;; travel to remember (p)

[❥;; bexx]

Memories—they are supposedly things that people will never forget. And that wasn't just because people's brains are geared to not forget them either. They detail a life; all that's happened to make them who they are. They are the proof that a person has lived, has done what all other humans have done. Their lives don't need to be the most eventful, don't have to be the most glamorous, but at least they know who they are and what they've done to make them unique. So people who are deprived of that feel a sense of loss, of sadness because no matter how much they want to recall, they simply can't. They search for clues, of people that could possibly help them find their lost identity, find their existence again. Some people will never remember everything about their past even till the moment they die and some will probably give up before then. But at least in a living moment they've tried, and tried very hard too.

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;;background

Such was how it began with Ayase Sayaka. She didn't remember anything or anybody. It was all like a mystery to her. She didn't know how she came to be, her parents, her life before that moment when she woke up all alone on a deserted island. The only things that could probably give her an idea was the Yukina Clan scroll that her father had given to her before the war started and the village was destroyed and her Yukigakure no Sato headband. But of course she didn't know what those items were. There was the symbol of the Yukina Clan on the scroll, an image that looked only like an image to her and the headband--

But that was all a year ago. She struggled to live on her own after that while trying so hard to find someone that could help her gain her memory back. She traveled to unknown places, just asking random people. When she was hungry, she'd eat fruits or whatever that she could find. When she was tired she'd sleep next to a boulder of some sort. It was terrible living like a blank slate. She soon got over that though. She accepted it as fate; that she needed to keep living even if it was hard. She found enjoyment in doing things by herself. That included looking into that scroll with the weird symbol. She learned from a retired shinobi (she didn't know he was a retired shinobi until much later) that everyone with one of these headbands belonged to a village and must be a shinobi,

Well that was something, wasn't it? Seemed like she was a kunoichi that belonged to some village in some country. The war had demolished almost all the smaller villages so it wasn't as if she could just walk up to villages and ask about headbands. She also realized that even if she did, if the village wasn't the same as the one on the headband and that she asked them she'd probably be killed before the end of that day. So that wasn't wise. The retired shinobi was now a farmer and agreed to adopt her under his wing. He didn't have a wife, no children so it wasn't that much of a problem for him to make room for one teenager. He even gave her a name, something she was grateful for. She was called Ayase Sayaka from then on.

She had a place to live, food to eat, an old man that cared for her and could teach her the essentials of being a ninja. Apparently they were universal so she didn't have to worry about that. That was the life she lived for almost a year and a half.

Did she ever forget about having to find those memories she lost? No. Will she ever forget? No. While she was under the care of the man she learned a lot. She learned how to harness chakra and all the things that came with that. Because she had been a Genin before the downfall of the snow village, she already kind of knew. It was all a memory refresher—if only she had memory to refresh. While she was training basic kenjutsu and jutsus that she learned from the old man, she was also studying and training hard with the jutsus on the scroll. If she could learn all of them and then show that to the right people, maybe she'd be able to meet someone that recognized her and jolt her memory. Or at least a person might recognize the jutsus and then help her in even a small way. Even the smallest things helped at crucial moments.

Once he was sure that she was able to meet the world on her own, the old man let her go. He knew how much she wanted to learn about her life before she lost her memory and would try until the day she died. He only wanted to prepare her, equip her with the best knowledge he could so that she wouldn't get herself killed within seconds. A wandering ninja was never safe especially if she traveled to the Great Shinobi Nations. She got powerful even if she'd only been training for a year or so. A young prodigy. On the day of the first cherry blossom flower bloom, he gave her a map and told her that it was now her responsibility to find out her past, carry on her present and craft her future.

