I just take a short break and just enjoy the scenery." She would look out at the different hues that are painting the region. "Have you ever seen something as fascinating as this? My late Sensei had once told me to enjoy the little things in life. It really helps put an appreciation on what's going on around you."

She would stretch her body out before extending her hand. "I am Kimiko Sumire!" If the other girl chose to shake her hand, despite her feeling as if Sumire is being gentle, she would also feel that Sumire feels stronger than her looks show. "You know... I never seen anyone else out here. Does that mean..." She would pause, thinking, "You're also out here for a jog?"

She would wait for a response from the other woman.

 

[Michi]

"Oh, I could probably make it back to the Village in about five or six jumps. Four if I do a running jump," the girl would boast or admit to have mastered flight.

"That's nice," she would comment. The bounding leap she had envisioned was now head-canon.

She would ask the woman what she was doing out so far. The Luminous Mountains were on the fringe of the desert, bordering the country's edge. "I'm just doing my nightly run. I usually end up somewhere out in the desert by the end of the night. Sometimes I end up at Soon's Haven. But after a while I just take a short break and just enjoy the scenery." A casual jaunt in the opposite direction. The Luminous mountains in the western edge of the country and the coastal city of soons Haven in the far east.

"Shinobi, I'm guessing," she commented. Michi was not someone that could casually traverse an entire country. While she held a technical rank, Michi was never trained as a shinobi. It was more a designation. It would take her a few days to make it to Soons Haven from the foot of the Luminous Mountains. "That is the better part of a week." And she would likely be half-dead at that.

"Have you ever seen something as fascinating as this? My late Sensei had once told me to enjoy the little things in life. It really helps put an appreciation on what's going on around you."

"Fascinating?" She repeated, looking at and in the general direction the girl was. At the sky? Looked like any other sunset she had ever seen.

"I am Kimiko Sumire!" The girl would extend her hand to shake and Michi would return the shake, but regret when she felt her unfortunate hand get crushed within the shinobi's mighty grip.

"Mi- ouch- chi," the Oracle would reply, the sensation of something popping or cracking felt under Kimiko's hand.

"You know... I never seen anyone else out here. Does that mean..." She would pause, thinking. Mean she is a researcher? A traveler maybe. Another shinobi? Technically, but definitely not. "You're also out here for a jog?"

The least likely option. Michi did not look like a woman that jogged. She needed assistance opening jars of pickles. "No," she shook her head and it looked like she might even laugh but laughter was not something that she really knew how to do well or right. "I'm an Oracle and I am learning more about this historical site," she claimed. "It took me 5 days to reach here from Soon's Haven," via Sandstrider. "You shinobi are inhumanly fast."

 

[Michi]

Been over 5 days, just tying up the thread [Topic Left]. Thank you for the thread. I intend to RP with you in other communities.