the sun beats down (open)
Apr 17, 2012 2:59:43 GMT -8
Post by Exar Kun on Apr 17, 2012 2:59:43 GMT -8
The Sun Is a Cruel Mistress. That was the title of the last short-story in "Tales From the Hidden Sand- A Folklore Compendium", and it also happened to be Adrianna's favorite story in the book. The plot centered on the history of the sun and the moon, and was essentially a metaphor for how humanities' greed could have unexpected consequences. The story went that the sun and the moon were actually Spirits and twin-sisters, who walked the Earth in ancient times, when man was more in-touch with the heaven's creatures. The two sisters were both infatuated with the same man, who lived where present day Sunagakure was located. The man was infatuated with them both as well, but despite his infatuation he was also fickle, and could never bring himself to definitively choose one over the other, because both possessed traits that he didn't like. The Sun-Spirit had a fiery, aggressive personality, and she would often get rowdy and start loud arguments with the man. The Moon-Spirit was more cool-headed than her twin-sister, but she was also passive-aggressive and overly sensitive, and would often act coldly toward the man when offended. The man quickly grew tired of dealing with the sisters' personalities, and so he would spend his time with one of the sisters for as long as he could stand, and then once she was asleep, he would spend time with the other. This cycle continued for a time, until one day, by chance, the Moon-Spirit awakened early to find the man with her sister. The two Spirits bickered with each other ferociously for three days and nights, until they finally decided to settle the matter by forcing the man to choose one of them once and for all. The man refused, claiming that he loved them both too much to choose, and in anger the two Spirits declared that neither of them would leave until he did. And so for four days both the Sun-Spirit and the Moon-Spirit stood before the man, until on the fourth day, the man exclaimed that while he claimed to love both of them too much to choose, the reality was that he actually didn’t love either Spirit enough to settle with only one. The revelation broke both Spirits hearts, and in a wailing fit of despair, they flew off into the heavens. The Moon-Spirit and the Sun-Spirit’s hearts eventually healed, but their scorn at the man’s betrayal did not, and so to torture the man, the twin-Spirits taunted him by appearing in the sky, the Sun-Spirit in the day and the Moon-Spirit at night, hovering just out of reach to show the man what he could have had. That is why every day the sun rises at dawn and drops at noon to be replaced by the moon, and that is why it is always blazingly hot in the day and bone-chillingly cold at night in the Land of Wind. Adrianna didn’t believe the story was anything more than an old-fashioned morality folktale, but all the same, she at least wished that the story revealed what the man’s name was. Fictional character not, it would have made it much easier for her to curse him for pissing off the spirits, and screwing everyone who has to put up with desert’s horrendous weather.
Adrianna had been busying about the village all day, running various errands for her parents, and the toil was beginning to show as a thin sheen of sweat soaking through her clothes and dampening her hair. She’d dressed properly enough to fight the heat, a sea-green sundress, a white shawl around the shoulders to cover her arms, and a matching green hat; but all the same, she could practically feel the rays of the sun beating down on her. Not long after finishing her last trek through the village, Adrianna had decided that she needed to take a break and find some shade. In typical desert fashion, such a thing was as rare in Sunagakure as finding water, unless you went inside, but fortunately the architects of the village had the foresight to realize that having a “communal” place where shade was easily provided would be beneficial. Thus, the parks located in the center of the village, random oasis’s of earthy green grass, trees and even a man-made stream! If you asked 10 residents where their favorite place in the village was, chances were that 9/10 would say the village parks.
Adrianna pushed her way through crowds of people who had the same idea as her, not relishing the feeling of other people’s sweat on her skin. As she moved, she tried to keep an eye out for available shade; benches lined the gravel paths intertwining the park behind which hung massive palm trees, but they were almost all occupied.
Her frustration mounting as quickly as her stamina was failing, Adrianna practically jumped for joy when she spotted a small bench slightly off the beaten path that only had one person sitting on it. She didn’t recognize the blonde haired boy enjoying the benches wooden support, nor the other two boys standing around him with their backs to her, but she didn’t care. Room was room.
Moving with purpose, Adrianna didn’t even bother to speak until she’d bustled her way past the standing boys and plopped herself down on the bench.
“Excuse me!” She panted between breaths. “You don’t mind if I sit here do you? ‘course you don’t.” The shade felt unbelievably good. The sight of its shadow on her skin, the best thing she’d seen all day. Now that she was no longer in crisis-mode, she decided that she should probably try to not be rude to her new company.
She glanced at each boy in turn, looking for a familiar face. The two kids were definitely strangers, but the carrot-top… she recognized his face, but couldn’t pin the name. He was in her class though, she knew that for sure. But the name...
“Uh- I recognize you.” She said, pointing her index finger at him. “We went to the academy together!” She paused, trying to remember what their relationship was like. The thought made her grin sheepishly. “I think I kind of avoided you though…”
That name!
“It’s… Joh-kuto, right?” That’s your name? Sorry, I kind of suck with names- correct me if I’m wrong!” Her eyes wandered back to the other two kids while she spoke.
“Are these your genin? Like, a team?”
Adrianna had been busying about the village all day, running various errands for her parents, and the toil was beginning to show as a thin sheen of sweat soaking through her clothes and dampening her hair. She’d dressed properly enough to fight the heat, a sea-green sundress, a white shawl around the shoulders to cover her arms, and a matching green hat; but all the same, she could practically feel the rays of the sun beating down on her. Not long after finishing her last trek through the village, Adrianna had decided that she needed to take a break and find some shade. In typical desert fashion, such a thing was as rare in Sunagakure as finding water, unless you went inside, but fortunately the architects of the village had the foresight to realize that having a “communal” place where shade was easily provided would be beneficial. Thus, the parks located in the center of the village, random oasis’s of earthy green grass, trees and even a man-made stream! If you asked 10 residents where their favorite place in the village was, chances were that 9/10 would say the village parks.
Adrianna pushed her way through crowds of people who had the same idea as her, not relishing the feeling of other people’s sweat on her skin. As she moved, she tried to keep an eye out for available shade; benches lined the gravel paths intertwining the park behind which hung massive palm trees, but they were almost all occupied.
Her frustration mounting as quickly as her stamina was failing, Adrianna practically jumped for joy when she spotted a small bench slightly off the beaten path that only had one person sitting on it. She didn’t recognize the blonde haired boy enjoying the benches wooden support, nor the other two boys standing around him with their backs to her, but she didn’t care. Room was room.
Moving with purpose, Adrianna didn’t even bother to speak until she’d bustled her way past the standing boys and plopped herself down on the bench.
“Excuse me!” She panted between breaths. “You don’t mind if I sit here do you? ‘course you don’t.” The shade felt unbelievably good. The sight of its shadow on her skin, the best thing she’d seen all day. Now that she was no longer in crisis-mode, she decided that she should probably try to not be rude to her new company.
She glanced at each boy in turn, looking for a familiar face. The two kids were definitely strangers, but the carrot-top… she recognized his face, but couldn’t pin the name. He was in her class though, she knew that for sure. But the name...
“Uh- I recognize you.” She said, pointing her index finger at him. “We went to the academy together!” She paused, trying to remember what their relationship was like. The thought made her grin sheepishly. “I think I kind of avoided you though…”
That name!
“It’s… Joh-kuto, right?” That’s your name? Sorry, I kind of suck with names- correct me if I’m wrong!” Her eyes wandered back to the other two kids while she spoke.
“Are these your genin? Like, a team?”