Open Winter Wanderings

[Kuru Watashi]

I would have preferred to get clubbed in the Cronopolis. They have a standard way of doing things there, perfected over countless decades of casual crime and robbing in a district where no one really watches. They get you over the head with something solid and you wake up in the alleys without your pouch nor yenpurse, and you have no one to blame but yourself for being unwary in a place where there’s more criminals than honest people.

Instead, it seemed like I’d gotten done in on a mountain. I’d been listening to music at the time, doing my best to ignore the little problem that I was climbing a cliff barefoot, and looking forward to eating a warm slice of pizza after the whole ordeal, so maybe I wasn’t paying as much attention as I usually would. Who would, in that situation? Miles away (and above) any other conceivable place for people to be in, and probably hidden in the layers of sleet and wind? No excuse. I’d had a nagging feeling that someone was following and it was my own fault for forgetting about that for pizza.

Still, it was a curiosity how exactly they’d done me in. I’d remembered being a bit more distracted than usual, then all of a sudden I was here. Genjutsu maybe? All I knew was that the wind was howling, the ground belowfoot was freezing, and the sleet was coming down in almost solid sheets. Then all of a sudden, all of that just wasn’t. I’d probably died – it seemed like the only real explanation for all of that, and whoever designed the afterlife was a prick. I was still blind here.

[Caroling Outskirts]​

I kept walking, trying to get a feet for what the afterlife was like. Walking in a nice level field with what felt like nice warm carpet was nice for a change. You never really get any of that back in Cloud. Soft, warm carpet that wrapped around your toes as your feet sunk into it. A nice satisfying crunch that accompanied every footstep. It was when feeling began returning to my feet from the freezing mountain path that I realized that I was, in fact, walking on a plain of snow. And it was when my feet got warmed up enough from my body heat to begin feeling cold again, that I decided that whoever designed this place was a monumental prick.

Walking alone did get a bit old after a while though. Sure, I had just been in a mountain range by myself but a guy’s gotta have people to talk to! I was dead after all, and while it was too cold to be Heaven, it was definitely too nice to be Hell. So I called out, hoping that I wasn’t alone here. “Anyone else dead and need friends? I’ve got some cold pizza with your name on it!”

[OOC: trying out the first person for a bit. not sure if i'll keep it or not]

 

[Makai Midori]

Without warning the wind howled; kicking up a flurry of sparkling snowdrops which glistened beautifully with their reflection of light, if one were able to keep their eyes open throughout the sudden miniature tempest lasting only a few brief moments before ceasing as quickly as it began----

----This was all Midori had seen before suddenly finding things *very* different.

No...I thought I was heading to the training field...
Emerald hair spun around her head as she turned her head side-to-side, her eyes wide in an attempt to perceive anything that would prevent her mind's increasing worry from the sudden shift in sensation she found herself in; all she had found was that her footsteps left a trail in snow that seemed to only suddenly begin in nowhere.
She was a new student in the village of Clouds; even new to the concept of shinobi in general! Sure, she had heard of them and even seen a few wandering between travels, but being raised in a relatively secluded village far from any large village -shinobi or otherwise-, she was relatively unexposed to their real culture. So, she expected to find such amazing, fantastical things when she was brought to the Cloud academy for training.

But as with all things, moderation was key. And this? One moment she was leaving her classroom, and the next...Well. The frigid air and wet, sinking ground quickly told her something was *very* different here. I didn't go outside. And there wasn't this much snow! Is this...they called it, a "Genjutsu"? Is this already a test or a surprise class? Her breathing rapidly began to increase in proportion to her anxiety, each very breath visible in the chilled air. ...I can't remember what to do with Genjutsu. She worried; the sudden change in environment in combination with her pessimism made it exceedingly difficult for her to recall information one her training lessons.

Fortunately, she found a reason to draw her attention away; a sound drawing her attention toward a break in the otherwise blank sea of snow. A voice! "Hey!" Midori called out hastily; desperate to make some sense of the area she found herself in as she rand through the snow toward the voice. Fortunately, she had the benefit of preferring warmer clothing even by the standards of a village priding themselves in being built in well, *clouds*; and pulled her purple scarf snugly around herself.