She was all set, for an adventure she will never forget![/blockquote][/justify]

[❥;; bexx]

Bright and early she started to gather her things. There wasn't much to her belongings. With the help of her guardian's now shinobi student, she got ninja packs of her own. It included two packs of kunai, a roll of ninja strings, a pack of senbon and a pack of shuriken. She owed them so much for taking care of her. Having been through almost dying, she knows that her life was given a second chance; so she better make good use of it. "Are you sure you're ready for this?"She'd been ready for months now. She was stronger, had lots of jutsus that she learned to choose from. Yes, she was definitely ready. With a nod she left the farmlands, out of nowhere and was going to the docks. She was told a small boat would be waiting for her with a man either sitting or standing close to it, wearing a straw hat tied with a red ribbon. He was going to take her wherever she needed to go. Her adventure sounded so interesting and full of mysteries. Where will the boatman take her? She was very excited for the unknown     

;; day one

daybreak

The break of dawn marked the start of her journey. She bid her guardian goodbye from the outside of his house promising him she would come back to visit. She was actually tearful when she left him. He was like her family; he was her family since she remembered nothing about her life other than after meeting him. So it was like a teenager leaving home for the first time. After a warm hug, she began to walk the long winded road that started at the end of a long line of small houses with her guardian's house being the first of the long line. She passed the many houses and looked at each one. The inhabitants of them were her neighbors for the year she'd been here and they became close to her. It was daybreak so nobody was up except for the animals some of the neighbors owned. She'd definitely miss the time she spent with either a chicken or a cow or a horse talking to them like friends. They were the only friends she had because the place had a very small population of maybe twenty people where most were old farmers or housewives or little children. You just wait and see, I'll be back, I promise. She made a silent promise outside each house while she passed. Turning to her left-hand side at the last house, she was met with a long narrow-winded road that led to a small town square where there was a local market and then to the docks.

The long road was also a road for sightseeing. On each side of this road, there were rows upon rows of wheat, corn, tomatoes and many other vegetable pastures. She loved farming because she loved watching the seeds implanted turn into luscious harvest and then getting a chance to eat her own farmed goods. She knew she'd miss that too. A wanderer couldn't farm. She'd be happy just to stay alive enough to make it back. Walking down the rows of corn and tomatoes, she took a few harvested ones and was on the go to the docks. It was still way too early for anyone to be at the marketplace, the small town so quiet and erie. Only the birds were awake. She quickly walked through the town street and on the other side of it was the road leading down to the docks. The faster the better. 

The dock had many boats parked alongside it. The only people who wake up so early would have to be these boatman. They were gruff people, muscles over intelligence. Some of them were snobbish and know-it-alls. But there were a few nice ones. Just gotta know where to look. They were basically good people. 

Straw hat with red ribbon? All the boatman were wearing straw hats but only one had a red ribbon wrapped around his. It was a bit comical that all these manly men wore straw hats with different color ribbons. Guess that's the way that you differentiate one from the other. She started to walk down the line of boats, spotting the man with the red ribbon sitting in his boat waiting for her. He was sitting on the second last boat where every boat looked the same. If not for the ribbons, she'd have a hard time differentiating boatman from boatman. When she drew near to the boat, a voice would make her jump out of her skin. It came from the man himself.

"Lass you're early! Not many your age can get up at this time." Her first ever compliment! And for waking up early too! This day already felt pretty good. She nodded her head. "The name's Ren 'ere. I'll be takin' ya places for the next lil' while." How did he know she was her client? But she nodded again out of respect. "I'm Snowie, and thanks Ren" She wasn't much of a talker. The waters were calm today; a perfect day to set sail. He motioned her to come closer giving her a hand climbing onto the boat. It was the first time she had ever been on a boat. The rocky feeling underneath her feet were scary and new at the same time, making excitement run through her vibes. She looked around while taking a seat gingerly on the boat. Ren smiled at her, revealing a set of very white teeth. "Where are we going?" she asked, not sure where she should go. She'd never been outside this little place so she was a lost sheep. He didn't answer her but was already lifting the one paddle he used, ready for take off!

