First Time Visit [Private/IO]

Artura was spending the day within the Kirigakure Marketplace, having nothing much better to do with her free time for the time being other than menial chores and the like - which she planned on doing tomorrow, as the girl believed that she deserved the day off and that doing chores around the village was something that would always be available. It was not as if the village in its entirety would suddenly run out of work for young Genin, there always seemed to be an abundance of such and with so many more Genin coming into the community - it was likely that more work would be popping up soon in order to balance out the supply and demand of it all.

Shrugging her own shoulders slightly, Artura moved along the stalls present on the street of the Marketplace and began to examine their contents individually for a brief moment before moving onto the next. She knew that she could not currently afford anything from these shops, but it never hurt to keep an eye out for something that may become useful in the future or which piqued Artura's interest. She decided to stop at a stall dedicated to weaponry and give the contents a long pondering gaze as she crossed her arms idly across her chest. She was still wearing the custom uniform that her Father had given her, of course, and, although it carried no authority with it, the outfit seemed to never cease eliciting a few compliments from the older generation who appreciated her willingness to display her loyalty to the village as well as her pride in becoming one of it's Ninja even if only a minor capacity as of this moment.

As she was pondering on her current lot in life, the sudden realization that she needed to pick up supplies for her family physician came into her mind and the girl would thusly make a hasty path through the crowds of the marketplace in order to reach one of the shops selling medicines, drugs, and the like, although in her haste she would likely bump into an individual or two and seemed to not even pay this any mind as she emerged at the stall. Upon her arrival, the stall's owner gave the young girl a raised eyebrow, though when she presented him with a small slip of paper which she had hastily dug out from one of her uniform's pockets the man seemed to immediately lighten and gave the girl a nod before beginning to move about the various herbs, oils and elixirs deftly for a few moments before presenting Artura with a small crate which she would in turn graciously accept with a nod yet no words to accompany this.

Turning away from the stall, she intended to simply leave the Marketplace here and now, although whether she was stopped in doing so was yet to be seen; and she had a sneaking suspicion that for some reason that today was not going to be the easy-going day that she had originally intended.

[510 WC]
[10 EXP]

A peaceful and lazy afternoon, without her friends around Silveria was left on her own to do as she pleased. The marketplace seemed as good a place as any since most of the vendors knew of her. She had made it a sort of daily task to come around and help out whenever she could seeing as most of the vendors treated her nicely, it was only fair they got some help too right? Additionally she didn't have any genin work to handle so she was just in her casual one-piece white dress with the red bow on display right at the center. "Heave, ho. Heave, ho." Silveria repeated to herself while helping to move very small crates around. She wasn't super strong so she couldn't handle anything of big import but it was usually just nice to give the vendors company and do whatever she reasonably could.

One of her personal favorites was the Weapon's shop, the lovely couple that ran it always let her see when they got new items in stock, recently forged and high quality. This time however was special due to her having been such a regular alongside her parents that the couple decided to put on a small show for those around to come and watch. Originally Silveria was hesitant about the idea as she usually like to practice in secret most the time but she had to get used to others watching her work on the battlefield sometime, right?

Taking hold of several practice knives, several stationary targets were placed in different spots, placed in a way that would make it hard for most to reach them all in one go. To Silveria though, this was more of just a game to play with everyone and the targets were points to collect. Flipping one of the knives up she catches it and nods over to the vendor couple. With a small shout the two announce the little practice game and Silveria takes in a deep breath.

Golden eyes narrow and flicker about as the young girl begins an almost ballet dance movement, twirling on the tips of her feet while she swings her arms outwards. With each flick of her wrists, fingers splaying and dancing across the blades of the knives as though they were her own personal ones, she threw them out towards the targets. Some weren't originally aiming at the targets and were thought to be missed shots before other knives purposely thrown to ricochet off surroundings would hurdle back to collide with the ones thought off course until each and every knife found their way to the center of a target just as Silveria had finished the subtle dance-like motion. Her hands went to the edges of her dress to do a small curtsy whilst the crowd all began clapping and cheering for her small display. The couple complimenting her and telling her to come back later so she could receive a small gift for helping to bring more business to their shop. Silveria was all too pleased to agree, the praise was already enough but getting a gift? She loved gifts, so it had to be something great!

Now that she was freed up again, she was going to try and go visit the pet shop but stopped short when she'd been bumped into by a blonde-haired girl that was roughly her own height with smooth cerulean eyes. Silveria was both captivated and bumbled over by the other girl, having to stand back up and brush herself off before racing after her. She tries to keep a fair distance, merely watching the other girl. There was something about her that she couldn't quite place before, a familiarity that was gnawing at the young girl's mind. Where had she seen this girl before?

