A walk among the flowers [Open]

[Yokaze Chiyu]

Chiyu decided to slip out before dawn so he could make it to his favorite spot in time. Going about in the dark in his little room was not so hard. It was second nature to him after doing it all the time. Chiyu put on some white colored robes not bothering with the standard ninja attire this early in the morning. He planned on getting dirty and going for a swim in a lake or pond. Before Chiyu walked out he grabbed his book on edible plants and then headed out the door.

So far life at the academy was alright but he missed his home. The plants here smelled nice even if it seemed so alien to him at first. His building alone was full of people so he was never alone. Even if he hardly got a chance to speak to them. After making it out the building door he took the familiar path to the forest and opened his book, to read and walk.​

Taraxacum officinale, the common dandelion (often simply called "dandelion"), is a flowering herbaceous perennial plant of the family Asteraceae (Compositae). Dandelions are harvested from the wild or grown on a small scale as a leaf vegetable. The leaves (called dandelion greens) can be eaten cooked or raw in various forms, such as in soup or salad. They are probably closest in character to mustard greens. Usually the young leaves and unopened buds are eaten raw in salads, while older leaves are cooked. Raw leaves have a slightly bitter taste. Dandelion salad is often accompanied with hard boiled eggs. The leaves are high in beta-carotene, vitamin C and iron, carrying more iron and calcium than spinach.

The ground underneath his feet started to get more crunchy. Chiyu looked up from the book as he started to reach the entrance of the forest. A grin started spreading across his face from ear to ear, as early morning was his favorite time of day. The grass was covered in fresh dew and the birds awoke from their slumber to sing. Chiyu gingerly took the path that would lead him to his meadow. "Here comes the sun! Na na na na!" He sang to himself as he approached his favorite little spot. Everything smelled fresh as if it rained recently but he was not completely sure. The dampness could be from the dew alone, the sun was just started to peak from beyond the horizon when Chiyu reached the clearing. He made a whoop of joy before jumping into the grass and rolled. His clothes started going from green to white as he rolled a few times then splayed out on his back. "These are the moments I enjoy the most" he spoke to no on in particular just out loud.​

[Training]
[WC: 350 (I do not count the book excerpt)]

 

[Tanuki Rinko]

Hashigaki Kouketsu​

It's not often that Kouketsu goes to the forest before dawn, but today was special. He had asked one of his relatives to wake him before the sunrise, as he wished to paint it. Now, those with knowledge of the Hashigaki bloodline would find this concept utterly ridiculous, as it is well known that their sight is...lacking to say the least. It is an even more ludicrous concept when revealed that Kouketsu himself was completely blind. How do people paint something they cannot see?

The answer was that Kouketsu couldn't. Despite his belief that he was a master artist, capable of creating perfect replicas of scenes with his artwork even without sight, the fact was that he was quite mistaken. This was apparent for anyone with the eyes to gaze upon the canvas resting before him. The sun was just beginning to rise, but already the young man was 'finished' with his masterpiece. Random colors were mixed together, with no distinct purpose. But Kouketsu believed he had perfectly captured the landscape.

A distance away, the tan-skinned man caught the voice of a small boy. Blindness had blessed him with the hearing of a god, or so his clan liked to preach. Kouketsu himself wasn't so vain as to believe it though. Regardless, the child's words were not lost on him, and Kouketsu shouted out to grab the individual's attention. "I'll take your word for it." His eyes remained closed as he faced the direction the young voice had come from. If curiosity drew the boy in, he would find Kouketsu seated before an easel. An open umbrella rested in the crook of his left arm, though it didn't seem like it had much purpose presently. The man did not smile, nor did he scowl. Since he himself could not see facial cues, he had none to give.

[Topic Entered with NPC]

 

[Yokaze Chiyu]

The fact that a stranger just responded to him. Should be enough to have terrified Chiyu alone. This is a ninja village though, so a stranger being in the woods and capable of sneaking up on him. Is not a surprising concept just more rude, it would have been polite to make some noise as to alert Chiyu of the person's presence. Chiyu got off the ground and looked around. A little bit away sat a youngish looking man, he was sitting in a chair painting apparently. Chiyu walked over and examined the man at a closer angle. No expression was given and the man did not seem to even address him.

"That is a lovely painting. The colors really capture the view." Chiyu was just being overly polite. He had to guess the painting even had something to do with the area. The man was facing the direction of the sunrise, so it was a guess. If the man was painting something from memory then Chiyu was screwed. Still it's hard to judge works of art and you do not understand the purpose of it. The only reason Chiyu did not say it was crap is since it would have been ill-mannered of him. Really all Chiyu could see was a bunch of splotches and some strokes of paint. For all he knew the painting could have been about two brightly colored cats chocking each other, while a mottled bird sat in the back round drinking sake, and refereeing from atop a golden squirrel.

