Musical Flowers (Yuuki)

The late afternoon air was warm as they traveled over the water on the giant floating city that was the Heavenly Emporium. The celebration of Okane’s birth was still ongoing and people were still enjoying the festival he had thrown for them. Food, drink, and merriment were aplenty there and multitudes of games and events were abound with prizes to be won and losses to be turned around. Valen himself was wearing his usual attire at the Emporium. A black silk kimono with black satin trim along the edges. Upon the back of the garment was more of the black satin in the shape of the Kirigakure symbol. Thus giving evidence to his affiliation. He wore simple sandals and a red sash that housed his sheathed katana. The Hai no Ha, or ‘Blade of Ashes’. It was a weapon of incredible craftsmanship and Valen took it with him everywhere.

With him he had a large pack that was closed, it’s contents hidden from the view of those who might try to look within. However it was mostly just to keep bugs and other animals out. Seeing as all that was inside was food. A whole lot of it, as Valen wasn’t able to fully pin down his appetite at any one time. Training and doing other shinobi tasks such as fighting, and moving with super human levels of speed, coordination, and strength tended to burn calories faster than anything else one could imagine. So many shinobi, himself included, ate a lot. Today was meant to be a nice, relaxing day here at the Emporium and so he had packed a lot of food and was on his way toward a lovely flower maze he had seen. The maze was tall and the walls themselves were made of bushes of various flowers that all were in bloom at the time. It was a lovely place to relax and enjoy a day. Even if Valen would usually prefer the rigorous training one could gain at a training ground.

His black hair was down to his upper back and his red eyes were alert to possible threats around him. Even when it came to relaxing it was hard to take the shinobi out of the individual. He would arrive at the entrance of the flower maze, his red eyes taking in the scene with a small smile on his features. He did have a small book he could and probably would read when he got to the middle of the maze where there was a large, beautifully crafted fountain and artistically styled stone benches. As well as a large tree that gave plenty of shade. He intended to enjoy himself reading and eating beneath that tree and was looking forward to it. First though, he would need to find his way there. He didn’t intend to cheat the maze, that took half the fun out of it after all.


[1]

The unintentional troublemaker Yuuki Nakajima was lost within the floral maze of one of the Emporium's many gardens. She had ventured here randomly on a whim of searching for a pretty place to daydream in peace. This was her third day at the Emporium. Her first visit earned a bucket full of trouble with her caretakers at the hospital. She miraculously got off with a stern warning though. Even so, it still took her a lot of begging to be allowed to explore the Emporium again. It took about a month of tedious work around the hospital to be allowed to visit the Emporium. And she could only go if she sent notice beforehand, so an escort could be sent to keep a strict eye on her whereabouts. An annoying demotion from the freedom of just being on her own, but it was better than not being able to go at all. Besides...having a regular form of transportation is much less stressful than having to sneak out on her own.

Either way, Yuuki was still drastically unable to comprehensively navigate around the city. Luckily that didn't stop her from still asking for directions. Her ambitions allowed her to shoulder the risks unopposed. Although that wouldn't be enough to get past her current problem. Young Yuuki didn't have much on her besides a small green duffel bag and the clothes she came with. And even then she was still dressed very lightly by choice.

Standing at only 5 feet & 5 inches tall, the mocha-skinned kunoichi in training wore her unconventional gear. She had no weapons, and any miscellaneous items she found during her adventures were stored in the duffel bag. Her long silver/blonde hair was decently brushed. Styled in a wild fashion that was pretty much just winging whatever she could think of. The only thing that kept her decent in the public eye was the oversized white cloak that she liked to wear. The thick fabric hides her feminine figure like a magic curtain with buttons. Which is good, because, underneath the cloak, she was hardly dressed at all. The only real article of clothing she had on was the tan-colored shorts that ended above her upper thighs. Otherwise, she only has accessories to adorn herself with. The first is her silken black blindfold that she wears to protect her sensitive eyes. The second was a collective of similar items. In particular, she wore six tan-colored belts that had small golden plates acting as the center buckle. One on each leg, one around her waist, and one for both arms. The final belt is fastened around her chest to at least act as a support for her breasts. The last of her accessories was the black choker necklace with a small ruby gem embedded into a heart-shaped casing.

All of that aside, Yuuki was in a peaceful state of mind. The gentle breezes that snuck up the cloak tickled her skin as she explored the maze. Uncaring in the loss of direction. She spent several minutes adjusting to the magnitude of all the collective scents before she began to explore deeper within the maze. Occasionally stopping to examine the different flowers with her fingertips. In terms of admiring such floral beauties, she never got tired of it. Eventually feeling inspired to put her appreciation for such things into music. And so Yuuki would hunt for a suitable place. Searching endlessly until she found a specific section that had the widest variety of flowers and vegetation. The spacious area had tall hedges, a wide span of floral plants, and metal gates acting as directional decor. This is where she'd stop to sit down and rest. Opening her duffel bag to retrieve the small brown violin that was loaned to her by the clerk running the store it belonged to. The price tag is still clipped to the item's framework.