It wasn't until Artura seemed finished with her secondary shopping that it finally hit Silveria and she walked over. "Ah, I finally remember you now! Sorry, you bumped into me back there, I normally wouldn't have minded but you looked familiar so my curiosity got the better of me. I'm Silveria Hozuki and you must be... if memory serves right, Arrrrtreeeaaa?" She tries sounding out the name to the best she can, hoping to be corrected if she made a mistake due to her not perfect memory. "I know that we both went to the academy together! I was hoping to end up in your squad but I got a rather serious group instead." Rubbing the back of her head she giggled.

"S-sorry... did I ruin your shopping by interrupting?"

[763 WC]
[10 EXP]

Artura's attention was drawn away from her inner thoughts and instead to the girl before her as she was addressed by the white-haired girl who seemed to have a bit of difficulty in pronouncing her name, and so she would speak up in order to gently correct her with a faint smile on her lips:

"Artura." She would respond, before then going further by reminding the other girl of her full name. "Artura Infernus Nyx." She added, before then giving the girl a little bow of her head - seeing as she was unable to bow normally with the crate in her hands - as she continued to speak:

"Silveria, yes, I remember you..." She would say, giving a short laugh as she recalled a certain memory. "I remember trying to teach you the parts of all those bugs you liked to dissect." She added with a smirk. "Speaking of which, are you still interested in the Body at all...?" She asked as she nodded for Silveria to follow her as Artura began to walk away from the main Marketplace area with the crate in her hands while now beginning to make her way toward the small Doctor's Office that was not too far away from here where she would be delivering the package she had just picked up.

"We might not be on the same squad, but that doesn't mean that we can't spend some quality time together, hm?" Artura would suggest, giving a grin toward the other girl briefly as they walked before returning attention ahead of herself in order to prevent tripping and falling with the crate of medical supplies. "I could go over some of my notes with you, or maybe you could tell me a bit about what you've been up to for the past few weeks - how does that sound?" She suggested further, stopping once the two reached the door leading into the Doctor's Office that she had been making her way toward as they spoke.

She would not enter for the time being, instead waiting to see how Silveria reacted to her offer or her presence in general before making a decision on whether or not to simply go inside of the Office or if perhaps - just maybe, she could make some use of the familiar girl.

[892 Total WC]
[20 Total EXP]

Swiftly corrected by the other girl, Silveria immediately committed the name to memory so that she wouldn't forget it again. Artura Infernus Nyx, the name was extravagant sounding and living up to just how intelligent it sounded, Silveria could recall having watched the other read books of higher grades during their classes together. Her only regret was not having asked further about the books.

"Artura, mhm mhm! I'll remember it!" She brought her hand to the bottom of the crate as to provide some minimal support to Artura's efforts to carry it. "I always found your lessons about the bugs to be really fun, even if I didn't quite understand some things you brought up at times you were always happy to help me learn." At the mention of learning more about the body, Silveria's eyes seemed to glisten with heavy interest. "Yes, I wanna learn as much as I can about the body. It'd be nice to know in case the need ever arises to help someone, right?" Her head cants to the side, traveling away from the Marketplace while striding alongside Artura.

"Even if we're not on the same squad, we can still help each other! Plus I like you so hanging out with you would be really nice. Maybe if we're lucky that couple will give us ice cream later." Keeping her eyes forwards, she keeps ample track of both herself and the path ahead of Artura, taking time to keep things and people out of the way in advance. "What I've been up to huh? Well we did have a small little mission the other day. There was a ninja cat that went missing so we had to go and find out where they had gone off to."

"We had to wear these cat ear headbands on our head so that we could understand the feline language? It was really weird! However it was totally worth it because we found out the ninja cat just ended up getting caught in a bunch of plants so we got to pet them while they were stuck. My friends laughed and after freeing him, the kitty said he'd repay the debt some day! I hope he lets me pet him again, ehehehe~."

As they reached the door of the Doctor's Office, Silveria went ahead and knocked on it first. "Helloooo? Anyone home? We've got your supplies! Can someone get the door for Artura?" She wasn't even sure if anyone was really home but it would've just seemed out of place and rude to open the door to an office of someone she didn't know too well without permission. So she went back to helping Artura carry the crate while waiting for an answer or for Artura to open it herself.

[1224 Total WC]
[20 Total Exp]

Artura's eyes would glint with mischevious intent as Silveria had agreed to take her up on the suggestion of learning more about the body with her aide and had even gone so far as to suggest that the two of them spend more time together despite the fact that they were on separate squads from one another; something Artura was fully willing to take advantage of in furthering her own plans for the girl that she had already begun formulating in her mind since the two had reunited moments ago.

