Sharpening the senses [Open]

[Hanabi Aiko]

The Ancient Forest was the stuff of legends to the children who fought for survival on the streets. It was where you went when you couldn't handle surviving in the city, a sort of goodbye to the world and your sanity, or so the story goes. According to the legend she had heard among her peers, kids could be heard howling at night and would, on occasion, attack travelers like wild animals. So what was she doing out here? She had been inducted into the academy and was living off of government rations, she was set for life. She was out here to hunt, to fulfill the urges of her broken psyche. Her main target was these legends, these kids howling at the moon like wild animals, but she'd take any animal she could get really. It was an urge that she needed to fulfill, a driving force to kill. It kept her centered, able to make rational decisions. As she was contemplating the legend and walking along this forest known to drive one mad, she heard a rustling coming from a bush. She crouched down and approached slowly, a rabbit bounding out from the bush and stopping dead in its tracks, facing away from her and munching a leaf.

She approached silently, heel to toe and avoiding sticks as not to make any noise. She was stalking this thing, she got a bit of satisfaction in knowing it had no idea she was there. It was a bit sadistic, but it was all a part of the ritual. A ritual she had been taught by her mom and dad growing up to help her keep sane, or what passes for sane in this neck of the woods. She'd follow it closely for a while, seeing if it lead her back to a nest, bunnies as she knew them, often times had access to many more bunnies, it would be a slaughter.

 

[Suzuki Setsu]

Empathetic powers are unique among the shinobi arts in that they are ninjutsu that produce a genjutsu like result, but don’t rely on one’s chakra to manifest. Therefore in order to properly learn how to control these abilities, live minds are needed to see the effects and gauge your strength.

I don’t suggest making humans, youkai, or anything with a developed ego a training dummy however. Such beings are generally more resistant to the arts, and may behave erratically once effected, though if if a willing subject was available it would be remiss to pass up such a chance. Just make sure to have them sign a waiver first.

I found the easiest way to hone these abilities was on animals, and I thankfully discovered that as long as positive emotions such as joy, serenity, trust, and admiration are focused upon, you have no need to fear of any lasting psychological harm on any of our animal friends.

During one of my studies I discovered the cost of these strange powers, my life force itself. If not for my faithful assistant, I may have died many times while unlocking the secrets of the heart. This I presume is the reason for the lack of others like me. Anyone who failed to control their new found abilities most likely overused them and died from the shock. Still another reason to master them, dear reader. I’d hate to have anyone with such a gift die due to mere ignorance.

Though the cost is our lives, we also have the ability to replenish that precious resource. We are very receptive to the healing arts, and recover from injuries, even self-inflicted, given mere seconds to rest. Though this ability does not make the empath invulnerable. Control is key to success. And practice is the way to control.

Setsu shut the book and sat down with his back against a tree, sighing. “Of course, if I don’t use it I’ll be killed on a mission most likely, if I use it too much I’ll die. Some ability this is,” he had been traveling through the forest all day to find some small animal to practice his emotional manipulation as the book suggested. The young boy had risked going a little deeper into the woods than he usually did, seeing as most animals would avoid the places frequented by humans. He didn’t like it, he had heard the rumors of the feral children that stalked the woods, but he had to take some risks to improve and he was confident he could run away if something got too dangerous. Setsu shook away the thought of chakra empowered children stalking him through the dense forest, and stood up to resume his quest.

As he rounded a particularly dense thicket of bushes, Setsu’s search was rewarded. A lone rabbit wandered through the underbrush, Setsu froze. Alright, now to entice it over. What emotion would be best? Curiosity, I guess. Okay, remember the book. Think of a memory that is associated with the desired emotion, and then push the emotion outwards. He recalled his class on chakra control, it had always been a difficult subject for him since he hadn’t grown up in a shinobi family. Rinko-chan’s father had been teaching the class, he didn’t seem to like me that much. Speaking of Rinko, I wonder how she’s been, she wasn’t answering her door lately. Her grandpa wouldn’t give me any details either, no matter how many chocolate coins I bought him. Why does he like those so much? It can’t be healthy to eat that much chocolate, and they’re not exactly valuable. Setsu soon forgot about the rabbit as his questions and wonderings continued to spiral into each other, but the rabbit soon noticed him. It stood on its hind legs for a moment before slowly hopping towards the oblivious boy, sniffing this interesting new element in its habitat.

Setsu definitely never suspected that someone else was also interested in this particular rabbit, and that they too might be affected by the aura of curiosity he was now emitting.

