Welcome to Gaia! ::

A few minutes later they had arrived to their rooms. Rose had given Notwen and Musamaru each one of the 'Sail and Sign Cards' while inside the elevator. Somehow they were supposed to be used to get into their rooms, and were also used for identification.
"You two will be sharing a room, while i will be using the room next door." explained the black-haired woman as they walked through the green-carpeted hallway. There were doors on either side with luggage to the side. The doors seemed to be made of a sturdy metal and also had thin slots which seemed to be made for the cards they had.
I wonder how these cards are supposed to work... thought the dark-skinned blonde, turning his S&S card over. The other side had two short bar codes, a long black stripe that ran the length of the card, and a short message reiterating what Rose had said about it being used for identification. They passed a group of people who were dipping the card into the slit in the door and removing it. There was a click and the door knob was able to be turned. Notwen saw a glimpse of what the inside of the stateroom looked like before he was too far ahead and the angle made it impossible. When they had reached their rooms, Rose's being 9287 and their's being 9289, Musamaru dipped his card to open the door. The black-haired woman had said she would see them later before entering her own room. The crippled Uchiha's eyes widened as he beheld the scene in front of him.

Sunlight streamed in from the glass sliding doors that led to a balcony overlooking the ocean, brightening the room. The floor was covered in the same green carpet that covered the halls. To the right of the entryway was a raised ceramic floor that led into what turned out to be a small, yet spacious bathroom stocked with towels, bath robes, soaps, lotions and toilet paper. To the left was a small closet with hangers. Ahead were two made-up twin-sized beds with towels rolled and arranged to look like rabbits. In front of the beds was a wardrobe that could be used for further storage.
"This has to be a dream..." said the blue-haired boy looking wide-eyed at the room and balcony. "These are luxuries fit for feudal lords!" Notwen smiled at that statement, but Musamaru had a point. To think that there was a whole class of people who had prestige rivaling that of a feudal lord was disconcerting. The dark-skinned blonde put his belongings on the bed closest to the balcony and sat on it. The mattress was very comfortable.
"We have to thank Rose for bringing us along." Notwen said as he laid back on the bed, staring at the plain white ceiling. After a long pause the crippled Uchiha sat up and looked at his room mate, who seemed to be bored, in a restless way. "Want to go look around the ship?" he asked. Immediately Musamaru's features lit up as he replied.
"Yes! We can't do much until the crates arrive to our room anyway." Notwen smiled.
"Alright, sounds like a plan." The duo made sure they had their key-cards on their person before they walked out of the room. Musamaru knocked on Rose's door and told her what they were going to do.
"Okay, just remember to listen for any instructions that come over the loud speaker." she said.
"We will." they replied in unison before heading to the sunlight streaming into the hall.

Notwen and Musamaru spent the next two hours exploring the ninth and fifth decks. The midship area of the ninth deck housed Triton's Main Pool, which was drained at the moment. Adjacent to the pool were two small hot tubs which were also drained. There were several small tables spread out through the area where other guests were eating food that would be considered lunch. About fifteen feet away a buffet line could be seen, and the smells that wafted over from the area made the Uchiha's mouth water. Five minutes later they made it to the aft section of the ship which contained the buffet, the aft pool, and a large shogi board set up on the floor for use. The game pieces were large enough to be pushed around with one's leg. After looking at the selection of food at the buffet, the young adults took the stairs down to the fifth deck. There they found the arcade and several dance halls by the time the captain's voice sounded over the loud speaker to announce the mandatory evacuation drill. They were to return to their rooms and get life jackets which were kept in a chest, then were supposed to go the deck four to meet with the rest of their section.
Fifteen minutes later Notwen and Musamaru had met up with Rose, and together walked down the stairs with a throng of others from the same area. After arriving at the evacuation drill, the crew member in charge of the area pointed out several features of the life jackets(which were more of a blocky flotation device that went around the neck and over the torso, which was then tied around the back to keep it secure). The life jackets had flashlights, whistles, and flares(to make it easier to be found at night).

