::Neko smiled. She was glad to see Kiko's spirit lift, even just a bit. She had not meant to bring the woman down with her talk of home and family. She was curious as to what had happened to bring Kiko here, but was not willing to press the issue as she did not wish to make her more uncomfortable.
-Yes. I remember Father giving me a similar warning. Not that He takes His own advice... I'll be careful, Aunt Kiko. I promise.
When Neko turned to see the wolf in the trees, her eyes lit up with wonder. She had seen many wolves and other animals in her day, including the great Tanto her uncle had kept at her old home. But like a child that will rush to the front of the exhibit at a zoo, no matter how many times they have visited, Neko was awestruck. Her eyes went wide and she looked at Kiko before slipping as quietly as possible, avoiding the spot in the floor she knew creaked, and tried to make her way to the edge of the rail without startling the animal below.
-She's beautiful...-
Forgetting that Kiko had given the other bracer back...
Kiko was gone from the treehouse. She had taken the chance when Neko turned her head and vanished. She had not really vanished, of course. She wasn't that good. She had, however, dropped down the egress hole for the home. She rode the ladder down as it unfurled from above her.
Once on the ground she headed straight for the break in the clearing where the young grey wolf stood. If Neko were still watching she could see them greet each other with a quick jump for the wolf and a grab at the side of her flank from Kiko.
Then they both turned and faded away.
Alright. We'll end it here. I think it was a wonderful bonding session for them. Thank you, Neko. I know I've given some acclaim already but, well, we continued to write.
+10 acclaim for the both of us.
Eternity
“Put some clothes on, you weird, yellow-eyed, table-dancing, werewolf-training, cryptic, stare-me-right-in-the-eyes-and-don't-even-blink wench.”
::Neko sttod at the rail and watched the interaction between the two forms below. Amazed at both the ease in which she slipped from the home and the relationship she obviously had with the animal below. She remained there long after they had moved on, lost in thought over her conversation with her new aunt.
-I want to be like her when I grow up.-
Finally she shook herself back to the present and turned to gather her things to leave for the party, hoping she had not delayed too long. ::
::Having made a promise to not let as much time pass between visits, Neko returned to her clearing in the woods. Alot had happened in the last few days, and she needed the distraction of physical training to clear her head.
She made her way, as always, to the makeshift bench and laid out her weapons along its length with great care and reverance. The sai were shiny and new. She would need to practice with them soon to get used to their feel. Perhaps one day they would be as much at part of her as her Kunai had been...still were. But not yet...
Once the weapons were arranged, she began to remove her armor, piece by piece and lay them out as well. Stripping down to the simple gi she wore beneath. Once this was accomplished, she turned, her fingers trailing lightly over her things as if reluctant to be apart from them as she went to the standing log with all the broken branches jutting out at various angles.
She brought her palms together before her and bowed to her wooden foe before dropping back into a long cat stance. She takes in a breath, as she closes her eyes just for a moment to imagine the hunk of wood as an enemy on the attack. As she exhales, her eyes open with a look of determination. She attacks the broken limbs with blocks and strikes that begin slow and steady as she builds the pattern and rythm. Turning simple manuvers into elaborate counters as the speed quickens. Finally her mind clears as muscle memory takes over...::
It was Kiga, smiling wide and standing just off to Neko's right and behind her. His hands were in his pockets and his eyes had something of a brilliant fascination in them (or rather, it; his darkened eye held little such things). He was looking about her training area with some interest, nodding as he took things in.
"Quite the set up you've got here. Has Gray seen it?"
::She nearly jumped out of her skin at the sudden appearance of Kiga. She had been so lost in the moment. So gone far gone to the mindless repetition that lead to being able to react without thought when in conflict that she had not been paying attention to her senses.
She hoped her startlement did not show as she stopped her work and again placed her palms together before her and bowed to her "opponent" before turning and stepping away to face Kiga. She looked up at him as she brushed the vibrant purple hair from her eyes and shook her head. She had not taken the time to tell her uncle of this place. She had mentioned it to her aunt, but was not sure if Kiko had had time to pass on the invitation...
