Welcome to Gaia! ::

Not being familiar with the Earth Country at all, Isuko stopped in the village to ask for directions to the area that he had hear the rumors about. Several of the villagers refused to speak to him for more than a few moments, and he was getting nowhere with getting directions. ”They don’t trust me. I probably wouldn’t trust a blind shinobi either. Especially one who speaks with a Rain Country accent. Hmm… How do I get directions to the area I want to travel to? Hmm…” Isuko made a quick decision and headed for the most crowded part of the village which he assumed was a market area. He wandered the bazaar until he found a clothing vendor which is what he was searching for.
Isuko had noticed that he had been uncomfortable from the beating sun for the duration of his time in Earth Country, the people here seemed to wear different kinds of clothing from him, and he figured the modified styles of clothing helped the heat. Isuko approached the vendor.
”Excuse me. I’m sorry to bother you, but I could use some help choosing appropriate clothing for my journey. As you can see, I came unprepared for the weather here. Could you suggest some proper attire and perhaps give me some directions?” Isuko flashed the small amount of Earth Country currency that he had to the man and the man became very helpful. He vendor sold Isuko some proper clothes for the blasting sun and gave Isuko directions to the village he was searching for. Isuko tipped the man very well and started off.

Now that Sorain was no longer worrying about keeping his genjutsu constantly layering over Takera and Yua, he was free to proceed at a much faster pace with the ease of mind knowing that they should be more than capable of keeping up with him. As he launched himself from cliff peak to cliff peak, never once breaking a stride, Sorain entire body began to blur across the jagged path that was the cliffs of each peak. It was an effortless action, to spend a life time in darkness only served to make the world your playground. He knew nothing of fatal falls, knew nothing of fear, to him this was as easy as walking down a hand carved path. Turning his attention to over his shoulder, Sorain listed out to ensure that his group was still following close enough behind him. He did not want them to follow directly on his a**, it would be a terrible formation to do so. Currently they were traveling in an A Triangle Formation. Sorain was taking the lead, and leaving Takera and Zero to hang back and run adjacent to each other, forming an acute triangle. This was formation was developed to avoid being folloped.

Drake was running along the main road, and looked up into the sky. He saw rain clouds in the distance, and knew that he was approaching the border of Rain and Earth. He remembered when he first came here only a few days ago, when he climbed a small cliff to get pass the border. He later realised how much of a fool he was. He could have used the Chakra-Walk technique to simply run up the side of the cliff, but then again, he needed the experience. As Drake ran, he saw a fimiliar boulder, and saw that he was close to the cliff that seperated Rain and Earth. Drake ran up the side of the boulder,then jumped to the top, landing near the edge of the cliff. Drake looked around him, and saw the gourge. Drake smiled, then backed up a few feet, then went into a full sprint, jumping once he neared the edge. Drake flew through the air for a moment, then landed on a large tree branch. He settled himself for a moment, then began jumping from branch to branch, hoping that he could get a good enough distance before the rain started to fall.

(Current Lines - 11)
Total Lines - 469)

It was a long, long motion that lasted what seemed to be a lifetime but it was completely necessary. Without it, and it's constant reapplication the young man would have long fallen asleep in his anxious journey to the Earth Country, and there was just no way he was willing to let that happen... Not after all he had been through to get there.

Sai yawned heavily, his gloved hands roughly rubbing his face in long, exaggerated circles in hopes to rub out the fatigue and weariness while some how returning the long lost energy that had escaped him for so long. But it was all for vain as he laid back in the back of a wagon, his legs crossed over themselves as his arms crossed over his chest in defeat of his face's nonacceptance of his attempts. If there was at least one thing he was happy for was to be finally gone from his team from Water Country... it had felt like centuries since he could shed his disguise and allow his features to blossom back to the surface. With bright blue eyes, he surveyed himself in a makeshift ice mirror, a grin spreading across his lips at his own reflection.

