A Hop, Skip, and a Jump

[Golnax]

The further north that Aimi Kaguya traveled, the more he had mixed feelings about it. Having lived his life mostly shrouded in the mist of Kirigakure, it was no stretch to say that he was used to chillier weather because of the ever present shroud - and his lack of clothing of course. Yet it was still technically on an island in the ocean that had mostly tropical weather, so things never got too terrible there (unless and Aisu decided to get uppity!). He had just been through Fire and had dealt with the temperate forests and warm sun on his skin well enough. When it rained it poured by it was never particularly cold or cloudy, not like how it was back in Kirigakure. Yet as he crossed over the border between Fire and Lightning the travelling bannin was hit with a strange mixture of both climates at once.

Like Fire, it was sunny there with plenty of trees and, more impressively, mountains that he took the time to admire from a distance as he drew closer to them. He had never been to Lightning Country before and so he debated whether or not he would climb the peaks and see what it was like up there for himself. Firstly though he would have to suss out what sort of shinobi activity was about in the country at large which he vaguely knew was different from the other 'Big 5'. Yet these things were fairly far from his mind as he was enjoying the crisp air and the sunlight that washed over him. Despite this though the further inland he got the colder it seemed to be on the peninsula. He'd been noticing it for a few days now as he went deeper and deeper into the country and it reminded him of Kirigakure, but the cold was... different. In Kiri, the mist was ever present and clung to your skin like a thin sheet, always there and always chilly. Here the wind howled and bit into his skin to the point where he actually pulled his cloak up and over himself to wear it properly in order to fight the cold. The more he traveled the more he suspected that he would have to wear actual clothes and the thought was dreadful to him! So much so that he was considering turning back, for the nights seemed longer and colder there than anywhere else he had been and were it not for the grace of his katon jutsu he probably would have gotten pneumonia by now!

Yet on he traveled and within a week of aimlessly wandering the wilderness and exploring he found a road that he could travel on. As a precaution he donned the guise of a taller, younger man that himself, altering his skeleton in order to achieve this effect, with a long face and flat nose. He wore the wide-brimmed straw hat that he had picked up back in Fire and, like in his previous venture, his Kaguya marks were covered by a crudely made yellow paint he had constructed himself. He certainly looked like someone other than himself and as he stepped onto the road he hoped to pass himself along as just a wandering ronin, no master to serve and simply in search of a place to stay. That was his go to story to make up for the fact that he was carrying a sword after all.

So on the road he walked, hoping that it would lead him to a town, a village, an inn perhaps, where he could rest, warm up, and eat something that he himself hadn't caught, gutted and cooked with his own effort. He felt that he was in dire need of some vegetables but was unfamiliar with the flora of this country and thus had no idea what he could and couldn't eat! Quite the conundrum for his dietary needs, but thankfully meat was always available to him in the form of deer, boars, bears, whatever he could hunt and kill really. Regardless though, Aimi felt it was time to stop his travels for a little bit, meet some people, and ask some questions about this land, it's ninja, and perhaps most importantly, what there was to do that was fun and interesting!

[Nafan~]

The chill was refreshing at this altitude, the thin air cooled significantly compared to below. The speed at which he travelled added an extra bite to the cold, causing the magician's breath to mist about his face. The trees, grass, and boulders became no more than blurs below as he soared through the sky on his way to a town in the southernmost province of summer in the Lightning Country. Although, I suppose that's the Lightning Empire now... he thought as he held his hat upon his head to prevent the wind from throwing it off.

It wasn't long until the brown blob of the collection of buildings appeared on the horizon. Senji grinned as his robes fluttered about him, happy to be soon arriving. He could wrap up his little errand and get back to the city, hopefully eating one of those juicy pork buns that were all the rage recently for dinner. He lost his thoughts in reminiscence over the food and almost forgot to slow down to actually land. After catching himself at the last second, he swung in and alighted gently upon the ground from riding his staff. The change in temperature was exceptional. His robes went from comforting in the cold of the sky to uncomfortably warm in the warmer climes. His nostalgic sighs turned to disappointed ones as the sweat began to bead on his forehead. He pulled the large hat down closer to shade himself more from the sun.