Chiyu had a thought and quickly and silently held his breath, then shut his eyes. The man could actually be an enemy ninja! The painting could be a form of genjutsu used to enslave him. He learned about genjutsu but could not block it yet. If this man was an enemy he could be very powerful opponent, and Chiyu may already be dead meat. He took a quick breath thru his robe. "So" He said as he slowly backed away. "Do you like to paint often?"

[Training]
[WC: 342]

 

[Sashine]

She tied the pink wool shoes. They resembled ballerina slippers with the ribbon tieing around her foot just below her knee, ending in, you guessed it. A decorative bow. Sashine wasn't happy about having to walk somewhere as dirty as a forest floor but she could always just wash her slippers whenever she came back. In exchange for some lessons on how to use daggers properly, Sashine had offered her younger sister a favor which just so happened to be picking up plants. Initially, Sashine wasn't even aware of where to look for them and after some research had found that they were in a nearby forest to the village and her sister was just using her for some quick dirty work. Either way, Sashine would eventually come out on top. Not only was she slowly persuading her siblings to give her pieces of each of their specialties, soon enough, she'd be a jack of all trades and though not an honorable state in her family, this would quickly boost her ability in getting ahead of the pack. Sashine had brothers who had been academy students for a while now, failing each and every genin test despite their overwhelming strength for the lack of diversity in their style. She'd get ahead of them and this would be inevitable proof of her strength increasing even if her strength couldn't be shown in one category.

She had been walking around picking up leaves that looked like the picture on the scrolls but honestly, Sashine couldn't tell most of these stupid plants apart. They all just looked ugly and spiky. She was putting them inside a little satchel before some maniacs started screaming at each other. Who was even awake at this hour and on this side of the village where literally nothing happened.

"Hey, shut your traps, it's too early for this kind of ruckus!", she yelled out into the void, contradicting her own statement by making even more noise than was necessary. Sashine walked over to the man's voice to admonish him, being sure to smack as many plants with her satchel as she moved along. If these plants were any more alive, she was sure a few would definitely fight back but there was a sort of thrill of stomping on the innocent. she saw the boys talking together, taking note on how dirty his otherwise white outfit was. He must have fallen because there was no other way someone would willingly dirty themselves in such a horrible place. Hands on her hips, she was ready to give them a talking about common etiquette in public when she noticed the painting. "What are-... Are you one of those abstract artists?", she looked at the painting and tried to imagine what it could be before she realized.

"Ohhh, I get it. You were painting when this boy walked over and tripped, dropping a bunch of paint into your canvas and now you don't know how to fix it, so you yelled.", she nodded at her conclusion and went over to the boy to check for any injuries.

"You okay? You know, there are dangerous plants in this place so clumsy people can't go around skipping in a dangerous place."

--------------------------------------------
WC: 538

 

[Tanuki Rinko]

Kouketsu gave a small smile, pride welling up at the lad's compliment. Praise was always a good way to start a conversation. "Thank you. At first I thought the red might be too much, but the sun sounded so fiery today." There happened to be only a splotch of red, as it had blended with most of the other colors splashed on the canvas. The man tilted his head when he heard a girl shout in the distance, her voice and words crystal clear to him. She was rather oxymoronic as she loudly hiked closer. The loud crunching of the girl drowned out the fact that the boy had covered his mouth with his robe, and Kouketsu gave a confirming nod. "I indeed enjoy hitting the paints from time to time. It's a hobby really, it's not like it encompasses my entire being."

By now, the pink-haired girl had reached the duo, and she spoke of his artwork. His lips pursed at the girl's comments. "You must be more blind than I if you think this piece was some sort of 'mistake'." He stood up and motioned to the painting, but misjudged the distance between it and himself, causing his hand to slap against the wet paint. "Can you not see that every move was deliberate? ..." He paused, the damp oil paint seeping into his hand. "Okay, well not this one...but the previous ones were." He faced the painting, his eyelids still held closed. "Oh well. If it at least gets one compliment, then it wasn't a total waste. Mostly a waste...but not completely." He trailed off as he wondered what he would do with the botched artwork.

Returning his mind back to the conversation, he faced the children. "Do you children often traipse about the forest so early in the morning? Don't you have better things to do? Like, oh I don't know, attend classes?" Whether they were future ninja or not, they sounded young enough that they should be taking some form of schooling. Kouketsu could be quite the fuddy duddy.

