Exploration [Private]

[Kii!]

”Eh?” I turned my head, a blank and quite confused look washed over my face. Frankly, I hadn’t expected him to be up already, and he’d probably heard my comment about him. Not that I really cared whether he did or not, I was simply surprised he was up and talking so fast. I didn’t move from my sitting position, though, only tucked one leg in, raised at the knee and set my arm atop it to rest.

Candy? I thought after turning my head back, to stare forward into the misty forest. Oh, right, he already finished his sucker. With a shake of my head, I shrugged. ”Sorry, I don’t have any. I wonder if I should carry some for when I treat people . . .” I trailed off, putting a hand to my chin and thinking of how things would go if I did indeed carry candy around for anyone I might run into. It wasn’t too bad of an idea, though it was a bit unorthodox. If I had, this guy certainly would have been satisfied!

”Name’s Kii, by the way,” I said, lurching my neck around to grin at him. ”M’from Konohagakure, though you probably noticed.” There wasn’t much else to say about myself, really. He knew I was a medic, obviously, and there was little else I could think of that seemed necessary or even relatively interesting. Whether or not he chose to answer, I would wait for a bit before asking a question.

”So, why are you all the way out here, if you don’t mind me asking? I don’t see a village headband, or anything.”

[.DEVIOUS]

What?! No candy?! What kind of doctor was this man anyways? With a very rude sigh, I'd move my left arm, the one that hadn't just been broken, and reached into a pack, pulling out a box full of suckers. Picking a cherry one this time, I smiled wide and threw the thing in my mouth, the wrapper be damned. Through quick and dexterous work that spoke of the number of times I had accomplished the feat, I unwrapped the candy with my tongue and spat the wrapper to the ground.

Pushing the candy to the side of my left cheek, I'd then extend the box to him. "Fhor whuen you fixsh shomeone elshe." My mouth was just a little bit full and the sucker position hadn't been right for conversation, but I was too busy savoring the flavor to care. If the man came forward to take the candy from me, I'd chuckle and continue to smile. If not, I'd continue to look at him with my eyes wide and innocent until he finally got the picture that he was gonna take the candy; he didn't have a choice in the matter.

When the man asked me what I was doing out here, I shrugged casually, reaching into my bag to pull out my own Konoha headband. "I'm one of the forsaken," I said,

[/b]"doomed to fight where I'm told, when I'm told, how I'm told, for the sake of some place that hasn't really been all that much of a home to me, ya understand?"[/b] In order to speak, I'd relocated the sucker from my mouth to my left hand, holding the white stick and pointed dramatically in the air with it at the words where, when, and how in order to emphasize my point.

"I was thinking of taking a vacation just now, though. Maybe see some mountains. I've never seen a mountain before, have you?" After I finished questioning him, I smiled and put the sucker back in my mouth. God, cherry was soooooooo good.
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[Kii!]

Though I probably shouldn’t have been, I was nonetheless surprised when he took out a box of suckers and retrieved one for himself. Perhaps this was more than just a liking for sweets, but it didn’t really matter. He was holding the box out toward me, and spoke despite the sucker filling his mouth. For when I fix someone else? I thought, tilting my head as I looked down at the box.

Ah-alright, I suppose,” I said, grabbing two suckers and sticking them into the pouch at my side which held a few medical pills I carried on my person. They were in case of emergency only, and fairly expensive. I suppose I wasn’t surprised when he pulled out his konoha headband and showed it to me--his hiding the thing didn’t seem too far-fetched, all things considered. I figured, then, that he was out on some sort of mission, though he first explained his . . . position in our village. Or at least, from his perspective--and I could sort of understand, though for reasons I was sure were entirely different than his own. Regardless, it appeared I was wrong in assuming he was on some sort of mission for the village. Instead, he seemed to simply be taking some time off outside of the village walls. Was that so bad? No, probably not.

”I have!” I said, eyes brightening a thousand shades over. ”Just recently, I was in the Land of Iron! It was snowy, and rocky, and there was a huuuuuge mountain! And a bridge, and lots and lots of samurai!” I was suddenly excited, and I found myself on my feet, though I wasn’t sure when I’d risen from my sitting position at the foot of the tree. In the back of my mind, I knew it was probably best to return to Konoha.