[❥;; bexx]

late morning | early afternoon

And they were off! The slow paddling of the boatman to start off was expected as he turned the boat away from the dock. She was officially going on her journey! She couldn't believe it. It seemed like only yesterday that she woke up near the shores and half dragged her limp and weak body to the small town. She remembered how scared she felt being in a place she'd never been to before and practically recalling none of her life before that. Her brain was like a white sheet of paper; untainted and innocent. But she wasn't thrilled at the possibility of losing all of her memory. Where she came from, what her name was was all new to her. Thanks to the wonderful old man though, she was given a new name, a new identity and a new life. She will always keep searching for answers to who she had been before this though. People just couldn't live fully as people without memories of their past. She wanted to know the secrets behind the scroll she now carried, with that weird symbol. But who on earth could she ask? And even if she asked, could she be sure that their answers were true? Her mission was to find her lost identity.

"T'is a weird name you got there, lass." she heard him say once they were out on the waters. The dock disappeared from view. All that was surrounding her was the huge body of water. She was a little afraid; just a little. "Snowie's not my real name. People here call me Sayaka but I don't know what my real name is. Since I like snow, I gave myself the nickname Snowie" 

She didn't know her real name? He found that really weird especially since everyone had a name their parents gave them. But this girl looked really depressed; eyes shifting down, head bent low. He was going to enjoy the trip with this little lass. The thing about customers is that the more time spent with them the more close they get. Snowie interested him. He'd never had a customer quite like her. Keeping rhythm on his rowing he was still thinking of conversation to break the silence when she was the one that broke it first. "Ren, you're a boatman so you must've been to many places right?" Now the conversation was getting interesting. She was calling on his expertise as a boatman. Many of his customers always asked him about the places he's been to. Thinking that she was going to ask about that too, he said proudly that he did. He wasn't only boasting or bluffing either. He'd been a boatman for more than ten years. Still young in age but old in experience. Her eyes lit up at his agreement. "Can you help me with something?" Oh so she needed his help? Now he was really interested! "I'll try, lass!" 

From her cape, she brought out the mysterious headband and handed it to Ren. She wondered if at least a little of her work could be cut out for her. If the man knew anything about the headband, he'd probably know where it came from. He took the headband and studied it. She waited impatiently for the Ren's answer. But his look already gave it away. He handed it back to her, scratching the back of his head with one hand. "So ya ninja? This is a ninja headband, eh? But the image on it, never seen it before, sorry." Her heart sank with his words. She put back the headband in her cape and looked out at the sun gleaming down on the waters. She knew it wouldn't be that easy. But that was the thrill wasn't it? If she got what she wanted to know too soon there'd be no point in this journey. She nodded her head, still staring at the glistening water.

"Anywhere in particular you wanna go, lass?" When she shook her head he thought he saw depression under that expression of hers. She didn't know anywhere from anywhere so course she didn't know where she'd want to go. He didn't have a clue where to take her but if he said that he'd probably look stupid among other things. He'd been on the waters for ten straight years, taking people sightseeing, exploring or just to destinations. But this was literally the middle of nowhere and even a map wouldn't help if she didn't have any place she wanted to go in particular. "Well lass, you're trying to find the answer to which village for that headband right? Then how 'bout I start by taking you to the five great shinobi nations? Maybe the people there can help." That was a great idea! It certainly beat letting the boat just float in the direction of the tides and land somewhere. She did want to find out the secret behind that headband, that much was true. The five great shinobi nations--she'd heard from her guardian about those places. The countries had villages called Hidden Villages. It sounded all too mysterious. "Sounds like a good plan. Beats being here in the middle of nowhere." She sat back and relaxed, already getting used to the rocking of the boat. It felt good, the wind against her face and the smell of sea water filling her nostrils.

[❥;; bexx]

mid-afternoon

He pulled out a map to look at while they floated a bit in mid-sea. It was nice being out here; the sun was warming her skin, the gentle breeze giving her a feeling of a vacation. She loved the sea, loved being surrounded by water. The smell of the water hitting her nostrils seemed to trigger something; a vivid memory from her past maybe. She put a hand to her head. It was starting to hurt as flashes of white began to come up in her head. Her vision was starting to blur too. She couldn't make out anything in her mind except that there was a lot of white. Nothing solid came from that. Noticing that she was having some trouble, Ren was concerned. She was seasick maybe? ”Hey lass, y'ok?” No was the intuitive answer but she nodded, her hand slowly brought down from her head. It came and went so sudden and it was frustrating that she couldn't make out anything useful at all. But she just sat there and closed her eyes, taking deep and slow breaths. She's always had that sort of experience for an entire year now where little things created sudden triggers but nothing more than just white or sometimes silhouettes of people. Because of these visions her guardian wanted her to go find her missing memories since that fact alone was bothering her too much to ignore. Which brought her here.