 

[Yokaze Chiyu]

Chiyu had a smile as long as a fashion runway. The man was pure gold and a great reminder if some of the older people in the nursing home he would work with age. The man did not seem senile or old, just independent in an almost competitive type way. When the little pink annoyance showed he was not bemused either. He seemed almost taken back by the way she spoke and that was a funny concept. At least Chiyu's suspicions about the man trying to paint the scenery was spot on. Her negative viewing on the art was helpful in some way. Chiyu did not even realize the man was blind. It did explain the colors that got used in the art.

"Excuse her manners sir. My name is Yokaze and you at least have one fan of your work." It was an honest and true statement from Chiyu. The main thing he liked about the art was how passionate it was. The work may not have been an exact replica of the sunrise he watched. On the other hand it had a beauty in the strokes alone. The ability to see the beauty in the work that was loved so much, was what attracted Chiyu to the piece.

At the mission of the classes Chiyu rubbed his head. He had to find his next one. "Umm well..." The thought about skipping the class did cross his mind. Except it was his first day. What if they tied him in a sack full of angry badgers and tossed him into the ocean as punishment. "Yes, I actually do I have to leave. I hope when I come by again I can see more art." He turned to the little pink fashion do not and gave a curtly smile. Hopefully I do not have to see her again anytime soon. Before starting to walk away.

[WC:315]
[Exit]

 

[Sashine]

"Oh, you're blind.", she paused a moment to think about whether that made the art better or not and she decided that it was great for him to enjoy doing it but that didn't make the art any better, in fact, it made it worse. It wasn't even a concept like some fancy abstract painting, it was just like a child throwing paint at a wall and calling it art. It was performance art to see someone be so illusioned by their own lack of talent. The man then smacked his own painting, spreading the paint all over the place like, like... a blind person. "You know what they say about haters, just as long as they're taking in your art, it doesn't matter whether they like it or not.", she wasn't sure why she encouraged the guy to keep going when his art was total garbage but something about the contradiction of a blind painter made it kind of sweet, kind of gimmicky.

"Don't you old people have something better to do like, I don't know. Play bingo?", she retorted, sticking her tongue out at the man. She paused realizing that he couldn't see her make these faces so she explained it. "I stuck my tongue out at you just now. It was so that my comment was more playful.", she thought about his life and not being able to ever see the beauties of life, primarily things like her, or her expressions but at the very least he could hear her. "You know, I look really cute right now but you can't see it."

The other boy left and Sashine was fine with that. It didn't make sense why he was so dirty unless he had no spare clothing left and considering the mess he looked, it was possible, even probable. She turned back to the blind man. How had he even gotten out to this part of the forest by himself. "Mr. Mole Rat, how'd you even get out here? Do you need help getting back?", she extended her hand to the man to lead him on back to the village. Realizing again he was blind, she added: "I'm putting my hand out so you can grab it.", she sighed. Talking to someone who couldn't even see how cute you were was difficult.

-------------------
WC: 386 [Topic Left]

 

[Tanuki Rinko]

Kouketsu grunted at Sashine's bingo comment. It held annoyance at being bested, with a hint of amusement. "A polite young lad and a girl with a sharp tongue, it's good to hear the world is still as diverse as ever." He nodded at Chiyu's introduction and gave his own. "Hashigaki Kouketsu." The boy admitted he actually did need to take his leave, stating his hope to see Kouketsu's artwork again. "My pieces are sold at certain stores in the Susukino district, feel free to browse and buy at your leisure."

The lad walked off, leaving Kouketsu with the snarky girl. She offered her hand, making an effort to declare all her actions. The man shook his head. "Hmm...children these days aren't taught much about shinobi bloodlines, are they? I am a Hashigaki. Though our eyes fail us, our hearing gives us sight." He pointed up. "A bird is going to fly over us in two seconds." Sure enough, a red cardinal soared by. "I may not be able to see its color, but if I cared to focus more, I could describe its beak and wing span." His head moved up and down, as if he was looking over Sashine. "I can even give details on your own body. There are few times when a creature is completely silent. The way your clothes and hair rustle give me an idea of their shape, the footsteps you take tell me of your foot size." Kouketsu crossed his arms. "The way your jaw lightly clicked as your tongue protruded from your mouth, and the light swish of wind as you lifted your hand out to me. I hear it, thus I saw it."

The man turned to the painting. "Hmm. I would have had someone come get this later..." He turned to Sashine with a devious smile. "But since you offered to help me get back, I'll take you up on it." Swiftly Kouketsu packed up the paints and brush, placing them in a case. He closed and latched it and handed it to the pink-haired girl. He took his painting and easel in each arm and began walking towards the village. "Thanks for the help Little Miss Pack Mule." Perhaps this was the start of a love-hate relationship. Only time and more witty nicknames would tell.

[Topic Left with Sashine]