”Yeah, let’s go see a mountain!”

[.DEVIOUS]

As my taste buds continued their frenzied assault on the sugary goodness of artificial cherry flavoring, I found myself listening to the sound of the man's voice as the describes the snowy lands of Tetsu no Kuni. It sounded incredible, but more than that, I found myself drawn into my mind imagining the landscape that he spoke of with such fervor and relish. I knew that one day it would be my turn to see the land of Tetsu no Kuni, but today was not going to be that day. Instead, today we were going to head someplace else.

Getting to my feet was an uneasy experience, as I wasn't sure how physically injured I still was. However, Doctor Kii was a talented medic and he had left me with no true ramifications beyond the scarring in my psyche. I didn't care that I'd lost the fight, though. The fight had been fun and inside of the combat I had gained a friend, something far, far more valuable. Stretching out my muscles, I would finally look towards Kii as he proclaimed that he'd like to go see more mountains, I found myself chuckling and pushing the sucker stick to the side of my mouth to speak again.

"I'm Masuerta. You'll go to the mountains with me? Excellent!" Turning on my heels, I'd look in the direction of the Rice Fields country, a minor stepping stone in the way to Kaminari no Kuni. "Since you've already been to Tetsu no Kuni, let's go someplace with really tall mountains, like the Lightning Country!" Stretching my right arm out, I'd point and laugh, that same ferocious smile filling my face once more, but with excitement jumping like lightning within my eyes.

"Adventure time! Weeeeeee!" And with that, I'd begin a fast-paced run through the woods, knowing that Kii would likely follow. The travel time would be fairly long, so we were better off getting started right away.

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[Kii!]

So Kaminari no Kuni was his destination! With a grin, I nodded to him. Tetsu no Kuni certainly had mountainous terrain, but Kaminari no Kuni housed Kumogakure--the village hidden in the clouds. Their mountains were perilously high, which excited me beyond belief. Up that high, there would be pure, white snow and clouds! Nothing but nature. I imagined a special sort of serenity among a deadly terrain, and was set on the place in an instant.

It seemed like Masuerta was excited, too, if his eyes were any indication. He gave a laugh as he pointed, and then he was off, and so, too, was I. I kept up with him perfectly, a fast-paced dash, weaving in and out of the trees that littered the place like weeds. We were heading north; a place whose terrain was converse to that of Hi no Kuni’s hot, low-laying forests. Regardless of the chill that awaited me, I went with excitement and anticipation in my heart.

First was the Rice Fields country, just passed Konoha. I knew along the way I’d lose focus, instead finding too much interest in everything we passed to realize just how far we’d come. It was something I did whenever I traveled, and it served to make the trips feel a bit shorter. Still, I would always be on guard.

I also found myself wondering more about Masuerta. I hadn’t seen him back at the village before, though he certainly seemed to have the headband. The thought of him being a nuke-nin of some sort, having attained the headband through other means, crossed my mind in the briefest of moments, though I quickly dismissed the thought. There was no way I’d be suspicious of someone without reason, and it was perfectly possible we’d simply never met before. What I was more curious about was his past--or rather, what made him who he was. There was little denying that he was a strange one, and soon I found myself wondering more about his future than his past. What were his goals? Dreams? Aspirations? His intentions? Why was he taking a “vacation?”

He didn’t seem to be terribly fond of Konohagakure, judging by what he’d said earlier. He was forsaken, or so he said. I wondered what that meant, too. I wondered too much, and eventually shook my head, deciding that simply wondering wouldn’t get me any answers. Nosy wasn’t something I thought of myself as, though, so I elected to simply wait, and ask him at a more appropriate time, if I felt the need.

[.DEVIOUS]

Step by step, our frenzied escape towards the mountainous regions of Kaminari no Kuni took us further and further away from Konoha. The longer that I was gone, the more I found myself smiling, moving happily with anticipation towards a land that had no claim, no control, no power over me. It was intoxicating. It was exhilarating, and it was perfect. I didn't need to look around me to know that Kii was moving in step with me, for I could hear the sounds of his sneakered feet hitting the trees around us as he moved.