”Where do you plan on taking me?? A simple question. She watched him study his rather old and dirty-looking map, turning it sideways, front and back. Was he really a qualified boatman, she wondered. But since her guardian placed his trust in him, he should be adequate for the job. She wasn't much of a map reader but her senses were sharp. She knew her sense of direction very well but never really relied on a map. She didn't need one in that little town. Now that she was out in the big and real world, she wondered if she needed a map. Maybe after she's been to more places. But only after that point.

”I'll take you to Hi no Kuni!” He beamed and shoved the map into her hands. He had been to Hi no Kuni many times both on business and for personal reasons. Hi no Kuni was supposed to be the biggest country out of the five great shinobi nations. It was huge, that was for sure. After looking at his map for quite some time he decided that the best place for this young lass to start her exploration adventure was Fire Country. It's where ninety percent of his sightseeing customers end up going to for their first stop. There must be something very attractive about the forest land as he called it. But since he wasn't the one doing sightseeing he couldn't really say much to his customers. ”It's the piece of land marked with a fire symbol” he told her while picking up his single paddle and starting to row again. He liked the exercise that came with the job which was one of the reasons why he kept at it for ten years. The other reason was it let him go sightseeing places he probably never would have gone if not because a customer requested. He was always parked at any of the country docks waiting for people that want to travel.

She looked at the tattered map and found the fire symbol on it almost at once. It was a huge piece of land even on the map. Huge land means more people so she might have more of a chance of finding at least something that could probably help her in her endeavor. That's what she's hoping for anyway. She heard the sound of the paddle dipping into the water in rhythm, wondering if the boatman ever got bored or tired outright of just paddling. She knew she would if all she had to do every day was paddle paddle paddle. But maybe he liked it, so she didn't say anything. ”How long until we get there? There was no mark on the map that gave any sort of indication to where there current location was. She even wondered if the boatman himself knew. She needed to have more confidence in the guy since he was the professional around here. She tried to sit back and relax, hearing the sound of the water pushing softly against the boat from uncerneath. It was a pretty cool thing to do, being on a boat. ”It'll take a night minimum, lass.” A night? Where in the world was she going to sleep the entire night? She certainly wasn't planning on staying awake all night. She disliked the night sky especially on water. It creeped her out a little if she was stranded in the middle of nowhere. Even if the boatman was going to be with her this whole time, she still wasn't planning on staying up. Noticing her concern, he burst into laughter. ”Ya lasses—tsk tsk. When ya sleepy, ya sleep right on that bench ya sittin' on now. When ya hungry I got some crackers n snacks. Help yaself.” That was plenty comforting. But at least she'll get to fire country soon so she wasn't in too bad of a situation. Just needed to get past the night.

She smiled up at him while he rowed and for a long time neither of them said anything. There wasn't really much to say. She wasn't that good with conversation. She just looked out at the sea and wondered when she could find out who she actually was before she ended up in that little town. Will anyone ever know? Or will she ever know? She closed her eyes again, taking another slow deep breath while letting the sunlight warm her body. It was getting a little cold. The sun was about to set and when the sun set the temperature out at sea would no doubt drop at least a couple of degrees. She hadn't brought any sweaters, something she had forgotten. Maybe if she fell asleep shortly after sunset it wouldn't feel so cold. When she did sleep she slept like a log so the fact that a few degrees of temperature drop would hardly affect her.

