"That's even more reason not to talk to you then," without fear, Stella spoke bluntly. She wasn't on a mission here herself, after all. If it was only to say this much, she didn't need to be careful of her words, "A foreign shinobi with important business in a village not their own? Definitely suspicious." She continued walking without stopping, looking side to side from time to time. There was no focus in the direction she walked in, but she nonetheless appeared to be searching for something. Occasionally, she'd stop to look up at the walls, as if pondering over an option. Each time, though, she'd shake her head and continue walking within the safety of the village's protection.
Ffionn
Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2021 2:20 pm
tabAgain Coello lost pace. Befuddlement mixed poorly with a tad of frustration, leaving his emotions written upon his face as plain as words in a book. He knew it was silly—being this worked up over a stranger, but in a way, Coello sort of enjoyed the uneasy sting. Like the more apathetic she was, the more it made him want to be closer to her. Trotting to the wolf as a doting sheep, Coello closed the distance between them a second time. It all felt foolish, like falling into a pit over and over again. But Coello couldn't help but hold onto the hope that his continued efforts would be enough to force a bridge between them. Maybe... maybe if I could find something in common? Or help her somehow, yeah! A renewed vigor surged through the bun, this time taking its form in a relaxed jog alongside Stella. "You look like you're looking for something." He started. "Maybe I can help you? I'd take my payment in getting to know your name." Even as soon as he spoke, he regretted how his words sounded, as if he were trying to force being smooth. Out of fear of being rebuffed again, Coello overcorrected himself before Stella could respond. "Or whatever, I mean! I still want to help even if you aren't comfortable with being that open with a stranger. I'm Coello, by the way. Coello Hexham."
“Oh, you think we just let any old dandy go in an’ see our Kage, do ya?” Kunio growled, not backing down from Iksin’s obvious non-interest. Behind him, Rikki continued to snicker behind his hand. “No way, no how. An’ you comin’ in after we just fought a war is miiiighty suspicious, if’n ya askin me!”
“Kunio, knock it off!” Kiyoko stepped up behind the two Jonin, placing a hand on the shorter man’s shoulder. It looked casual at a glance, but close examination revealed her grip was tighter than a vice. The woman’s eyes were closed and her temple was throbbing, visibly angry despite her disciplined demeanor. “How many times must I tell you that you’re an embarrassment? You, too, Rikki, for just letting him do this!” She snapped to the other man.
“Now then.” Kiyoko turned to look at the Sage. Even though her skill in sensory perception was weak, she could sense a power much like Usagi’s underneath his calm. “Ah, hello there. I remember you; the man that warned us of the samurai? Iksin, I think it was?” The stone face of Kiyoko broke in a warm smile and she bowed her head. “Thank you for your warning back then, I’m not sure we would’ve made it without you. Especially not with these fools.” She added with a side eyed glare to the two Jonin, who did their best, and failed to look innocent. “Regardless, we are in your debt. How can we assist you, Mister Iksin”
Iksin calmly listened to the guard who continued to try and antagonize him it seemed. It was annoying, but it wasn't anything particularly important and scary really. However bothered Iksin was he would remain calm, it was a new thing he was trying. However he would close his eyes and inhale deeply. As he went to exhale, there was a moment where Iksin was simply ready to just...oh good it didn't matter anymore.
Someone familiar to him at least a little so appeared. Scolding the two guards, one for being an antagonist towards Iksin while the other had remained snickering and all in all just not doing their jobs properly. Iksin's exhale would be quickly followed by a nod. "Yes, that was I. I'm sure you guys would have been fine regardless." Iksin said to Kiyoko, glance shifting first towards Kunio then Rikki, but quickly back to Kiyoko. "I am more or less here on business in a way. I've found that having allies is all too valuable to keep doing things the way I have been. As such I wish to join Tanigakure officially as a shinobi. Of course, I'd like to speak with your kage in more detail about this such as what you could likely expect out of me."