As we continued our movement through the lands, I too began to wonder more about my frozen-appearing companion. He was obviously a strong fighter, knowledgeable about his craft, and talented in multiple areas ranging from fist warring to the physical restoration of the body. Although I had heard about such talents, I found myself highly intrigued to finally meet one of those who was termed a Medic Nin, supposedly one who put the goal of saving lives in front of ending them.

I'd often wondered if I would have a talent for restoration, but every time that I had ever considered attempting to learn, I found it too boring. All I could think about was the fight, the thrill and the adrenaline pulsing through my body, making me feel good, making me forget all of the bad things. As I thought, I continued to suck on my lollipop, although its size was soon to wear out. When finally it did, I reached into my pack while we continued to move, pulling out yet another sucker, this time a green watermelon flavor and placing it inside of my mouth.

Over time, my surrounds would slowly begin to change, and I knew that we would be nearing the exit of Hi no Kuni and making our way truly into the Rice Fields country. A fresh wave of energy soared through me, and I fond myself momentarily doubling my speed.

"Yatta! Haha!" I'd exclaim, and off I'd go.

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[Kii!]

Unfortunately, after our first bit of time within the Rice Fields Country, I realized that it was rather devoid of entertainment for me. At first, I was amazed at the size of the fields, happily waving to any workers I passed by and continually looking over them. I exclaimed ”Ooh!,” ”Ah!,” and ”Woah!” countless times. By the time we were mostly through the country, though, I realized it all looked virtually the same--even the people that populated the country were little different from each other. There was mostly only one path through the country, as it was all cleared in order to make room for the rice fields. So the dirt path served as our guide, and I had to put little effort into deciding where we would go.

This caused my thoughts to lapse once more, back to Masuerta. Having found him in the middle of the forest was coincidental in itself, and to a normal person highly suspicious. Even I realized that, though I chose to ignore it. It wasn’t fair to him to be suspicious for little reason, after all. Simply because he was . . . unique, and vacationing on a whim to other lands was unorthodox for shinobi, there was no doubt that I was suddenly doing it, too. So then, what did he do? He had a blade at his side, and certainly kept his nails sharpened with combative intentions. Was there something else he could do I hadn’t witnessed? Hell, he’d hardly had time to draw his weapon before I’d knocked him unconscious.

I’d sensed his chakra. It was more powerful than someone who was simply a mediocre taijutsu fighter with a sword. So he had to be hiding something else--or perhaps his abilities were non-combative? Inwardly, I laughed at the thought. It was obvious this man had a lust for battle, so that was hardly a possibility. Then that meant that he was hiding some sort of ability, or that he simply hadn’t been given a chance to use it due to improper timing and my aggressiveness. Yeah, that seemed to be a possibility, and it was the one I hung on to. Luckily, I’d held back the proper amount. Otherwise, things would have turned out quite different.

Suddenly, he seemed to get excited and increased our pace. Mine, too, increased, in order to keep up with the man. He seemed to be somewhat older than me, judging by appearance alone--though he certainly didn’t act very old. Of course, I wasn’t the most mature person I’d ever met either, so I couldn’t help but smile and dismiss the thought. If I squinted, I could see a low mountain far, far in the distance.

”I’m so excited!”

[.DEVIOUS]

Finally, our passage through the Rice Fields was coming to an end. It had been a rather long journey, leaving both Kii and myself mostly to our own separate thoughts. As I had leapt forward with my surge of energy, he had followed once more, showing that he was more than capable of keeping up with me. Such a thought made me quite ecstatic, and I kept myself moving forward with that pace until, at long last, the two of us would stand before a sign that would proclaim an entrance to Kaminari no Kuni.

Skidding myself to a halt, I'd glance towards the sign and begin attempting to catch my breath. I had winded myself from my excited push towards victory, and taking a breather would certainly do me some good. As I breathed for a minute, I took the time to take a look at my surroundings. Without a doubt, the transformation through the different lands was almost instant - flat rice patties behind us, and rocky terrain ahead. Although there was no mountain yet in sight, I knew that they were out there, just waiting to be explored.

"I'm excited too, Kii. SO EXCITED!" To emphasize my entertainment, I spun around in a circle, clapping my hands together with my eyes closed, feeling the wind rush around me and enjoying the taste of watermelon. As I came to a halt, I took a moment to re-orientate myself and dispel my dizziness before looking back over towards my new friend. "You ready to go, buddy?"