[❥;; bexx]

nighttime

The air was chilling and the wind stronger when the sun was replaced by the moon. The brightness of the morning all but disappeared. The night sky seemed to replace the day at a much faster speed compared to a reversed situation. She struggled to keep warm in her black suit; putting her hands to her lips and trying to heat them with her breath. Her body was starting to tense up and she was shivering. Her skin was turning a light blue color that couldn't been seen since it was so dark out. But the boatman saw through it. He'd been traversing on water during the night with hundreds of passengers; men, women, children. He was able to spot even the most minor of details. He grabbed his trench coat that he had on the boat, one of those fur-like coats that he had saved just for his passengers in case they were cold. "Lass, put this 'round ya, help keep ya warm." She bowed her head in thank you and wrapped the fur coat around her fragile body. She felt warm in no time and was grateful to him. She'd met a lot of people even in that little town of hers, many who were really mean making her extremely hostile. But this man was different. He was a good man.

She curled her body into a ball to keep the warmth tightly around her. Her eyes were surveying the waters in the dark. There was light coming from the stars that now lit the sky. She loved the stars and the moon; making nighttime perfect for her usual not sleeping self. She remembered how in the little town she would go out in the middle of the night, when the old man was asleep and just walk around, looking at the stars. She knew even if her memory was gone that everybody in this world would still have one common benefit; the sharing of the same sky. It didn't matter where you lived, what you were doing for a living, who you were, the only thing that wouldn't change ever would be this very sky. She counted the small stars littering the sky and the ones close to the moon trying to form constellations in her head. They were bright and beautiful and somehow looked very peaceful. She smiled while doing so. For a long time in this one year, she was actually happy. When she looked up at the starry sky from her little town, she'd often wondered whether she had seen something like this in the life she had forgotten. It always made her sad and irritated thinking of something that she couldn't remember. The harder the thought the harder it was the recollection. But now--now that she wasn't in the tow and was out in the open, she viewed the sky a little differently. She didn't think about her past when she looked up at it; focused more on the present. She was sure that if it was really destined that she remember her last seventeen years of life, she'll remember one day.

"The sky is beautiful isn't it?

"It is--It really is."

Sleep was starting to call on her, nag at her. The gentle rocking of the boat made her feel safe and soon she lay down on the bench she was sitting on and closed her eyes. The water, the breeze and the starry sky were there with her as she took one tiny breath and then fell fast asleep. She would wake up near late morning the next day; being exhausted from the excitement she had had on the first day of her journey.

;; day two

late morning

The sun's rays shining down on her face woke her from her deep slumber. She opened her eyes, squinting while she tried to focus. It took her a couple to realize that she was out at sea. The boatman was already busy paddling again when she finally recognized him and where she was. She looked at her surroundings a little and smiled. They weren't facing just water now. She could actually see mountains on small islands. The pace was slowly picking up for the boat too. Soon, soon she will be at Hi no Kuni. "Mornin' lass, sleep well?" She nodded her head. "We're about to get to Hi no Kuni soon. See that giant piece of land right there past the two small islands? T'is where we're headin'!" She took a couple steps to the front of the boat while trying to maintain balance. Then she saw that there were two islands seeming to be far away but was actually really close. Beyond the two islands was a great big chunk of land that was really tiny from the distance of the boat and the land. Now that she could actually see her destination in plain sight her excitement grew even more. "Aren't you tired? You must be." She spoke to the boatman knowing that he must have rowed a long long time after she fell asleep to get so close so early in the morning. She felt really bad for him like she was torturing him. She considered him as her friend. Her first friend.

"Nah, I'm cut out for this sorta thing. T'is how I get my muscles." He started to laugh and gave her a wink. He was probably just downplaying his tiredness so that she wouldn't have to worry about him. She knew they couldn't be far now. An hour or two would get her to the first stop of her long long adventure. And those two or so hours weren't long at all. Soon the boat reached the dock where many boatman were waiting for their customers of the day. Once they were at the dock and she was ready to get off the boat, he would stop her. "Be careful out there, lass. When ya need me, come to the dock here n find me." Smiling and nodding her head, she jumped off the boat and found herself in the country known as Hi no Kuni.




{EXIT TO HI NO KUNI}

[Icarus]

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