Thirty minutes later Notwen found himself seated on the empty bed in Rose's room, for it was now time for his new lessons. Musamaru was out on the deck watching the ship depart Fire Country and begin to head eastward to it's first stop, Whirlpool Country.
"What i am going to teach you is an art that has been passed down in my family from generation to generation; the ability to channel Soul Power." said the black-haired woman as she stood up and walked to the balcony to peer at the black ocean. "There are several steps you must take in order to master complete control of Soul Power, but i will teach you two tonight if you can handle it." She turned to face the dark-skinned blonde. "What i want you to do now is to close your eyes and identify the flow of chakra throughout your body." The crippled Uchiha did what he was told and began to concentrate on the task at hand. So began Notwen's training under Rose.

Sorains head tilted upward, showing his first signs of consciousness since he had first entered his meditative state at the start of the trip. Up until now he had been avoiding direct conversation with any of the passer byers on the road towards the docks, instead he opted to keep his usual low profile and simply wait out the remaining journy to his homeland in Kirigakure where he would start a new life, one absent from the hectic stress of being a wanted Shinobi. In fact, he had even been considering simply turning himself in and working out some sort of bargain on behalf of himself and his brother, not to mention the two technically rouge Shinobi that had decided to tag along with them. How exactly was he going to make this all work? They were two rouge ninja who were essentially wanted by the entire world with two companions that were now guilty through association. For now he figured it would best for them to remain in disguise and to rejoin their home village as new citizens. He would present himself as a medic and apply for a position in Kirigakures shinobi medic squad, from there he would bide his time, save his money, purchase a new place to live and start over fresh, washing his hands clean. Leaning back, Sorain searched the cart for Saru, making sure that she hadn't gotten herself loss or worse into more trouble. "It would be best if we hopped off and continued the rest of the way to the harbor on foot, just in case anyone recognized us and saw us getting onto this cart. It would be problematic if the very same day this cart shows up at a harbor headed for the Kirigakure mainland. We head to the boat on foot then stow away on board. Do that, and we can clean our trail one last time before making the leap across the boarder."

“Ugh,” Arina let out a small groan as she began to wake from the intense streams of sunlight. The sounds in the background which had seemed so far away began to become much more distinct. She could especially hear Sai who seemed to be speaking about her, as well as her possible standing with Konohagakure.

The young woman sat completely upright grabbing the edge of a quilt that attempted to slide down her body. ‘How did that get here?’ Arina tried to recall the night before and where the quilt had come from. She shrugged the question for the time being as it wouldn’t directly affect her well being to know where it had come from.

The young girl rubbed her fists back and forth trying to force the fatigue from her body. “Saru is leaving?” Arina questioned inquisitively looking around for the other young girl with whom she felt closest too. She might have met Sai and agreed to be his apprentice before she had met the others; however, Saru made the young girl feel a little less alone.

Quickly climbing onto her knees, Arina took a good look at the environment around her. She noticed many commoners walking along the roads just partaking in a normal day’s work. The young girl inhaled deeply through her nose sighing softly. She could smell a whole variety of different types of foods which made her stomach growl at the mere thought of how long it had been since she had eaten anything. ‘I wonder what kind of distance we covered through the night,’ her eyes lowered somewhat upset that she wasn’t able to stay up and keep Sai company during the long trip. This wasn’t the time to be down on herself though! They had a long journey ahead of them, and Arina was sure that she would be able to make it up to him someday. She just had to concentrate on how not to become a burden to Sai or Sorain anymore. They were trying to carry the burden of this trip on themselves; but Arina was a part of this as well. She was sure Saru probably felt the same way. They weren’t viewed as dependable. Not that she could blame Sai or Sorain, she wasn’t strong enough; at least, she wasn’t strong enough yet.