The young man was far from narcissistic, but there was something to relish about from being able to look into the mirror and seeing yourself after many a time seeing the face of a man that you knew to be dead, and also knew to be little more then scum when alive. So as his eyes took in the sight of his long, spiky white blond hair... the thin, sharp features of his face... the unique swirl of violet and blue that tinged his bright irises... and appreciated the warmth and fashion of his personal gear, Sai couldn't bother but be satisfied with what he saw and yearn to continue looking. It was the fact that in all the time since he had last seen himself, it was also the last time he had seen his brother, Sorain...

It was sad, but ever since the battle in Frost Country between the Mist Forces and their personal squad, Sin, Sai had not once allowed his thoughts to linger on Sorain. As much as he wanted to admit that it was due to wanting to keep his thoughts as pure to the guise he wore, he knew better... it was the pain of his brother's memory that caused him to refuse to let his thoughts return to his brother and pushed them completely from his mind. But in the silence of the wagon he road, and the peacefulness that surrounded him on all sides from the nature that grew all around, he simply couldn't deny his thoughts anymore... He missed Sorain, he missed him terribly and so each time he stared at his reflection, some part of him, some sad, depressed part of Sai saw his twin grinning back at him reassuringly. Reassuring of his presence, of their reunion, of his continued life in the world...

Sai gulped down heavily at the thought that his brother might have died, whether by natural conditions or due to something else, anything was possible and even the slightest thought of it was causing his heart to tighten and gut to churn. Dropping his gaze from the mirror to his bent knees, Sai shook his head slightly... there was no way that Sorain would have died. He was too strong... too stubborn... too much like himself to be able to be conquered by another being, let alone any natural force that was not old age... No, his brother was definitely alive, that was something that was certain and he could put faith in.

Rather than allowing his mind to be bothersome and worry about such things, Sai needed his thoughts and focus to be squarely on getting to Earth Country and acquiring the information that he so needed to gain. It was only a short time until he would arrive in Earth Country and would be able to continue on his search for the Seven Mist Swords, legendary blades crafted in the Water Country and bestowed only on the special Mist Swordsmen.... A group of shinobi that were ranked higher then all others and had disbanded several years ago, before the last great shinobi war. Sai wasn't altogether concerned on acquiring all of the swords, let alone even find out information at all on all of the blades... No, what he wanted was a specific sword, a powerful sword... The executioner's blade, fabled to be impossible to damage in any shape or form. It was rumored that the blade was capable of sucking the iron minerals from the blood of those it slayed and through that it was capable of reforming itself.

Regardless of which was true, it was the weapon that Sai craved for. There was nothing about it that made it more uniquely dangerous from other swords, like the other six blades, but within it's vicious and capable steel work it carried a ringing call to Sai's heart. There was simply no way he would be able to give that sword up to anyone, it was what he wanted and he always got what he wanted... one way or another...


Yes, one way or another... Sai would get what he desired... But before that... A large yawn and sigh would mix together in an awkward combination and rack his entire body before he slumped down to the bottom of the wagon carelessly. He was just too tired to be bothered to contemplate the mist swords, let alone be capable of thinking up all the possibilities that would be tied around the weapon that he would need to acknowledge and discover the perfect reaction for, that was needed to known before Sai could even allow himself to create a plan. No, it was to much work to tackle at such a moment. Instead, Sai would simply have to settle with a yawn or a sigh as he road in the wagon on the peaceful evening, his mind scattered and randomly shifting from one thought to the next. There would be plenty of time to sit around and plan later, when he would be able to sit on steady ground, preferably in a cafe or restaurant of some sort... a plate of delicious, cooked food set before his eager and ready mouth.

A chuckle escaped Sai's lips and he slurped a bit of saliva back into his mouth... His thoughts were slowly shifting to food and it was making his stomach growl and his mouth drool slightly. When was it that he had last had a decent meal.... Warm and cooked thoroughly... the aroma strong with the smell of mouth watering flavor drifting from it perfectly... oh, how long had he gone without that luxury was beyond him, but it would just be another few hours in the infernal carriage before he would be able to sink his teeth into just about anything he so pleased to eat.