All the while, during this entire time, the small gold colored monster took various actions idly. Ranging from picking dirt from it's nails, picking at it's teeth, and generally anything that one could think of that a person bored of a situation would be doing. It was obvious he cared little for the happenings or people around. Perhaps except for Iksin, but the beast merely wished to do as he wanted.
Silence. Stella appeared to be ignoring him as she walked sedately around a corner, when it was a facade to gauge the words spoken by the foreign shinobi who was apparently here on some task. In due time, she decided it wouldn't hurt to let him know, "Any injured. If there are any injured that came to this side of the wall but couldn't make it to the hospital, I wanted to try helping them." For someone who wanted to help others, she certainly sounded apathetic. Not even a change in the monotone she spoke with. "But I don't want your help." The apathy she rejected Coello's trade of help for information lent a chill to her words, which was only strengthened as the silence that followed only reinforced that she had no intentions of giving Coello her name in return.
Kiyoko clasped her hands behind her back and listened to Iksin intently as he spoke. Her lips continued to stay upturned in her polite smile and nodded gently. “I understand. I do believe madam Tanikage is in a meeting at the moment. She has been dealing with an influx of mission requests since the war.” Kiyoko turned to the side, allowing Iksin a view of Tanigakure from the gates, making a sweeping motion with her arm inside the village.
“In the meantime, how about we show you around? We can find a place for you to stay. You and your little friend there.” Her form was rigid and as disciplined as ever, while her expression was softer and kinder, welcoming to the newest citizen. “We’d love to have you join Tani after your help at the war.”
She was in a meeting? He supposed this made sense, kages tended to be busy people from what he learned. It wouldn't make much sense that he could just come in an expect to be seen immediately. He would have to accept this fact. Kiyoko would then offer to show him around with a rather welcoming expression that stood out from the serious form she remained in. However the small beast nearby him scowled at the girl as she spoke. "I ain't his friend missy. Lets get that straight." The small beast spoke in an angry and rather deep voice. Very unfitting of the small and rather adorable, some might claim, form he took.
Iksin would smile fairly deviously for a moment with a bit of a glance towards the beast. "Don't mind him, he's just a cranky boy. We would greatly appreciate you showing us around. And finding a place to stay while here would be delightful. Although I will admit, considering the many things I get called for I doubt I'd be within the village more than I am out of it." After the cranky comment, his smile become a bit more genuine and thankful to match the welcoming expression he was given. The golden beast nearby him scoffed but chose not to say anything else after Iksin's butting in to the beast's speaking.
Kiyoko let out a little laugh at the little creature, hooking her finger in front of her smile as she did. “Yes, of course. Grumpiness can be quite the problem, and is usually the symptom of an empty stomach.” The woman walked with Iksin, showing him through the Valley village. “Perhaps we can get your little one fed? And you, of course. We can eat while we try to find a place for you to call home, Sir Iksin.” Kiyoko gave curious glances to the gold creature on the man's shoulder. She did her best to bite her tongue, but eventually curiosity got the better of her. "Would you mind telling me how you two came to know each other?"
tabThe hot air of a shout filled Coello's cheeks, pushing them to their limit before slipping out in a broken sigh. The inexplicable need inside the bunny slowly burned into messy frustration. How was he supposed to was one supposed to connect with someone who refused to communicate even the smallest bit of information? Was he bothering her with his persistence? These questions posed by his lurking doubt veiled his reason in shadow. If this girl—whoever she was—wanted to hide behind that aloof mask, then he could play her games right back at her. "Ah, I see." Even if he wanted to, Coello wouldn't have been able to prevent his sass from bleeding into his inflection.