Without waiting for an answer, I'd begin to walk forwards into the Land of Lightning.

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[Kii!]

It was certainly interesting how quickly the terrain seemed to transform. Instead of a slow, steady, almost unnoticed transition as was the norm, we simply left behind the rice fields in favor of a more rocky terrain. I knew this was because the rice fields weren’t simply naturally there, though it was quite an interesting sight nonetheless. Either way, I was happy to leave them behind for a less monotonous landscape--one that housed our destination! It was Kaminari no Kuni itself; I imagined myself in the clouds, and realized that soon I truly would be.

I breathed deeply a few times as we came to a stop. We’d come a long way rather rapidly, even for two shinobi, mostly due to our burst of speed before. It was birthed from excitement, I knew, and that excitement hadn’t left me yet. Apparently, it hadn’t left Masuerta, either, and I grinned widely at the thought.

As he asked if I was ready to go, I rushed ahead of him and turned around. Grinning straight at him, I interlocked my hands behind my head and moved along backwards. ”I can’t wait! The clouds, the snow, the . . . the rocks! We’ll be in the sky!” I stumbled backwards out of excitement, probably over a rock I hadn’t seen, and turned as I caught my balance low to the ground.

Soon, even the sky would fall beneath us!

[[ Move to Kaminari no Kuni pl0x. ]]

[Axcel]

Kii: +108 exp x2 (sotm bonus) = 212 exp

Devious: +108 exp

Moved

[.DEVIOUS]

Kaminari no Kuni was so great! So incredible! The temperature was perfect, so much cooler than the blasted, sweaty forests full of ridiculous sunlight. Here, there were clouds - thick, gray clouds that hovered over the horizon, blocking the worst of the suns rays. On top of that, as I moved through the country looking at all the rock formations and trails, I quickly discovered that I was gradually ascending in height, coming closer and closer to the peaks where it was fully possible that I'd discover Heaven or Olympus or the kingdom of mighty Thor.

I was also astounded by the very lush flora. I would have expected such rocky terrain to be devoid of plantlife, but it was here, in force and incredibly vivid. The colors astounded my eyes and I could barely contain myself from screaming in ecstasy. So lost was I inside of the moment that I managed to forget both that my candy had long since been eaten and that I needed to get a new one, as well as the fact that I was traveling with someone else. I only remembered when I was startled out of my reverie by the sound of Kii's movements.

Turning to him, I'd point and whisper, my voice filled to the brim with anticipation, "Isn't this incredible, Kii? A land so beautiful, so untamed... Ahhh..." I sighed and closed my eyes, allowing my face to feel a gentle breeze that had just rolled in. If there was such a thing as paradise, it may have been found here, in the most unlikely of places, amongst the random, rocky slopes of a foreign country that I had never visited before. I smiled.

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[Kii!]

There was a little path that stretched from the rice fields out into the rocks, eventually disappearing from sight. The landscape was jagged and random, untamed--it reminded me somewhat of my companion for the time. Partially because it resembled his hair, but mostly because it resembled who he was. Wild, a bit unpredictable--perhaps not too far off from myself in some ways, though for many different reasons. At first, there was little more to see than rocks, though I didn’t truly care. Honestly, it was enough for me as it was; I was dashing about, examining even the tiniest of rocks with excited bursts of laughter or gasps of awe.

Eventually we began the path began to slope upward, much like it had in the Land of Iron. There was a notable drop in temperature, too, though I couldn’t have said when it had occurred. As we moved along, I realized that more and more green seemed to pop up around us. More than I would have thought we’d encounter. This amazed me even more than the magnificent natural spectacles we’d encountered thus far. I’d disappear from the path for minutes at a time, only to return to Masuerta with a look of awe on my face, usually covered in dirt and leaves.

”Wah-hoa!” I said, picking up a tiny pebble and holding it up to the sun as I examined it as if it were some sort of treasure. ”Look at this!” Then, I’d move on and grab another pebble, which was hardly different from the last one I’d chosen, though I didn’t seem to realize. I only stared in wonder at it as I did before, smiling wide like an idiot and chuckling to myself.