Notwen had watched the odd man hop from rooftop to rooftop, then finally jump down to ground level and make his way southeast out of the village. Judging by his trajectory, the dark-skinned blonde could guess that he was going towards Rain Country. Again, he was at a crossroads. Looking back and forth between the two horizons, Notwen scratched his head.
As far as i'm concerned, there isn't a route to travel between Rain and Lightning, only a short boat ride. So if i follow this guy, i can kill two birds with one stone. Besides, i'm pretty sure he's going after one of the Mist Swords, and he's traveling in the same general direction Garsem had told me before... After making the proper preparations for his tailing the stranger, Notwen began to walk the same path the stranger had taken minutes earlier. Slowing his gait to a leisurely pace, the three-eyed Uchiha allowed the stranger to get a huge lead on him.

At this point he was a few yards away from the village. Forming the Crown Seal, Notwen extended his awareness dome to its limit, which was now about a mile and a half. He detected the stranger's consciousness about a mile away, as well as several other psyches on the road between. At the rate it was moving, it would reach the edge of the awareness dome's sensory field in approximately ten minutes. Notwen began walking at half the stranger's speed to increase the gap between them. Once he had reached the limits of the dome, the dark-skinned blonde matched the stranger's hindered, yet fluid pace.

He was surprised at the amount of people that were out on the particular road. He had heard a traveling merchant mention a storm that was raging in Rain Country, but that didn't seem to stop the steady stream of people from several walks of life that were headed towards the rain-drenched country.
It seems that lore of the seven swords has expanded beyond the world of shinobi... thought Notwen as he dodged past people who were in his way. When no one was looking, he quickly snatched an apple from a merchant's cart and munched on it.

At the pace that he was traveling at, it took Notwen about two hours to enter the rain-drenched cliffs. He cautiously peered over the edge of the road he was walking on and gulped when he couldn't see the bottom, even with his awareness dome extended to its maximum reach. Moving away from the edge of the mountain, he positioned himself on the other side of a cart that was pulled by oxen in the middle of the road to avoid falling over. The smell of the beasts of burden made Notwen's nose wrinkle.
This guy really needs to take better care of his animals! thought the dark-skinned blonde as he looked at the man sitting at the head of the wagon flaying his whip across the poor animals' backs. He noticed that the strange he'd been pursuing reached a point on the road where there were less people. Notwen spread his web of intrigue and connected himself with the two oxen. Wave after wave of intense hunger and pain washed over the three-eyed Uchiha through the mental link, causing him to stumble. Jitosaa!! He screamed mentally, causing the oxen to stop in their tracks. Before the outraged driver could do anything to hurt the animals further, Notwen jumped up to the cart and kicked him off so that he landed on the side of the road with the mountain wall. Then he swiftly hopped off and pinned the man to the ground by planting a foot on his chest.
"What's yer problem brat?!" cried the driver. Notwen did everything in his power to remain in control of his emotions.
"My problem? What's yours?! Don't you see how much your oxen are suffering?" he said, pointing at the beasts of burden. "I can see their ribs clearly! They're tired, yet you keep on driving them to go at a speed they can hardly keep constant!"
"And what's it to ya? They're my animals, so i can do whatever i want with em'." Notwen frowned upon the man's ignorance.
"There's a difference between harsh conditioning and abuse, and the case here is obviously abuse." The oxen were not going to last long under those conditions, and there was nothing the dark-skinned blonde could do in that situation. With a rueful sigh, he wrapped his consciousness probes around the oxen's minds and tightened the hold. The oxen brayed at the discomfort they were going through, but then grew quiet. What Notwen had just done was damage the oxen's brains to the point that their life spans were shortened drastically, and they would die in a few hours. Lifting his foot off of the man's chest, the dark-skinned blonde resumed his journey through the rain. He turned to look at the man take his position at the head of the wagon, then to the oxen whose lives he had just shortened, and apologized silently for his crime.

Moving to Rain