Once seated comfortably enough, Yuuki would slowly adjust herself into what she could only describe as her best interpretation of a performer's pose from memory. Holding the violin bow with her left hand with an instinctive grip through muscle memory. Holding this instrument was one of her only ways to catch a glimpse of what her old life was like... The feeling alone was nostalgic despite having yet to play a single note. Thus when she finally began to use the bow's edge to vibrate the strings. Her hands and fingers naturally found a rhythm in which to drag long melodic sounds out from the violin. Playing notes that were to no song in particular. Rather only the sounds that she was feeling within her soul at the moment. A symbolic arrangement of sadness and happiness mixed together. Each string of notes played was linked with effortless ease. As if to mimic the waves of an ocean as gravity tugged it along. The air around Yuuki was still. Daring not to impede on the resonance of her music within the air. Allowing the musical frequencies to fill the garden with music even the flowers could dance and sing to.

---

Yuuki's Appearance (No Hat):

After a moment of enjoying the entryway into the maze the swordsman would enter the maze. The flowery walls gave a subtle but wonderful aroma for one's adventure and the young man would marvel at the different sorts of scents he had come across since his arrival on land. On the ocean one smelled primarily salt and brine. In his case it was far worse though. As growing up in enslavement meant the scents of blood, bilge, excrement and other such novelties were quite the norm. Still, it had been his life prior to becoming a shinobi and as such he accepted it. He didn’t quite understand the concept of slavery being a horrible, cruel thing, but he didn’t really understand cruelty either. Yet that did not deter him from completing tasks, missions, and order when given and he made sure to prevent his fellow Kirigakure shinobi, or civilians for that matter, from getting killed or injured when he could do so. For now though such thoughts of the past were unwanted and unwelcome. For now he was enjoying the view of the garden, taking its various twists and turns in a quiet, contemplative excitement.

Every corner was a new mystery to be discovered and the giant maze was full of them. He went through dead ends, forks, twists and turn after turn. He found people napping, people laying back and enjoying the day, people ahem we won’t go into that. He came across a variety of people of differing walks and ways of life through the maze as he moved the scent of flowers and nature all around him. Idly he reached a hand into a side pocket of his pack and pulled out a piece of jerky. A simple snack for him as he traversed the maze and he took a bite as he moved, searching the various twists and turns for the center of the maze where the great tree was. It was a disorienting sort of place, as the tree was visible from well outside and from any point within the maze. Making sure you knew if you were getting closer or farther. Such a thing made it difficult to feel comfortable moving away from the tree but Valen wasn’t stupid. Uneducated yes, but not stupid in anyway. Sometimes in order to move closer to an objective, you had to do what was not comfortable.

As he explored the maze, a small contented smile on his features he would eventually hear a sound unlike any he had ever heard before. He couldn’t explain what it was, couldn’t tell you what was making it if his life depended on it. However he could tell it was being made by a person. It was a beautiful sound that seemed to emanate from somewhere not far from his location. It was music that he was certain of. He had been on ships most of his life and he knew the concept of music itself but his experience was limited to that of sea shanties and other such tunes. This? This was something altogether different. He felt a tug on something in his chest, his heart? But he couldn’t understand what that feeling was. Was he under attack in some way? No, he didn’t think so. His instincts were well honed and none of them were going off of danger. The melodious sound filled the air around him as he honed in on it’s direction and he began to try to make his way there. This added a new sense of challenge to the maze as he had no visual aid to help him find the individual playing this music. Only the direction the sound was coming from.

He moved through the maze, his step becoming quicker as he didn’t know how much time he had to find the mysterious musician. The fountain and tree in the middle of the maze were not going anywhere. The player of that music could at any moment, so he picked up his speed and moved through the maze. He fought the urge and temptation to hop over the flower walls in order to find the person. He wasn’t going to do that, he would find her without cheating the maze. It took some time, and he had to turn around when he realized he was getting too far away from the music to be going in the right direction. However eventually he would turn a corner. The area he found himself in was an open area, seeming like a rest area in the maze for those traversing it’s confines. Flowery walls of course made up the sides and this place he noted had a wide variety of flowers here. A gate for decoration adorned some of the flower walls and seated upon the ground near one of the walls was an absolutely stunning individual. He didn’t know how he could tell what with her eyes covered and her figure hidden behind a coat. But her grace of carriage, her poise told him enough. He’d spent far too much time analyzing people for threat analysis in combat to not be able to tell that much.