It only took a few moments to find a back alley where nobody was around. It was only a few more for him to engrave his marking in the city and charge the fuuinjutsu with his chakra. A quick anchor set up, and his work was done. Senji was glad to be done for the day, and he could get out of here. The heat had gotten to him though, and he was standing right next to some kind of establishment. He stepped inside and took in the dim interior. It was nothing fancy, but he supposed he wouldn't be catching any diseases from the produce, so it would serve. He sat in the first available seat he found and ordered a chilled drink. Hopefully it would arrive soon.

[Golnax]

It wasn't but mere moments after the magician had stepped into the cozy little eatery that the travelling Kaguya followed suit. Having noticed the modest sign from a ways down the road he'd made his way after the blue-cloak wearing individual not thinking anything of it. He was tired from walking and quite hungry and thirsty, so a bit of R&R would do him wonders. It had been a couple of hours walking on the road before he came up on the south side of this small, rather rustic, village and upon the sighting of buildings and smoke he had let out a sigh of relief. The truth was more than the hunger and thirst it was the cold that was getting to him! He looked on at that smoke from a distance and imagined the warmth of the fire washing over him, wrapping him up like a warm blanket and he immediately began to feel warmer, even if it was all in his head.

So reinvigorated the disguised Kaguya had entered the town and, as a precaution, closed off his 8 inner gates so as to further enhance his guise. No reason to risk running into a Kumogakure shinobi who might have an active sensory jutsu after all. From there he simply made his way up behind the strangely clothed figure and paused before ducking under the flagged entrance to look at the sign. 'The Hopping Toad' the place was called, with a cute little illustration of a fat frog in thick black ink under the written kanji. That brought a smile to Aimi's face as he dipped his head under the shaded covering and took a seat at the small bar-like area. There were only 3 people inside who were not employees; him, the man in blue with the funny hat, and a villager who seemed to be finishing up his meal but taking his time with his drink.

"Ah, welcome, welcome! Ribbit!" said the young female server from behind the counter, smiling over her shoulder at Aimi and letting out a cute little chuckle as she worked on the previously ordered chilled drink. "Will be with you in a sec," he declared, finishing her pour and bending down to get at a bucket of floating ice water that she picked a piece out of and broke it into smaller chunks before placing some ice into the glass. "There you go, one chilled drink," she said, setting it down in front of the man in blue before wiping her hands and making her way over to where the travelling bannin in white sat. "Now, what'll you have?" she asked, pausing for a second as her eyes darted downwards to the sword at his side.

"We don't allow weapons in here, mister. Would you mind giving me that while you eat? You'll get it back once you're done, of course," she said, holding out her hand with a stern look on her face. Aimi was a bit surprised, but not at all worried. "Ah, of course. Sorry," he said, reaching down and fumbling with his belt buckle for a couple of moments as he tried to undo it. He found that things were always more difficult for him in the way of dexterity when he made his overall physique larger than what he was used to. After a pair of seconds he got it though and it was only a couple seconds more before he was winding his sheathed longsword around and passing it over the counter to her.

"Sorry again," he said, working on his buckle. "I'll have something with plenty of vegetables in it, I don't really care what, and some water please," he said, placing his order and reaching into his buttbag for a couple of ryo coins to place on the countertop to show that he had money to pay for services rendered. The waitress smiled, swiped the coins and said, "Coming right up!" before turning, taking in a deep breath that puffed out her chest, and shouting, "I GOT AN ORDER OF SWAMPY GARDEN I NEED OUT HERE! HOLD THE CATTLE, TWICE THE PRODUCE! MAKE IT FRAGRANT AND SKIP THE ONI!" as she walked away. While the ninja had literally no idea what all of that meant, he couldn't help but laugh at the peculiar choice of words, even if he did worry a bit about what she had made for him...