When the girl went on about the mission that she had taken part in, Artura nodded along and made it appear as much as possible that she outwardly cared about such a menial task before then letting out a soft laugh upon the girl's conclusion of her explanation on the matter:

"It certainly sounds like you have been having a bit of fun." Artura would say with a slight grin, before then adding in a quiet voice. "I look forward to making things even more ... entertaining for you, soon enough." She said, turning her attention to the door of the Doctor's Office as Silveria had begun knocking on the wooden door while speaking into it and requesting someone to come and open the entrance for the two of them.

It would not take long until a young man that appeared to be in his early twenties would open the door: He had neatly kept black hair that was worn short, stopping just above the middle of his neck in the back and falling over his eyes naturally in the front - however, he currently kept it out of his eyes by brushing it aside with his hand. His eyes were a soft greyish color and the white coat he wore suggested he was definitely some sort of doctor or physician, though his body language and overall demeanor seemed oddly cold despite his profession.

"Come in." The young man said curtly, gesturing for the two to enter and waiting for them to do so before closing the door and guiding Artura to place the crate down near a pile of similar small crates which she would do without question. "Thank you, Artura, as well as your ... friend, I assume?" The young man said, giving a small pause before he mentioned the possibility of Silveria being Artura's friend and giving a slight sideways tilt of his head as he spoke the last part of his sentence.

"She is a friend, yes; I was intending to go over my notes with her if you did not mind, Seto-sensei." Artura would say in response, giving the man a gracious bow of her head to which he would simply nod in response, his eyes looking as if he were either very tired or perhaps lacked some sort of ability to display his emotions to a great degree. "Come, Silveria, I will show you to my workspace and we can begin going over some notes together if you would like." Artura would say with a faint smile toward the other girl as she began to lead her through the Office that they had entered to the back of the space where a small desk littered with various papers and books sat flanked by a single wooden chair - although Artura would fetch a second from another nearby workspace.

"Before we do anything else - I need to know, Silveria, what do you think the value of a life is...?"

[1,472 Total WC]
[30 total EXP]

Silveria's own childish wonderment was fully on display, being told that not only that she could spend time with a friend of hers as well as learn more about the human body? This day just seemed to be getting better and better as time went on, hiding the depths of the more sinister facts about her new friend Artura and the thoughts dwelling inside of her mind. She was an enigma, an unknown variable that had endless possibilities as a friend, oh... the things Silveria had yet to learn.

When Artura seemed to enjoy her story, she felt more thrilled to share more but figured it was best to keep them to herself until a proper time for story sharing arose. Besides, Artura seemed like she had something in mind for the two of them to do.

A young man, definitely older than the two of them opened the door and Silveria took immediate interest into scanning over his features. Short black hair, tired eyes that looked as though they were lacking sleep for quite some time, on top of the white lab coat he wore. He looked like hell had sucker punched him despite the fact that hair was so neatly kept. The demeanor definitely fit that idea as well since it made Silveria just imagine her uncle who was rather cold and bitter to everyone around him. Well... he wasn't so bad, when you got past the shark teeth.

As soon as they were ushered to come in, the young girl slipped inside and watched the two of them begin talking to one another, at the mention of thanks she nodded and was about to say something when the topic of friendship was broached. Were they friends alread-- before she could even second guess it, Artura had already cut any notion of them not in two.

Silveria didn't need much more reason beyond Artura feeling that way about the two of them to agree and nod a second time towards the senior doctor whom apparently functioned as Artura's teacher, given the formal title she used when speaking to him. "Workplace?" The young girl canted her head but would follow suit when lead off away from the man and into the back where a little desk was located. Scattered writings and books were here and there, various titles and words lost upon the poor girl whose gold eyes were taking in all the information they could in those few subtle moments. It wasn't until she heard a question being asked to her before she snapped back into reality and met her gaze with Artura again, cheeks flushed in her embarrassment for getting distracted.

"Wha-- oh, the value of a life huh...?" It wasn't something Silveria could answer right away without having to do a small double-take in thought, answering only after she found she was comfortable with what she had in mind. Despite her usual childish demeanor, what came free from her lips seemed well thought-out, like she'd been asked this before. "Well to me, a life is both precious and fleeting, it's something we fight for and lose within a second. The value of it varies depending on your emotional connection, don't you think? Would you value the lives of your enemies as equally as your friends, your parents? I wouldn't. I'd end the lives of any that threatened my family or you. Why would I feel pity for them when they chose to put their lives at risk by threatening you, right?"

A curt nod was given before she crossed her arms and leaned against a stack of books. "Everyone values their own life the most deep down, don't they? Ninjas kill other ninjas as part of missions, to us, the life of another isn't worth the price of our own. Even if it's precious, it's value is lessened based on circumstance, the flip of a coin. Are you heads or tails?"

[1,879 Total WC]
[30 Total Exp]