Within the forest [Private/Shiro]

[Uchiha Keiko]

Satoru strolled around for a little while, not paying attention to everything around him, just... daydreaming as he waddled around pointlessly with no real destination. He had a lot to think about and today he didn't have anything to do so he just took the time to contemplate. He figured training might be a better idea but unless he dealt with the things in his head, he wouldn't be able to train at his full potential and would basically just be wasting his own time.

Satoru made a realization while he was daydreaming and off in his own world. And that was that whenever he takes time to think, he notices more around him when he does pay attention compared to usually. The small dust particles that float around, the sounds of toads in their nearby ponds. It fascinated him and made him wonder.

"Sigh, my thoughts are getting off topic again. Is it really so hard to focus...? Well..." he stopped, taking a deep breath. "This IS a very nice place, maybe instead of trying to think everything out I should just relax for awhile or something? Hmm..." but before he could react, he saw the same area from before with his brother and the little girl. "Have I really been walking all this time? I must've come really far for that to happen..." Satoru glanced around and took another deep breath. "Well, for now, I'll enjoy it. No way am I walking all the way home now, I don't have the energy to do that."

He spotted a nice looking tree, away from the poisonous ones that the little girl had spotted when she met him and his brother. As he approached it, he felt his legs and arms getting more heavy, feeling more exhausted with each step. Satoru climbed the tree with great effort due to being so tired and lay there, looking up at the canopy.

"So... beautiful..."

And with that, his heavy eyes shut and he drifted off into a heavy sleep that lasted a good few hours. When he awoke, the sky was a bit darker and the canopy was no longer a bright, beautiful array of green leaves. It was now dark, but had orange light illuminating from little gaps in between. This was a very beautiful sight to wake up to.

"Ah, gosh darn. Must've fallen asleep." He said, sitting up and getting to grips with the environment around him. He took a glance around to see if anyone was around and hopped off the tree, feeling full of energy. Satoru would take a few seconds to get his bearing and then he would begin to tread slowly in the direction that he came from.​

 

[Shiro]

Soft and soothing orange light reflected off soft canopy in what appeared to be a choreographed display of highlights and shadows refracting upon the ground and leaves and branches of that ancient forest, which started becoming frosty as unexpected snowfall began, matching the color of Shirokouu's shining white eyes. The forest was a familiar place, despite the many years between the Santaru's memory and this day, and Shiro found himself following in the footsteps of his past once again; an occurrence that seems to be manifesting in reality more and more since the white haired young man returned from his hermitage. Sure enough, the familiar feeling was found true, as Shirokouu stood before a splintered stump, slightly charred and scarred by what appeared to be a repetitive onslaught of the sky's spears.

Shiro's sandaled soles stepped softly, traversing the twisted and torn tree-trunk's shattered skeleton to the top, crouching on a crooked offshoot, perched like a bird of prey upon a fence post. The area in front of the stormcaller darkened momentarily, as his glowing pale blues, softened some from their earlier stark white intensity, were now hiding behind a veil of softly closed eyelids. His torso contracted and then expanded wide, slowly; a telltale sign of deep meditated breathing or perhaps a sigh. Shirokouu lost himself in remembering, not seeming to notice the fact that he wasn't alone in this tranquil place. He then opened his eyes, shedding soft azure light in a cone upon the forest floor before him. Fiddling with something out of sight, Shirokouu then brought a pipe to his lips. No, brought is the wrong word. The small, traditional wooden pipe floated to his lips. A spark from his fingertip set it alight, and he smelled the sweet aroma that his herbal incense carried up above his head in a thick, meandering stream of smoke, that almost circled in the sheltered breeze of the forest, appearing for a moment as a hazy halo above the white-clad figure.

The orange of twilight is watched over silently by a sheet of near-white overcast clouds.

The soft snowfall begins to stick, forming larger, slowly drifting clumps of sleet.

The alabaster-clad shinobi, perched, fades in and out of vision.

The faint sound of a ceremonial gong echoes in the distance.

For whom does the bell toll...?

 

[Shiro]

The snow began to fall and collect upon the young Santaru's stoic shoulders as the bell's cries faded into serene memory. He didn't know how long he had been staring off in thought. Long enough for the other Shinobi to have left to go about his day.

For whom does the bell toll...?

He remembered wondering... Perhaps it tolled for him. The idea brought him back and left him feeling charged. All that remained as he walked back into the city proper were melted footsteps in the snow.

.:. [Topic Left] .:.