”It’s amazing!” I exclaimed in response to my comrade, rushing ahead of him with my arms stretched out all the way to the side like a bird or a plane. ”Look! Look!” I pointed at a huge boulder which blocked our path, which was easily six or seven times my own size. I didn’t actually realize it was blocking our path until after I was done staring in amazement at it, and I tried to move forward. Frowning, I bent down and filled my limbs with chakra, lifting the massive boulder with little effort.

”Let’s go!”

[.DEVIOUS]

Exploration was incredible. Kii seemed to be just as excited as I was about seeing this marvelous new land. It could have almost been Canaan and we the starving Israelites who had walked through the desert for days. With a smile on both of our faces we continued to explore the entirety of the realm set before us, and higher and higher we both would continue to climb, never once really noticing that the elevation was increasing or the temperature dropping slightly.

It was only when I had turned around to glance towards Kii that I would see just how far up we had come. My mouth would open, forming a wide O, while my eyes moved back and forth in their sockets, observing the horizon. I could see so much up here! This marvelous place was like a lookout point, and suddenly I felt aware that this is probably what had protected the members of Kumogakure for so incredibly long - they could see any attackers coming from miles away and could prepare traps and assaults for them that those not familiar with the mountainous terrain would easily fall for.

After my gazing, I turned to Kii and asked, "How much higher do you think this goes?" While speaking, I had taken my right hand and made a fist, extending the thumb outwards and pointing with the thumb over my shoulder, indicating that I was speaking about the mountain and the height behind me.

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[Kii!]

I’d tossed the boulder to the side carelessly, too infatuated with what lie before me to realize it was rolling down a steep cliff uncontrollably. Steadily, the temperature decreased, though I didn’t really notice (or care, really, except that it meant we were getting higher). There was a gleam in my eyes, I knew, an intensity and a light of sorts, which was entirely true to my emotions. Of course, if Masuerta didn’t understand my enthusiasm from the massive smile on my face, then I didn’t know what would convince him. Either way, we were climbing steadily, even if we didn’t realize the extent of how far we’d come.

I was investigating our surroundings busily, overturning stones and sliding my hand against the trunk of an evergreen, when I realized my partner had stopped moving. Instead of moving ahead steadily as we had been, he was simply standing there, staring back at where we’d come. At first I was confused, and moved to place my hand on his shoulder, when I, too, looked out to the horizon.

”W-woah!” I said, running passed him a few meters and placing my hand over my brow as if it would enhance my vision. Only then did I take the time to actually take in where we were--the temperature, the white, misty fog, the thin air. From my vantage point, I could see a low-lying cloud, moving slowly but surely beneath us.

”We’re above the clouds!” I said, turning dramatically and pointing up in order to emphasize the point. ”But I don’t know how much farther it goes. I wanna find out!” I said, running passed him and tapping his shoulder as I did, gesturing for him to follow. We were probably inside of a cloud, which formed the mist around us, and masked much of what rested ahead of us in a thick, white coat. Pretty soon, I figured, we’d run into snow; not only was this place high up in the mountains, we were also rather far north. It was only natural we’d see some soon.

”I want to see the snow!”

[.DEVIOUS]

And higher we would go! With Kii just as excited as I was, it was difficult to resist the call of the energy burning through my blood. I had to see the top of this thing, whether it was the last thing that I did or not. My partner's movement was quick and precise, scaling with the full intent of going as high as he could. Not wanting to get beaten, I sped up my own pace, no longer casually going up a slope but using my full body to propel myself up, up, up, up!

I couldn't say for how long we climbed, but up here where the air was thin and cold and crisp, I forgot about a lot of things, like my hatred towards being a shinobi, a callous tool, and eating and sleeping and everything else in the world. Finally, though, I would notice the soft white powder that was called snow beginning to appear about me, changing the landscape into this eternally frozen and preserved beautiful haven. Oh, how I yearned to simply stay here forever, but Kii was still climbing so I too would climb.

At long last, I would reach the summit, coming for a halt and breathing deeply, for the thin air made it difficult to get a good breath. It was... incredible. Perfect. Amazing. I closed my eyes, letting myself really feel where I was, and I smiled the first pure smile I'd felt in a long time. Unconsciously, I reached into my pack and unwrapped a strawberry flavored sucker, placing it in my mouth. Now everything was just right.

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