"Well, maybe you don't want my help—but that doesn't mean you can control what I do." With a bound sudden enough to kick up a cloud of dust, Coello moved in a frantic rush. A hasty retort was thrown behind him—in between curses won from his lips by the sea of thorns he suffered through. "If there are... people hurt—ow! Then I—WANT to help them too. Freaking thorns! So, what right do you have to decide that somebody might have to suffer worse because you were too... whatever you are, to accept help from a stranger?"
Iksin would look Kiyoko up and down for a moment as she laughed and made a comment about grumpiness. He would nod as they walked, Aldrich mumbling and grumbling behind them. He wasn't fond of being called little one, he wasn't fond of this girl at all. It was like she was making fun of him and he didn't like it one bit. Iksin however got amusement from it. Thinking it funny. She of course would soon ask how they met. Aldrich's grumbling got quiet, and he looked down almost as if he was ashamed. While a pride filled smile would spread across Iksin's.
"Of course, perhaps only a short story for now. Maybe I will explain the exact things later. Well, I found him flying around somewhere in the Land of Mountains about a week or two ago. He's not really an animal so to speak as you might be able to tell. He's more of a monster. He was attacking something I don't remember exactly but we fought. I won, and he agreed to fight alongside me." Iksin explained to the girl. His smile turned from the smile into a new thought. "After we eat and find a place for me to live...do you think you could direct me to a library? I need to check to see if you guys have books involving Monsters...they're not Yokai and they're not Animals. I don't know where they come from at all...I just know they exist."
A series of coughs as the dust entered her lungs, stopping her in her tracks momentarily as she cleared her throat and got the dirt out of her mouth. Peeking out over the hand she had raised to her mouth, Stella watched the Colleo with a dot dot dot, "..."
Well, since Coello was going to take that side, then Stella took a turn to take the other side and cover more ground. She guessed, she supposed, that this was how they parted. A shame. He was a cute boy, and the way he tried so hard was kind of interesting.
Exit to the FUTURE/Present
Ffionn
Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2021 5:39 pm
Tanigakure l Genin l Bloodline l Ninjutsu l Mahofu & Senju Clan Fuuton l Doton l Suiton l 280/350 Chakra l 210/250 Stamina
Maemi slowed down her walking a bit when she heard Shin hollered. She nodded and sighed softly, "You could use all the techniques in the world and it wouldn't work. It's just.. thinking about it doesn't help either. Can you imagine how much dust that office was? How was she so healthy or beautiful even? I would imagine all that would cause some skin issues but she was flawless." Maemi shuddered softly. Just the thought of the dust, paper dust, dirt from outside, etc, just disturbed her. Seeing it was one thing, imagining that it was on her skin was making her feel ugh and icky. She so wanted a bath. "Let's just get to Konoha. I want to be sure to take a shower before we meet your mo-" She stopped as a pair of arms rested on their shoulders, Maemi ducked softly as she walked backward so she could not seem too rude if she said what she was going to say with her back towards her. "I'm.. I... don't like to be touched." Maemi explained in the nicest voice possible. Save for Shin, even her mother and father didn't hug her that much. There was love in the family, yes, but one of the five languages, touch was definitely on the bottom.
