Rain and Lightning

People. It had to be people. In general, they were manageable to be around. In large numbers...not so much. The mindset of one Yagami Soh kept coming back to these thoughts as he wound his way through the crowded marketplace. He sidled past a pair of arguing merchants as they stood blocking much of the pathway. It was a paradox.

Yagami had a simple view of things. Animals were at least honest about their intentions, and humans were to be interacted with on a need-to basis. Yet once again he had been drawn to the bustle of commerce and trade. Maybe it was due to his upbringing, but places where artificers and crafters gathered drew him in like a magnet. Every so often he would thump one heel or the other against the ground when the crowd forced him to remain in place for a time.

He took reassurance in the act, knowing that the Earth was within reach when needed. It was a primal thing, ever sleeping, ever preserving the world as it should be in its natural state. A child elbowed past him and interrupted his musings. Yagami made his way to a sturdy wall and braced his back while he tried to collect his thoughts. He knew next to nothing about this place and it was swiftly becoming a weight on the back of his neck.

Spoiler:

Arisu moved through the market place, viewing several different store's products as she went through. She had no plans on buying anything, just mainly looking around, since she didn't need anything in particular. She picked up a bauble from one of the stalls, a carving in the shape of a Tiger's face, and looked at it, turning the thing over in her hand to examine it from multiple angles. It was an interesting piece, and she'd never encountered a tiger, so it was something unique in her eyes, but ultimately she had no actual urge to purchase it.

She had chosen a simple long black kimono and sandals to walk around in, although she had her shinobi headband used as a diagonal eyepatch for the time being, still identifying her as a shinobi. Arisu was tall for a woman, standing at 5'8". Her hair was short, and as white as her skin.

Placing the bauble back down, Arisu stepped away from the stall, bowing to the owner as she did so. She more or less just wanted to appear respectful. One day, these people would be worshiping her. After all, she was world's above them, and one day, they would know. For now, she had to play the part of simple shinobi.

It had taken almost twenty minutes of polite, and less than polite, maneuvering to get through the crowd to a more open area. Yagami found himself near the outer lying merchant stalls where thankfully there was less foot traffic and congestion from market-goers. He could see a few children playing some kind of chasing game, a couple arguing about something near the water, and a woman with pale skin and hair nearby. Otherwise he was finally alone enough to hear himself think. Why the blazes had he left Kumo, again?

Cultural exposure, my foot. He took a breath and clenched his hands into fists at his side, taking reassurance in the feel of the metal unyielding against his knuckles. The yellow-cast bracers always gave him a sense of peace. Not so much in their defensive properties but rather what they stood for. They had once been rough ingots within the Earth, forged in flame and shaped by the hands of his kin. When he wore them, he carried them where he went, and they carried him. Apart of these he was in his usual garb, a black-sleeved short worn under a sleeveless hooded jacket, both shoulders and the hood itself bearing his Clan’s crest. His pants were worn but functional and his sandals stood up despite having seen better days.

He was getting ready to find somewhere else to explore when a small shape caught his eye near a small copse of trees. Nestled on the underside of a low branch was a tiny brown bat, wings wrapped about itself in slumber. With practiced ease he inched forward until he was close enough to see its nose twitch each time the creature took a breath. He couldn’t keep a warm smile from showing on his face, here was something he was far more familiar with. While the slumbering bat made him miss Shinju, it also granted him an unexpected joy this day. Maybe this place wasn’t so bad, if one as innocent as this could sleep in the open without fear.

Spoiler:

OOC: Sorry, I didn't see you had replied

Arisu was a fairly perceptive person, but even more so, she had recently been new to the area, so she was fairly good at picking out people who didn't quite belong, or feel comfortable at the very least, when it came to Kirigakure. She was still studying the average Kirigakure citizen and shinobi as it was so that she could have a better idea of how to blend into everyday society.

It was that perceptive eye that caught a person who clearly didn't look like he felt at all comfortable in this environment. Arisu turned to watch him. His clothing was interesting, not something she saw around here, further cementing that he was a foreigner. She'd heard that there were some Kumogakure shinobi about, and so it made sense to her that he might be one of them. That marked him as a person of interest to her, as he would be the first foreign shinobi that she had crossed paths with, that she knew of anyhow.