 

[Hanabi Aiko]

The bunny was hippity hopping along, with her only a leap behind. As it rounded the corner to a tree, it froze in place. There was someone out of her line of sight, pushing it with his or her emotional powers. This bunny stopping meant she couldn't murder the thing as it was and look for a new target. Well murder was a strong word, she'd use the word hunting if she got caught, which she was about to. As it stood there and begun to be pushed by this intruder, she leaped out and dug her finger tips into its side, it didn't even have time to yelp before the light left it's eyes. She picked it up and stood up, only to be met with this overwhelming sense of curiosity. Her head darted around, wondering what stuff was and why stuff was, when her eyes locked on this boy about her age. She squinted her eyes, trying to size him up. Who was he? Why was he here? She'd approach at a brisk walks pace and hold the rabbit up to him as she did. If she wasn't so clean, she herself could be construed as the wild jungle children.

"Who are you? Are you a feral woodland boy? Did you want this rabbit? What size are your teeth? Are you older than me? she spit out in a long string of questions, she didn't handle actual emotion well, as she was mostly dead inside due to her mental woes. Though readers will probably expect a sharp emotional change here in a moment as the boy let sink in the scene before him.

 

[Suzuki Setsu]

It happened in a flash. One moment, a small rabbit was slowly making its way towards Setsu, nose twitching curiously in his direction. A moment later, that same rabbit was being held in the hand of a predator, a small girl. She was about Setsu’s age, if not a little younger, and dressed in unassuming garb. She stood quizzically at first, looking around as if she was trying to find something. When she met the surprised Setsu’s eyes, they narrowed as she made a beeline for the young student. The boy nervously glanced around him, looking for an escape route if things turned south. The girl didn’t look like one the so-called feral woodland children, but he’d been in the village long enough to know not to judge people by appearance alone. His nervousness soon melted into an overwhelming sense of relief when she just started bombarding him with questions. Questions that Setsu did his best to answer rapid-fire.

"Who are you?"

"Wha-? Wait, I’m Suzuki Setsu. And who-"​

"Are you a feral woodland boy?"​

"Hey you didn’t let me- No, I think. Do they re-"​

"Did you want this rabbit?"​

"Er, sort of. I was loo-"​

"What size are your teeth? What kind of a question…?"​

"Normal size. Though I’ve lost-"​

"Are you older than me?"​

"Maybe? I’m twelve. But I’d need to know your age to know."​

[lb2][/lb2]

It took Setsu a hot minute to catch on to what happened, but after dealing with the flood of questions from the girl what happened had become obvious. The girl had probably been hunting the same rabbit Setsu was attempting to practice on and had been affected by his abilities. He glanced at the lifeless rabbit still being presented to him and felt a tinge of guilt towards the poor animal, his actions had also guaranteed that the small huntress before him would take its life. I’m sorry mister rabbit. But I won’t let your death go to waste.

Taking a deep breath, Setsu took the rabbit. “Well, if we’re going to eat it, we need to dress it first.” Setsu removed a kunai from his pouch and began to field dress their meal. Now that the initial shock of their meeting had worn off, Setsu looked back on the events that had transpired. Something felt off about the girl’s response to his attempt to induce curiosity in her, albeit unintentionally. He didn’t know what, but usually people’s ego had remained intact for the most part during the process, only being slightly influenced towards acting according to the suggested emotion. Though to be honest he couldn’t even say that was completely true. Most of the time he had used his abilities in situations where he wanted people to help him out of a sticky situation, and the recipients were already inclined to do so. But more importantly he needed to find out more about this girl and why she was hunting for food instead of getting it at the cafeteria. His curiosity had turned to worry, as he began to converse, completely forgetting that his emotions were still being projected onto the girl while he focused on preparing the rabbit.

“So you know my name now, what’s yours?” the boy began, pausing for a response. “I’m glad you haven’t run into anything too dangerous, but blindly following anything into the forest is risky.” His shoulders slumped, “Though I guess I can’t say anything since I basically did the same thing, haha.” Carefully setting the rabbit pelt aside, Setsu ran through a few handseals and began rinsing the meat with a well-placed water jutsu. “I mean I’m sure there would be someone who’d be sad if you were to disappear, so you can’t do stuff like this alone.” Setsu felt like he was lecturing himself more than the girl before him as he ran through a few more jutsu creating a fire pit and some smoldering coals fit for cooking. But inwardly, he was genuinely glad to have run into another person his age, especially one who wasn’t a feral child.

 

[Hanabi Aiko]

“Well, if we’re going to eat it, we need to dress it first.”