With a heavy sigh Sai watched his brother and his companion walk away into the distance, 'At least this time I know I will be seeing him again.' The memories of each time the two had separated were surely not fond ones and the prospect of it happening yet again was only a sour prospect for him, but as usual, he had other things he would need to attend to.

Turning the key in the ignition, the vehicle roared back to life and began to roll down the path to the loading bay with a slow rumble. "Try not to look so distraught. You'll see her in a few hours." Sai growled out despite himself wanting to sound friendly, the bitterness of his own separation making it difficult for him to be overly pleasant. In an attempt to comfort the girl, he settled the knuckles of his fingers against the top of her hand in the same fashion a older sibling might ruffle the hair of a younger one. A few seconds later he would retract his hand and continue driving to the docks, stopping momentarily to register the vehicle to be loaded into the cargo area and get assigned to a room on the ship.

By the time Sai had returned to the car, his face had turned a greenish color that resembled Saru's own motion sickness. Throwing himself into the drivers seat he looked down at the a small paper he held clasped between his fingers, his jaw flexed and his expression darkened the longer he glared at the paper until with an exasperated grunt he balled up the paper and flung it over his shoulder. "Pure con-artists, I swear to..." Sighing, he cut himself off and forced a gentle smile onto his features as he looked at the girl beside him. '... I don't remember her name...' The thought echoed through his head as he kept his gaze upon her, a bead of sweat comedically rolling down the side of head as he frantically tried to search his memory for her name. "AH! Shall we go eat, you're surely hungry by now? I hear they have some of the best seafood dishes on this ship and for what I'm paying, we should take advantage~" 'Just buy time.. buy time... Sorain must remember or Sun-Sun will definitely say her name..'

Arina was a bit surprised when Saru embraced her; however, the action brought a large smile to her face. It was comforting to know that she indeed had a friend in Saru. “Alright, have a safe trip!” The young girl’s cheeks turned a slight shade of red while still smiling. She waved a hand wildly in the air as Saru grabbed her things and chased after Sorain. Once the two had disappeared from sight, the young girl bit her lip letting the smile drop from her face. She knew that they would meet again; however, they still had quite the trip ahead of them before such a reunion could take place.

After a few moments of comfortable silence between the two left, Sai attempted to comfort Arina with words; though, he seemed to have much on his mind as well. The young girl tilted her head to look up at him with inquisitive eyes. After a few moments, Arina’s eyes inadvertently began to drift. She found herself looking after Sorain and Saru once more. ‘Sorain?’ Arina realized with wide eyes. Of course, he was going to be upset at the idea of his brother leaving. Who wouldn’t?

After realizing this, Arina tried to perk up for the sake of Sai. The young girl didn't want to be insensitive to her traveling companion.“Yes, you are right!” Arina responded forcing a smile which within a few moments became a real smile. She covered her mouth trying to hide the fact that she was giggling at Sai’s reaction to the unexpected and apparently overwhelming cost of transportation.

"AH! Shall we go eat, you're surely hungry by now? I hear they have some of the best seafood dishes on this ship and for what I'm paying, we should take advantage~" Sai spoke in his usual bizarre, yet upbeat speaking mannerisms.

“Hm?” Arina questioned while attempting to recover a more serious disposition. Regardless of her response, the young girl had heard him when he spoke. Her response was merely a natural reflex. “Well…” The girl trailed off placing her hands on her legs and looking down. It was at this moment that her stomach let out a large growl speaking for itself. She grabbed her stomach with a mortified look across her face. “I am sorry,” Arina responded averting her gaze from Sai.

Arina opened the door of the vehicle climbing outside. She overlooked the landscape momentarily taking in a huge breath. This sea was a beautiful place! The young girl could definitely get used to this lifestyle of seeing the world. She turned her attention abruptly back to Sai. “However,” she continued her message from earlier on, “I am very much starving!” She concluded with a smile starting to walk away from the current platform and investigate the ship in its entirety.