"Are you part of this exam too? Quick please! I don't remember what you need to do when theres a Genjutsu around...I can't fail already."

Yes. Though she came from a much more mundane lifestyle far from any village, she was certain of one thing; if this was an everyday part of being a shinobi, then this whole ninja thing was very, *very* weird.

 

[Kishiko Nagisa]

Nagisa could have very easily climbed the mountain. Having control of Ice, it would have been easy to form a little ice boat and sail along but it was far too nice of a day for that. Nagisa would get the strange look from people as she wore only her monk attire with a light blue jacket that reached down to her forearms leaving her lower arms and legs exposed to the cold. Her black hair was tied up today as she didn't feel like fighting the wind with it.Her Leaf headband helped with that today. Normally she would wear it as a belt but today it had a function. Her blues eyes took in her soundings. It looked mostly peaceful except for the arrival of 2 other people. Nagisa would hear the boy talk and then the girl ask a question. Nagisa would smile. It had been a long time since she had to take an exam like that.

"I think you are lost little one. No exam around here that I know of, but who knows. You may find something fun all the same. Pardon me, I am Nagisa and I will pass on the pizza but friendship would be appreciated. A view such as this should be shared with friends."

[topic entered]

 

[Kuru Watashi]

"Hey!"

At the very least, if this really was the afterlife, then these were new people that I've never met before. The voice didn't sound like a familiar one; even though I don't hear many people besides Naohiro and that obnoxious Maru, you tend to remember sounds a bit better than most other folk when you're blind. Luckily, it didn't sound like some old fart. It sounded like another kid! Either I wasn't dead after all, or someone needed to address the high amount of kids dying (though I assume in Cloud, that sorta thing tends to get covered up).

In any case, it was a new voice and I was lonely so I turned around to head in this new direction.

"Are you part of this exam too? Quick please! I don't remember what you need to do when theres a Genjutsu around...I can't fail already." And just when I thought I'd finally gotten myself killed off and freed of that whole ordeal, the Academy comes back to bite me in the ass! If I'm going to be completely honest, I figured that I'd actually landed myself in Hell and this was my punishment, but there was always the chance that this might really be an actual exam. And if I did well, I'd be free of that whole Academy nonsense. So sue me, Naohiro. Or you, Yuuto, you can stick it too!

Back to the matters at hand.

"An exam, eh!? I bet those old Academy teachers would be the type to do something like this for an exam!" I responded, rolling up my sleeves and looking around. Sure, it was cold out and I couldn't actually see, but it was more about showing those proctors that I wasn't messing around! And the more that you think about it, those senile Academy farts really would be the type to do something like this for a test! Kidnapping a kid exploring on his own and tossing him in a frozen wasteland? Seems right up their alley!

"If they've taught you the Cancel jutsu, then I think you're supposed to use that to break out of genjutsu?" I responded, trying to wrack my brains on what else we were going to have thrown at us in this test. "If they haven't taught you that, then just do your best to try and force yourself to get out of it! Like waking yourself up out of a bad dream - I can't really explain how!" I kept still, focusing on if there were any other sounds off in the distance. Sure, I knew Cancel, but using handsigns in a place like this was just asking for someone to jump you while you were distracted. It'd be better to just be ready to whack anyone that comes to stop that other student from trying it.

It turned out, of course, that my suspicions were right.

"I think you are lost little one. No exam around here that I know of, but who knows. You may find something fun all the same. Pardon me, I am Nagisa and I will pass on the pizza but friendship would be appreciated. A view such as this should be shared with friends."

I turned and moved forwards a bit, facing this new voice and keeping my back towards the other Academy student. Even if she was another obstacle set up by this exam and was out to stab me in the back, I'd take getting stabbed in the back by some little-girl-sounding voice any day over getting stabbed in the back by some oldie. My hand felt uncomfortably empty - either my oar had been taken during the kidnapping or I'd dropped it, worry about that later - and I cautiously pulled my collapsible walking stick from my back pocket and extended it.