He took the rabbit from her, and he answered the questions quickly and concisely. She was left with this small feeling of guilt, had she asked too many? She shook her head to try and disuade these new emotions, she didn't like them. Her body was pretty violently reacting, as if she was allergic to his existence. Then she began to worry, worry about if she had offended him, worry about why she was feeling worried, it was really compounding. Her hands where digging into her legs, a nervous tick she didn't know she could even form.

“So you know my name now, what’s yours? I’m glad you haven’t run into anything too dangerous, but blindly following anything into the forest is risky. Though I guess I can’t say anything since I basically did the same thing, haha. I mean I’m sure there would be someone who’d be sad if you were to disappear, so you can’t do stuff like this alone.” She was forced to feel glad, a happy emotion and the easiest one to handle. She smiled, as he ripped the rabbit apart and began to cook it. It was brutal, and she enjoyed watching it. She would have just ripped into it raw with her teeth like an animal, but when nobody was looking she was an apex predator. It was odd, the way she was mood swinging in this conversation, as ten minutes ago she could have killed this boy and never cared, taking a bite out of him like the same animal. That thought made her smile.

"My name is Yui Tsukiko, and I don't think anything out here is dangerous enough to concern you! I hunt a lot, my mom and dad taught me how! The intention wasn't to though, I just saw the opportunity to eat. I'm out here looking for the feral children I heard rumors about, I'd like to meet one, wouldn't you?! she would gloss over the part where he mentioned people missing him, the only person who would miss her would be the personification of the state as they lose a potential soldier.

[WC: 369]
[MFT]

 

[Suzuki Setsu]

The girl dug her fingers into her legs as she answered Setsu. Yui Tsukiko, it was a nice name in Setsu’s opinion. “Clothed in gentleness, child of the moon. Er, sorry that’s one way you could interpret your name, Yui-san,” Setsu mentioned sheepishly as he traced out the kanji for the name. His face flushed a bit, the meaning did sound a little corny. And it was completely possible he had the wrong kanji for the name, not to mention he had taken some liberties with the translation and syntax. The young empath considered the rest of her retort to his admonishment. Nothing out here is dangerous enough to concern me, huh? He could take it as a compliment, he had become a lot stronger than when he first had begun his training at the academy. Perhaps he needn’t fear most things in the forest. Or perhaps it was a warning, her safety and actions were none of his concern. Luckily her next words were something the former woodsman’s son could relate to, her parents taught her how to hunt, although that wasn’t her reason for being in the forest. “My parents taught me as well,” Setsu cheerily shared, “but I was never the best at actually catching anything, so I ended up preparing the food.” The boy shivered a little as he finally got to the reason Tsukiko had ventured this deep into the forest. She’s chasing legends too, I see. “I’m not sure if they exist, though I have heard the stories. But I’m not sure if I’d like to meet one though. If they are as feral as the stories go, we’d probably be seen as trespassers and be attacked more likely than not.”

“W-well, the rabbit’s about done, we should eat before it gets cold.” The boy removed the rabbit from the makeshift spit it had been roasting on. “Sorry there aren’t any seasonings for it,” he mentioned as he divided the meat. He was glad for the meal, trekking through the forest had left him rather hungrier than he thought. Tsukiko smiled as she took the meat, and Setsu returned with one of his, never knowing the stark difference behind their reasons for doing so. The young empath gave thanks before eating, truly grateful for the sacrifice the rabbit had made in becoming their meal. And while eating he was silent, thoughts drifting again to what Tuskiko had said earlier, or rather what she hadn’t said. She never mentioned anything about family or guardians, I wonder if she has some family issues? Setsu knew that attachments were important to keep people grounded and were a source of strength in times of great strife. It didn’t sound like Tsukiko had many if she had any at all. So Setsu made a decision. I’ll be her friend! He thought determinedly. But before he could communicate this to Tsukiko, a angry roar deafened the pair.

Barrelling towards them was a Lighting mountain bear, based on its size not fully mature, but even the young bears of lightning country were not to be underestimated. Despite not having the full strength of an adult, the adolescents of the species were no less cunning and quick. Did someone attack it and run? Bears are usually more curious than aggressive, right? The panicked thought raced through Setsu’s mind as alarm emanated from him. He quickly doused the coals of his little cooking fire as he stood. Fighting was Setsu’s least favorite course of action, but he knew that running from a bear was bad news. “Yui-san! We need to--,” Setsu began, but it seemed that the young huntress was already well aware of what to do in this situation, as she sprung into action.