Perhaps Kiga's presence here meant she had... Or had the man simply stumbled upon her by chance? She was not quite sure what to think of Kiga. Her limited time with him marked him as someone full of energy to the point of being incapable of being still. Yet he dressed and armed himself in the style of a ninja, like herself. The two seemed to be at odds in her mind, but then again she had her moments too. There were those that would say she was illsuited to the path she had chosen as well. Too young. Too childish. Perhaps, like herself, Kiga had chosen this path for the balance it brought to his life. The peace and calm to counteract the impulsiveness.
-Or maybe he just thinks ninja are "cool"?-
She gave a smile at her own thought as well as to great the man before her before shaking her head.
Why had she not told her uncle directly? Was she worried as to what he would say? Her work to make this had been shoddy to say the least. Forced to work with what limited knowledge and tools she had. Did she fear looking into his eyes as he saw this place and find disapointment reflected back?::
Kiga studied her for a moment, she was a tricky one to second guess. Largely because she didn't speak. That was an interesting thing to contemplate though, just what she'd be like if she could. Would she be a chatter-box and demonstrate the excitability common with girls of her age, or would she remain so silent?
He would have known on their last outing if Tauer and the elf had not been brought along. It hadn't bothered Kiga outside his and Grayell's shared concern of the light worshipers seeing their faces. The Vanguard preferred anonymity with very good reason and it was unfortunate. Had they donned their hoods, he and Neko would likely know more about one another.
"Say, you have a blue hood around here somewhere; don't you? It'd be cool if we could talk, don't you think?"
He smiled then and not in that overly-energetic manner. It was sincere and it just so happened that Kiga was a pretty damn good judge of character. It was part of his job, after all. He didn't wait for her response though, but instead turned to inspect her training set up. It was obvious he was judging it somewhat.
((Just as a review since the description is in another thread))
::The area Neko had chosen for her training area was a clearing in the edge of the woods just north of Wistvale, but out of sight of its walls. It was obviously hand done by someone who had seen a dojo before and was trying to imitate it with the natural elements they had found along with a few bits of salvage from the town itself. There was a plank nailed to a fallen log to serve as a table. Currently it had Neko's items laid out upon it in a neat row.
There was a small sparring ring that had been cleared of grass and plants and ringed in loose stones. The earth tamped flat from the few times she had been here already. To one side there was an array of branches planted in the ground that were just big enough around to stand on on one foot and closely spaced to force someone to weave in and out to get through. Good for practicing agility.
There was also the larger log Neko was just standing in front of that had many broken branches sticking out and she seemd to have been using it like a practice dummy. The shattered limbs symbolizing the arms of a foe.
From closer to the tree line there hung a couple burlap sacks stuffed full with odds and ends to give them weight and clumsy bullseyes painted on them for ranged target practice. To another side by the trees was a small shaded area made by a ragged blanket strung in the trees.::
::Neko bowed her head and turned to go to the table and shift through her items. She could feel Kiga's eyes going over this place she had made the same as if it was her he was looking over. She remembered feeling pride at her accomplishments when it had been finished after many long days of hard work. But now, under someone else's inspection, all she saw were the flaws. Must like the artist examining his own work.
She tried to push down these feelings as her hand wrapped around the blue cloth she had stored with her things. It was the first thing her uncle had given her in this world, and she treasured it beyond measure, even though she was not supposed to use it outside of his presence...
She had almost done it. Almost fallen into complacency. It was easy to assume that Kiga knew of the hood because her uncle had told him, but still... Her uncle had spoken, and until she heard directly from him, she would listen...
Her hand let go of the hood and stuffed it back into her things, hoping her body was enough to block the view. She reached instead for her set of bracers and taking them in her hands she took a deep breath before turning back to Kiga, as ready as she could be for his evaluation of the field. She walked back with her eyes down on the items in her hands and only looked up to him when she offered him one bracer before putting the other on herself.::
Kiga hadn't seemingly paid too much attention as Neko rummaged through her things. Instead, he knelt down and sorted through some rocks that lay in the dirt, picking up a generous handful of like-sized ones and dusting them off a little.
He let out a silent chuckle as he stuffed them into his pockets and took the bracer with a nod, then slipped it on and pulled the string tight with his teeth.
"Thank you Neko. And very clever. We can worry about how we can talk more often later. Take these."
It might have been odd that he spoke with her so easily and wasn't at all bewildered by the items, but he was all too used to the cantrip on the Vanguard hoods and this was very much the same thing. He handed her a few of the rocks he'd collected. There was nothing particularly interesting about them, but he waited til she took them.