[ Enter/Exit ]
Current Attire:
Actions:
Out of Corpses: Apperance: Since the post format covered up her actual eye color, here [x]
Shin would give Maemi a sympathetic smile when she went through her little rant about the dust and not understanding how Usagi didn’t have skin issues or anything because of it. “Yea, honey... generally if you bathe fairly regularly, a bit of dust isn’t gonna cause zits or anything crazy... hell, a large proportion of dust in any room is made of the shed dead skin cells the people that use the room dropped over time...” Shin heard her start to say she wanted to shower, then cut off as Shuu appeared between them with her arms around their shoulders. Sighing quietly, Shin massaged his temple slightly, trying to keep Maemi calm through this trip was going to be harder than he expected. “Yea, I guess so,Shuu...” he’d say, somewhat faking a friendly tone. It wasn’t that he disliked the hyper exciteable jounin, he was just trying to figure out how to help his fiancée get through the trip with as much of her sanity as possible intact. [exit]
Fame and Fortune:
Local Fame: 0 Global Fame: 100 Ryo: 941,515
Stats and Passives:
Strength: +8 Speed: +8 Agility: +8 Endurance: +9 Battlefield Presence: The user's powerful presence on the battlefield strikes terror into their foes. Opponents are able to sense the user's terrifying fighting spirit five feet from the user per body rank of the user through chakra sense. Those within range can have this radiating fearful aura become the trigger for genjutsu, allowing genjutsu to be cast by acknowledging the user. In addition, should an opponent be targeted by a melee technique that is greater in rank than the target's body rank that target has tier two paralysis applied to their legs, requiring it to be broken by Kai equal to the user's body rank, costing the ta Small Circle Principle: simple techniques require 5 less chakra per rank. Kyotoryuu: Able to perform basic combat and taijutsu with sword/ spear hand strikes, inflicting damage as a bladed weapon rather than as blunt impact.
Jutsu / Items Used:
(I only put names and ranks due to difficulty copy/pasting descriptions, ask if you need clarification)
“Ah, so you fought this little one?” Kiyoko stopped walking just enough to truly take a look at Iksin’s pet. Not that the woman was one to judge off of appearances, but her lips upturned into a more amused smile as the image of tiny Aldrich and Ikin locked into glorious combat. Probably in a snowy mountain range, for no real reason. “That must have been quite the challenge for you, Sir Iksin.” Kiyoko did her best to suppress a laugh, but trace amounts of sarcasm could be found in her words.
In a matter of minutes, Kiyoko had finally come to a complete stop inside of a building. A small barbeque stand. It would be more apt to call it a shack, with barstools lined with their backs turned away from the outside. Kiyoko sat down and hummed thoughtfully, interlocking her fingers with her hands and glowering in thought over them. “I can’t really say for sure, Sir Iksin. The Land of Rivers has a.. Garbled sort of history. And Tanigakure itself is rather young when compared to places like Konohagakure.” She let out a sigh of mild disappointment and continued. “I’m afraid I’m not the best person to ask, but maybe Lady Usagi should know.” As plates of meat and steam vegetables were placed before them, also with bowls of rice and dipping sauce.
Iksin himself knew what it probably seemed like to the girl who laughed as she mentioned the dragon being a challenge for him. Of course she'd think it silly, the being before her was small. It was fine, Iksin did not mind the idea of someone thinking him silly. Perhaps Kiyoko would just be in for a surprise when she saw Aldrich's true form. Aldrich himself however was unhappy, being called little one and looked down upon. It angered him, but he couldn't do much about it. As they would finally come to a building, food was going to be a great moment. He was unsure if Aldrich's hunger could be satiated at a small place but it seemed Aldrich had no qualms with the place itself.
While Iksin took a seat, Aldrich would....rudely...leap onto the closest counter to people making food possible. Glaring and growling at the people. "I demand as much meat as you can give me." The beast played no games, but looked much too small to be of a true threat as it has been pointed out. Iksin chose to ignore the rude monster, he'd just pay for whatever misfortune Aldrich brought about anyways. He'd sigh, rubbing his head a bit. "Figures, I'll make sure to ask her about it when I get to meet with her." He said before looking towards the rather good looking food that had been presented to them. Iksin would politely bow his head a bit to the server and then proceed to begin eating.
"That's even more reason not to talk to you then," without fear, Stella spoke bluntly. She wasn't on a mission here herself, after all. If it was only to say this much, she didn't need to be careful of her words, "A foreign shinobi with important business in a village not their own? Definitely suspicious." She continued walking without stopping, looking side to side from time to time. There was no focus in the direction she walked in, but she nonetheless appeared to be searching for something. Occasionally, she'd stop to look up at the walls, as if pondering over an option. Each time, though, she'd shake her head and continue walking within the safety of the village's protection.