Arisu strode up to Yagami, holding herself in a very proper manner, shoulders back and with careful attention to not slouch in the slightest. Arisu tended to appear to most people as a very prim and proper noble. "Pardon the interruption, but are you one of the foreign dignitaries?" she asked when she was approximately 4 meters away from Yagami. A pleasant distant to keep, but still not so far that she would have to shout.

His smile vanished as Yagami turned to address the voice. Standing near him was the same woman from before, holding herself as one might when attending some form of business. He took in the sight of her for a moment before responding. Perhaps it was the unknown territory, but he couldn't shake old habits to remain cautious.

"Not many folks here seem to think me dignified." he attempted to jest. Opening with a joke was normal with other people, wasn't it? He carefully eased back a tree branch so that the dozing bat wouldn't be disturbed by the bright sunlight before stepping within conversational distance to this new person. He made to extend his hand, pausing to brush it off on the leg of his pants, and offered it again. "Yagami Soh. To answer your question, I am part of the visiting group, absorbing the culture. Might I ask your name?"

OOC: It's fine, I figured you were just busy.

Spoiler:

Arisu wasn't particularly taken by his sense of humor, her face showing nothing but a dead pan expression on it. She knew that he was making a joke at the very least. She watched as he moved carefully so as not to wake a sleeping animal, taking note that he appeared to like animals at least casually more than most, as many probably wouldn't have cared whether they disturbed it or not.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Arisu Tsuki. How are you finding Kirigakure? Pleasant enough I hope, but I wouldn't know the real differences. I haven't really left the village, so I don't know the cultural differences between here and Kumogakure." she replied, introducing herself as he asked for her name. Yagami Soh. She filed the name away for the time being.

For the most part, she was interested in learning about Kumogakure, so she could see how it compared to Kiri. Ideally, she would experience the rest of the world at some point, but it was convenient enough to talk to a native of a different land first hand while he was here and present, rather than hearing about it second hand from someone who only visited. If he had any questions for her, she would do her best to oblige as well, but that was just in the hopes of getting more information herself.

“Arisu Tsuki.” he repeated aloud. It was another old habit, repeating a new name in order to commit it to memory. Plus, it was just polite to pronounce it correctly. Her question however, he wasn’t sure how to address it. He hadn’t had the chance to explore Kirigakure enough to form an opinion.

He figured it was at least safe enough to share as much. “Truth is I haven’t been here long enough to really explore. Like you, I don’t get to see past my own Village’s walls too often. I would be happy to compare notes, if you don’t have other pressing engagements.” Aside from speaking with merchants and travelers, his information on the other Villages was very limited. He began walking away from the marketplace and towards the Village center.

“I’m not sure where to start, but I wouldn’t mind walking as we talk.” He waited a few paces off to see what she would do.

Spoiler:

OOC – I’m sorry about the shortness of this post, dealing with a few things at this time.

The pale woman nodded her head to confirm the reiteration of her name. "Indeed." she mused.

Understanding that her new acquaintance hadn't actually been around long enough to pick up the actual culture, Arisu decided that she would take him up on his offer to walk around. She didn't particularly mind walking around the village and taking in some sights to continue their conversation.

"I find that the best way to get to know a place is to not have a destination in mind." Arisu suggested to Yagami. Following along as he began to walk, Arisu barely spared him a glance and just continued walking. "You'll eventually get a feel for the world around you by doing so."

It was the way that she herself had gotten to be more familiar with Kirigakure. Asking people for information wasn't exactly the best way to blend in when she had been keeping her existance as an Otsutsuki a secret from other people. As someone meant to be from around here, she had to learn it on her own.

He breathed a faint sigh of relief, it wouldn't have been the first time he was embroiled in an incident for something as innocent a butchering someone's name. He'd had his own name hacked a bit in the past and while annoying, it was usually something that slid back into memory without issue.

He was grateful that his fellow conversationalist was willing to walk, and stepped back so that they were striding side by side. It wasn't long before the raucous shouting of the Marketplace faded into the background and they were well and truly in the thick of the Village. Many of the buildings they passed had some form of vegetation from their roofs, but Yagami figured that it was intentional when he didn't see the plants causing any outward damage to the structures.