"I like what you've done here. You train harder when you have less. I want to show you something I used."
He was smiling, as though he were up to something.
::She looked puzzled at the rocks in his hand, but took a few of them anyway. She bounced them in her hand just a bit to judge the weight and feel, should he want her to throw them as she looked up at him with an arched eyebrow. She couldn't help but smile with a bit of pride at his compliment of her work. Perhaps he wasn't such a...what was the word she had heard before..."spaz".
-Thank you, cousin. It's not much, but it works for now. Y...you're welcome to use it whenever you wish. Gray and Kiko too. But I already told them that...-
She was nervous still, and if it show in her "voice" and the rambling it was because she was trying not to fidgit...::
It wasn't surprising that she thought to throw them, as such rocks weren't for a great deal of things beyond throwing. And whilst other children had likely spent their idle hours tossing rocks at cans, or fences and the like; Kiga had used them in a familiar but far more proficient manner. This technique, at least; was something Grayell had come up with for him, rather than something he'd learned prior to his freedom. It was one of few training tools he enjoyed and still utilized.
"Alright, this is simple. Watch."
Kiga threw the first stone very hard. It wasn't a difficult throw, but it was certainly meant to hit it's target quite firmly, and it did. The stone struck a branch hanging overhead not so far away and bounced off with a resounding crack. It didn't seem terribly impressive - though if you considered he had picked that very branch, you might consider it just a little more so.
"And now comes the hard part."
Kiga's smile twitched just a hair as he focused, his eyes narrowing to study his targets. Just three leaves had been knocked loose by the force of his first throw and now slowly started to spiral downward, toward the ground. Quick as you like, Kiga threw three stones, the last leaving his hand before the first had made it's mark and clipped the leaf from the sky. The second was struck as well but the third, whilst very close; bobbed about the rock and continued downward without so much as a touch from the rock thrown at it.
Kiga laughed then and scratched his head.
"Aw drat. I really should practice more."
He turned his head to look at Neko then and was smiling wide, with an expectant and excited expression.
She looked from the tree to Kiga and back again. That was fairly impressive to say the least, and she wondered if she could duplicate it. But she was a competative sort and a wry smile lit her face as she looked down at the stones in her hand, hefting them one more as she looked up to find her mark...
Finding her target, she closed her eyes for just a moment and took a breath to steady her nerves, pushing the excess energy into the ground the way she had been taught. When she opened them, her arm was already in motion and the stone was soon sailing through the air before striking a branch and knocking leaves loose...
The rest of the stones left her hand in quick fluid motions, but she had jumped the gun so to speak and she could tell as soon as they left her hand that she was going to need to practice this more to get to Kiga's level...
The first was too early and passed harmlessly under the first leaf...
The second was close enough that it disturbed the gentle fall, but did not touch it...
The third clipped the edge of the last leaf just barely...
Her shoulders sagged as she heard the last stone hit the ground, disappointed in herself. She knew she could do better, and now that Kiga had shown her this method she vowed to practice it everyday until she could hit them all true.
She looked up at the man beside her with sad by determined eyes and the hint of a smile.
Kiga chuckled and rocked on his heels, clapping his hands. He looked thrilled.
"That was awesome! On your first try, too! You don't wanna know how long it took me to hit one!"
Kiga stuffed his hands into his pockets and looked around some more, taking in the rest of the area.
"Really though, it's a neat trick. You can practice it anywhere, at any time. If you get really good, you can try hitting dragonflies at a pond. THAT is tricky. They see it coming a mile away. But this is cool though, you've got some really good stuff here. I'm kinda impressed you did this on your own. It says a lot about you.
I had a question though Neko, something I've been wondering about."
Kiga's tone had changed a little, it was clear that his intended question was a serious one.
:: -I had a little help. And I've seen dojo's before. Back home...-
She thought back on her many days here, and how Hex had helped her move things into place that were far too heavy for her to do alone. And how he helped her clear the field. These thoughts were quickly followed by memories of home. The cave with its many rooms and the dojo she had tried to emulate here in this world.
She blinks away the memories and looks back up to her cousin.
"How come you train? Why do you fight? I've seen a lot of fighters and a lot of killers and none of them were like you. You seem too nice and too reserved to want to hurt someone. So I ask, because I wouldn't want to see you get hurt. How come you do it?"