She was playing some kind of instrument looking like a wooden piece with strings. She rested it upon a shoulder, holding some sort of handle where the strings ran down and her fingers moved about the strings as she ran a second object, what looked like some kind of crafted stick with another string, almost like a small bow without the curvature, across the same strings only across the body of the wooden item. She sat there, playing the thing like she was born to it and the feeling of the pain in his heart redoubled. His hand went to his chest before moving into the area quietly. He wasn’t sure if she could hear him or sense him in some other fashion but he did not want to interrupt the music. He couldn’t bring himself to do that. So he sat down, not far from her, letting her play as he alone was her audience. Should she cease her playing he would clap quietly, not wanting to fill the noiseless void with something as crass of loud clapping after the music she had made. “That was breathtaking. If I may, my name is Valen Minamoto of Kirigakure. May I ask what that is?” He would ask, introducing himself and asking after the instrument she had played.

[2]

During this display of auditory artistry, the young dark-skinned girl remained in sync with each sound that the string instrument oscillated. Her right arms remained still, to withhold sturdy support as the bow within her left hand played the strings accordingly. Her right hand danced along the neck of the violin, as her palm kept a sturdy hold of the fingerboard. Each movement was subtle yet relaxed, but the sounds produced carried unnerving weight as well as unrivaled beauty. From this point in time, the lone musician was encapsulated in the short story that her performance was attempting to tell. The normally mute girl, found it common to display her feelings about her current life throughout her artistry nowadays. And while intrinsically depressing and sad. There was an unshakable resolve to keep light shining on the darker themes of her musical pieces themselves. Given how her connection to the past is hardly serviceable by any means. Her art...is all that she has within this shinobi world. And so...almost as if in defiance she rid herself of the constant social anxiety and took the moment of peace and quiet to just let herself express things. Regardless if she was indeed not alone to her knowledge.

As she played her violin, Yuuki would allow herself to travel into the scarier parts of her imagination. Letting the foggy red pains of her memories surface to fuel her discomfort and inner desire to fight the oppression of emotional baggage. The non discernable screams of people she has no recognition of, left her feeling helpless in finding connections to the faces she barely could make out in her mind. This would be showcased in the sharp and quick dashes of low notes within the melodies of her violin. To set a never-ending sense of tension within each piece. As if to mimic the feeling of running somewhere, but not certain of where one is going. This...would tell of Yuuki's feelings towards the world she is in.

Running away from everything, when she has nothing at the same time.

No friends, no family, no dreams.

Her goals are shortsighted because she has no other way to perceive and make them last longer than small wants and needs. Things that material gains can only sedate for so long in hindsight. And as grim as that may be, the young kunoichi in training did not know how to give up hope. From where this hope comes from...she did not know. However, that hope allows her to apply long colorful chords to the music she was making. For each hauntingly scattered melody, followed long & beautifully played chords. Chords that will depict the small flame within the young girl's heart that knows somewhere beyond the smoke and mirrors lies a real and beautiful world. One full of something to look forward to. Not this confusing mockery of one that she was thrust into it due to unfortunate circumstances. After all...she is no child. And while she feels locked in the position of one, that did not mean she had to think that way. Despite how comfortable it may be to do so nearly every day.

And so upon laying eyes, upon her the lone being that located Yuuki, would be able to catch her during the much more savory and enjoyable parts of her song. The death grip that her darker melodies once had, would eventually lift and ease up entirely. The strong and jagged low notes, slowly fade out to make room for the much more embellished highs. The pacing of her music now takes on a faster and much more lighthearted approach rather than the climatic and theatric one she displayed before. And yet not once during her playing did she seem to know that the male that had joined her within the open rest area of the maze was there. She would play seamlessly without faltering. Her body slowly swayed from side to side as she rode along with the waving pitches of her notes. She'd sit there until the song had finished a few minutes after he had arrived. Although when she had stopped the act itself was jarringly random. As if despite all the skill displayed before...the song had yes to have a concise ending to its entire piece. Which only leaves a listener to be yearning for more, just as much as the performer was. Which is exactly how Yuuki felt at this moment.

Even with a small feeling of closure taking over her, she still yearned for better. But that...would come another day. Perhaps sometime in the far future when life makes more sense. For now though...she had other things to be concerned about...