"The name's Watashi! And remember," I called to the other girl grimly as I pointed the stick towards the clear ambusher in this exam. "You can't trust anyone in these sorts of weird mind-trippy exams! You know where you are one second, then the next you're in some strange snowy location and there's someone asking for friendship and talking about the view? Those old bats are always so cliche when it comes to assessments!" The fogey had tried pulling the ol' kind stranger trick and I wasn't going to fall for some sorta gingerbread witch-hut bamboozle!

"Just keep an eye out for anyone else jumping us while this oldie is distracting us, and get that Cancel out!"

 

[Kishiko Nagisa]

Nagisa would look around and see that the boy answered her and was, upon closer examination, blind. Not everyday you would see that but shinobi were funny folk. The fact she could turn into water made it so she couldn't say too much about anyone else. Although it was rather funny that she was called old and at least the boy thought she was PART of the illusion.

"Oh no. I am not part of this and you are right of course a Cancel jutsu would get you out of an illusion, not that I think you are in one. Willpower is your best defense against genjutsu. It is not my strong suite but I know the basics enough to know how to use it. It reminded me of a fight where I was sparing with someone and they used this jutsu to make me see multiple bodies making it harder to hit. I was able to pick out the real one because the real opponent was bleeding. The illusions were not bleeding. Keen senses prevail. Focus and you will not be overwhelmed. I don't recognize you two. Are you both Cloud shinobi? I am from the Leaf village on a mini vacation away from work.I remember helping defend your capital from a most unusual beast. interesting times."

 

[Kuru Watashi]

I braced the butt of his makeshift spear in the snowy ground of the outskirts while angling the sharpened oar head towards the teacher-thing that we were supposed to be fighting in this exam. Making sure that the other academy student was directly behind me (and that another baddie wouldn't be able to jump me without getting past them first) I took in as much as I could from my surroundings. I was great at those spot-the-difference puzzle games after all, so long as they were texture based or somethin'

With a rough idea of where everything and everyone was, I kept the spear aimed in the direction of the oldie - a lot could happen in one second - and counted down slowly to myself in my head.

Three.

Two.

One. Step.

Pfft. Cancel Jutsu. No differences spotted? Guess this wasn't some sorta genjutsu test after all.

I let go of the spear in my left hand, and used the other to stick it back into my belt before sticking one out in the direction of the supposed Leaf Shinobi to shake. Whether or not he? she? shook it (to be fair, a lot of shinobi are pretty eccentric! I've learned not to guess before they offered), I'd keep sticking it out there while I mulled over what this person said. The genjutsu stuff didn't matter much to me. The fact that she was from Leaf seemed interesting. The talk about an 'unusual beast' was even more interesting.

Cloud was inviting shinobi from Leaf to help with a monster threat? That was real interesting indeed! But stuff to think about later.

"Nice to meet ya then! The name's Watashi, and I'm a student in Cloud, not yet a full shinobi." After scratching an itch of the back of my head, I left my hand to the devices of looking for some of that pizza. If this Nagisa wasn't going to eat any of the pizza, then that just meant more for me! "So Nagisa huh? What'dya do over in Leaf? I wanna know a bit about the sort of work I'll have to do once I graduate!"

"And what sort of monster did you help fight?" I bounced a bit in my shoes, and my eyes were probably shining a little bit. "What sort of people did you fight it with too? That sounds awesome!" It did, in fact, sound pretty interesting. I've never really been outside of Cloud, and the closest I've been to visiting new places have been my ten second taco-run, and meeting those two cool foreigners. Maybe I had a lot of questions, but boy did I want to visit places like Leaf and Sand. "And what's it like living in Leaf?"