Their footfalls were replaced with the gentle thudding of solid wood when their wandering led them over one of the Village's many arching bridges. Yagami looked out into the fog in the distance and mused over Arisu's words. The murky distortion of vision brought to mind an old saying of the elders back home. "'Just because you wander, doesn't mean you're lost."

He had to respect her viewpoint. How often had he discovered something because he followed where it felt right to go, as opposed to going along with what someone else decided to share. Accurate or not. Eventually they found themselves surrounded by buildings and people shuffling about their business. "Aside from the food, I'm afraid I don't know much about the Village to share. It's similar enough to home to be eerie, but alien enough that there's no mistaking the two."

Spoiler:

OOC: Man I suck at posting regularly. I'm sorry

They moved through the markets, with Yagami taking the time to admire the architecture, looking up towards the roofs of buildings. Arisu's eye was drawn to the same spot, taking a look at the plant life on the roofs, something she enjoyed seeing. It added a splash of color to an otherwise bleak landscape, making the surroundings seem more alive somehow, and lifting the slightly depressing mood that usually was Kirigakure.

As they arrived to the bridge, Arisu looked out over the water, seeing the reflections of the world above it in the calm surface. The fog muddled it slightly, but that was just a constant of the village. The days when fog wasn't around were few and far between. Arisu's personality matched it very much. In truth, many of Kirigakure seemed to represent their personality based on the landscape and fog as well. The fog hid a lot, as did the people.

"I suppose. Our nations are both great villages. Recently developed into cities, but with influences still on the feudal ages of our times. Kirigakure is obscured in fog often, but Kumogakure is in the mountains with clouds around, so in a way it is probably similar. Constant rain or drizzles." The comparisons were certainly there.

OOC - All good. Things are less than ideal on my end, so response will be slow as well.

Yagami took a deep breath of the damp air. In that sense, it wasn't so different from home. Clouds were ever present and often wept through the Village to coat everything with slick surface. A nuisance at times, yes, but a familiar one. One a person could become accustomed to as part of day to day life. This billowing mist, the clouds above, they were a link that took some of the homesickness from the Genin's heart.

He listened in silence as Arisu shared her thoughts. He found that this woman a wit about her, an intelligence that granted keen observation and reflection. He felt for her words when she spoke of the Villages holding onto their roots despite their advancements. Kirigakure's namesake shifted past them on the breeze, wafting fog that clung to the wood of the bridge beneath their feet.

It was haunting, in a way that brought comfort to Yagami in a way he didn't fully understand. He turned to Arisu. "Look's like the fog is leading the way. Is there anywhere in the Village you enjoy visiting? I wouldn't mind exploring a bit more."

Spoiler:

She looked around at the fog that was more or less ever present when it rolled it, the reason that Kirigakure was known as the village hidden in the mist. Yagami made particular note of it and Arisu agreed. It was leading the way it seemed if they chose to follow it.

Yagami asked if there was anywhere that she enjoyed visiting, so Arisu gave it a moment of thought. She decided that she would just take him to see some of the more interesting places, because it was better than simply standing in one place.  Arisu took the man around the village, showing him some of the good spots for tourists. She spent a good while more or less being a tour guide, but she didn't mind all that much.

However, eventually all things must come to an end. When the natural time to part ways with the Kumogakure genin arrived, Arisu took her leave. She had some training to get in, and couldn't do that while simply walking around, nor did she want to spar with another village's ninja. She didn't like people seeing her skill set at the best of times, let alone someone else's village.

-exit-

The traipse about the Village had been enlightening but it couldn't last forever. The landscape was pleasant to look at. Arisu had shown to be polite and courteous, and Yagami found her presence more tolerable than some humans he had crossed paths with in the past. They made their way through the streets in comfortable silence.

The mists had become a constant companion by this point. It billowed around them with each movement, a chilly caress against their skin as they walked. It was nice, if different. While the peaks of home were buffeted by cold winds and the occasional snowfall, mist or fog was a relative rarity. He imagined children playing in mist like this. Then, he imagined an enemy using the mist as an obscuring cloak.

Despite himself, Yagami felt his body tense at the thought. As beautiful as the land was, it was also potentially deadly. This was not his home. They found themselves near the gate as the Sun was beginning to dip on the horizon. Yagami bid Arisu farewell and made to rejoin his team. He cast a final look at the Village, unsure if he would return, and whether he would be welcome or not.

-exit-