Not expecting to have an audience beyond herself, the dark-skinned girl slightly gasped and jolted in response to the clapping of the man nearby. Her head snapped around in his direction, which clearly showed she was now aware of his presence. However, thanks to that blindfold of hers, the expression on her face would be somewhat disconnected in terms of what she was possibly thinking about him being there. Particularly in terms of whether she felt threatened, or not. Someone with just decent perception could notice her now, gripping the violin's bow in her left hand in a far less delicate manner. Almost akin to hinting that she was going to use it as a weapon of some sort. Although probably not with trained efficiency based on her timid body language.

In short, there would be an awkward silence between the two as she just stared in his direction. Her demeanor gave off the sense that she was still processing things, and that she was trying to figure out a proper response. During that time her body adjusted to the vibrations around her and would display her surroundings within her mindspace. Giving her a rough outlined draft of what was around her. Which would go as far as letting her figure out that she and the male were the only ones here. Although almost as if unavoidable she still looked around despite the fact that she cannot actually see a damn thing...because of the blindfold. Alas upon deciding that it was best to not overreact that she would turn her attention back towards the man named Valen. It is then that would try to address him, the things that he said and the situation as a whole were finally catching up to her mentally.

"Its name is Violin..." she would say in a soft, clear, but overall dry tone. Harshly devoid of verbal emotion within any of broken grammar she used to answer his question. Which would make it seem as if the instrument itself was given a personal special name by her, rather than its actual general description. Regardless she stuck to it, with full confidence that the answer she gave was correct and sufficient enough for him.

With her body now turned in his direction, he would be able to see her general appearance much better. The large cloak she had no longer blocked the view of her figure, and attire underneath such thick layers. Which as he would now be able to realize is much more...open and revealing than most would be in public spaces. The girl as said before was hardly wearing anything at all, let alone anything that could be conventionally allowed to be counted as clothing beyond the shorts she had on. The belt around her chest region in particular being comically close to becoming a liability of indecency.

A few minutes after he arrived the song, which had seemed to gain a bright, almost chaotic but happy, energy would stop. The cessation of the music was sudden and actually caused him to blink once or twice in mild confusion. It seemed like the turning of a page or a flip of a switch rather than the gradual movement into being finished. Something more like the dawn or dusk of the world. Slowly, gradually fading or coming into view, only auditory. This was much more, sudden, and it took Valen a moment to realize that it was over. His applause had given her a shock and she gasped mildly at his clapping and words. Her head snapped toward him, the blindfold facing him unerringly due the sound of his clapping.

She would turn toward him, and his eyes would immediately drop to the figure and form he was able to see now that she was fully facing him. She was stunning, with dark skin and barely any clothing clung to her form. Across her chest a simple belt maintained modesty and that only barely. Shorts upon her hips kept her decent down below and he felt a stir of desire in himself as he saw her. As always Valen felt that desire when he saw an attractive woman. It was part of him, like the hilt to a sword. Always there, and always needing to be controlled and maintained. Usually though, he would ask if the woman he felt a strong attraction to physically wanted to partake in the more carnal pleasures. It worked a surprising amount of the time and Valen himself did not like to mince words.

This time though he would hold his tongue. He couldn’t put his finger on it, couldn’t speak in words why he did not do so. But her playing before had made him feel something he had never felt before. Had stirred a different desire in him, he wanted a different kind of relation with this girl. Not one of sexual nature, but one where she might show him more of that wondrous music that she played. The sound of her playing would stay with him for the rest of his life he felt and when she answered his question, referring to the thing she held as ‘Violin’. He would nod to himself. Not to her, since she couldn’t see it anyway, duh.

Still, he had seen her initial reaction to his presence when he made noise earlier. His perceptive capabilities being enough to note the tensing of her fingers around the stick like thing she held. As if she was going to attack him with it. The tone she had answered him with had held no emotion. It was devoid of it, speaking only what it needed to say and having no subtext beneath. “I see.” He would say at first, his own tone neutral and careful. He did not want to provoke this girl and he most certainly did not want her to leave. He wanted to talk to her about the music she was making. Wanted to ask her if he might be able to make such music too.

“Well it sounds beautiful. As does your playing of it. I found myself enthralled.” He would say next, the last word being one he had learned only recently. It felt like a good one to use here and so he did. “What’s your name?” He would ask, his tone curious. She had given him the name of the item in her hand. But not of herself, although he also hadn’t asked that question. Almost as quickly as he asked it however the cry of a messenger bird rang out and the avian in question landed upon the shoulder of Valen. Reaching for the scroll case the swordsman opened the container and read the contents. An annoyed clicking of his tongue resounded. He was apparently spending too much time here and some pencil pusher back at the village wanted him to check in in person. "I've got to go I'm afraid. I apologize and I hope to see you again one day." He would say before turning and leaving at his best possible speed.

[3]

[Exit, Exp Claimed]