[ooc] sorry for the delay, the latest my next post should be is the 30th. holidays have me pretty busy up until then

 

[Kishiko Nagisa]

Nagisa watched the spear being hefted towards her and just smiled as she saw the cancel jutsu being used. As if something so mundane could hurt her. Still, Nagisa watched the two and soon enough Watashi introduced himself and asked a lot of questions as he was apparently searching for the aforementioned pizza.

"I am a medical shinobi of Leaf. I focus on healing and aiding my allies although I am no weakling in combat I assure you. Medical shinobi should be strong enough to sure on their own because if the team goes down you are their last hope.I imagine you have your standard options of going medical ANBU or main branch. Each village has a branch like that although each one is run differently. Of course I am biased and think medical jutsu is the best jutsu you can learn as it can keep yourself and allies alive. Now as for this monster."

Nagisa would have to think about this. It happened a while ago.

"TI was on my way to Cloud to discuss medical techniques at the time when at the gate a massive ink like monster appeared. It was as tall as the gate and breathed fire so intense it hurt everyone around us! Thankfully, as a medic, I was able to minimize casualties. I am a master of water jutsu and the creature we faced seemed to employ some similar power of me. As he would shoot a condensed ball of intense flame I should shoot a ball of condensed water to counter. Meanwhile I have the ability to transform my water jutsu into healing water. My other water jutsu healed my fellow shinobi as they focused fire on this creature. It roared and nearly kicked the gate in before we brought it low, its massive scaly head falling down. I rushed into the village and offered my aid before returning. It was a very hectic time."

Nagisa would stare off into the distance a moment before snapping back to the present.

"Hmmm you are from Cloud so I imagine it is cooler and rainy there. Leaf has 4 seasons and it located at the base of a large rock feature. Not a mountain as you have seen but juts out. We have large forests on a flat area. It is beautiful. We also have a massive water fall just outside of the village proper. It is a very interesting place to be sure. Once you are a genin you might be able to travel."

 

[Kuru Watashi]

I guess she wasn’t going to be shaking my hand after that mishap where I thought they were a test obstacle? Can’t blame ‘em, I wouldn’t either! After wiping my hand on my pants a few times (to make sure it was clean, after all!), I stuck it into my pocket to keep a bit warmer. I glanced around a bit and felt the cool breeze on my face just to double check that I was neither dreaming nor still in Cloud before turning back to Nagisa.

A medical shinobi, huh? Sounded like a fun enough position, but not really one for me! From the bits and pieces of what I’d heard of main branch, it didn’t sound too fancy schmancy like a medical job. Healing and keeping other people alive sounded like it was a bit higher than my proper pay-grade! Besides, the Leaf medical nin might be cool team players and all that, but just that Chronopolis situation alone was enough for me to know that the Cloud ones were all crooks!

It might be a decent enough question to ask Nagisa though. Even if they weren’t high up enough in the medical branch over there to make decisions like this one, having the opinion of a proper med-nin would still be useful. It might just be that I was misunderstanding something – ethics and morality sound a bit too complicated for a grunt like me to handle, so hopefully Nagisa had a more qualified opinion!

“Hey Nagisa,” I said slowly, trying to figure out how I was gonna go about this one. If they were getting called to Leaf for threats like this weird monster, then this question might come back to bite me in the rear later. I didn’t need no ANBU breathing down my neck for asking too many question. “Got a medical question for ya! Say you’ve got a, errr, patient that’s sick, right? Bit of a nasty diagnosis – some sorta long term problem! As a medical nin, do you fix ‘em up proper so that they don’t have any relapse in the future, or do you keep giving them small treatments that only cover up the symptoms?”

“Guess it’s better for the doc to do the multiple treatments to get paid more? Or say you don’t like the guy so you want ‘em to keep suffering.” I glanced at the ground for this one –it was a bit too close to home. “Or maybe as a med-nin, you figure that this guy isn’t an important part of your team. And it’d be a tak-ti-kal…” I said, rolling the word around in my mouth “decision to not waste time or effort on treating the guy proper. And better to just give him small doses so he don’t keel over, and call it a day.”