Jutsu UsedShow

[Ignorance Is Bliss]
S-Ranked Taijutsu Stance
Prerequisite: 45 Control, [Heavenly Body Control], [Rigid Structure]
The saying 'ignorance is bliss' is not just an apt name for this stance, but also true in many cases. Using this Stance, the user tenses their body up in such a way that they limit their physical capabilities severely. The user's muscles become tense and rigid, severely hampering physical movement and strength capabilities. More impressive, though, is the restrictions placed upon the tenketsu system. While in this stance, the 8 inner gates are closed off, leaving the user with only a severely limited chakra pool to draw upon. This Stance places a -40 stat debuff on the user's Strength, Speed and Chakra Pool for as long as they maintain the Stance. Once assumed, even a direct look at the user with sensory ninjutsu will be fooled. Once this Stance is broken, the 8 gates are all thrown open at once, resulting in a sudden, massive influx to the user's chakra that is momentarily visible and palpable to anyone within an X meter radius of the user, where X is equal to the user's [Chakra Pool] as chakra bursts out of every tenketsu and forms a 'cloud' around the user. Anyone within this area of effect who's Strength is less than the users’ [Chakra Pool] is afflicted by a tremendous sense of nausea that lasts a number of posts equal to the difference between the users’ [Chakra Pool] and the affected's [Endurance]. If a person's [Strength] is 10 or more less than the users’ [Chakra Pool], they will be unable to prevent themselves from vomiting. If a persons’ [Strength] is 20 or more less than the users’ [Chakra Pool], they will be unable to prevent themselves from passing out for 1 post. The user must maintain this Stance for a minimum of 5 posts before breaking it once assumed to achieve this effect.

[Nafan~]

Senji raised his head appreciatively as the waitress placed his iced juice infront of him. He'd always liked orange juice, and the colder climes of the Lightning Country were perfect for growing them so he often had access to the fresh stuff. He sipped happily at his refreshment, sighing as it took the edge off of the summer tang of Natsukyou province, named for its seemingly endless summer weather. Well, summer as understood by the rest of the Lightning Country's standards at least. "That really hit the spot, thank you. It's so warm out there." he mused to the attendant, whom turned to him with a smile. "That's because you're wrapped up in all those robes, mister. That might be fine dress for up in the north but down here it never gets cold enough for so many layers, or such thick coats."

Senji took off his hat and rested it on the table infront of him as he rubbed the back of his head bashfully, "Well, I was in Kumogakure province this morning so, I had to dress warmly. The heat down here in Natsukyou surprises me every time I come down from the mountains." The attendant stepped out back and brought him a glass of water, on the house, and playfully responded "Well, maybe next time you'll have to remember what it's like down here for the rest of us, eh? Ribbit." with a wink and a smile. She then went off to attend to a new custome that had walked in while they'd been talking.

Senji gave him a once over, out of habit if nothing else. When he caught himself doing it he felt a bad taste in his mouth at recognising that he'd taken on the habits that that man had taught him. Still, he'd looked the stranger up and down, and he appeared to be some kind of wandering warrior. Senji frowned a little as he considered the posture of the man a little more. He definitely appeared highly skilled. He checked the sensory information coming from the seals he'd just placed on the building next door, but it appeared the man didn't possess more chakra than he'd expect for an extremely skilled swordsman. It was a long time since the magician had encountered mercenaries in the Lightning Country, and he'd never encountered them on good terms. Memories of Tadashi's death threatened to surface but were quickly repressed. He decided quietly to stick around until the man left the town. Rounin were dubious individuals at best, and Senji would feel uncomfortable leaving these people unguarded from one that appeared of a level with legendary warriors.

After the waitress said what sounded to Senji like some kind of incantation, or perhaps incoherent babble, he waved her down. "Hi, I've decided I'd like to eat as well. I'll just get whatever he was having." he said, indicating the man in the straw hat which had just walked in. Part of him ordered it because he wanted to see exactly what that string of words amounted to up close, the other part just wanted to hear her say it again.

[Golnax]

As the man in blue spoke the waitress looked over towards him as did Aimi. She smiled, puffed up her chest again and cried out, "MAKE THAT A DOUBLE ORDER SWAMPY GARDEN WITH ALL THE SAME FIXIN'S! GOT A COUPLE OF HUNGRY GOATS OUT HERE!" before turning around and carrying Aimi's sword away. Amusing as her antics had been the bannin's attention was focused now on the man who had just ordered the same thing as him. It was curious really, a stranger who felt adventurous enough to eat the same thing that he himself was getting given he hadn't the foggiest idea what it was exactly. Only that it had lots of vegetables. He looked the man over with his heavy robes and dark, fading hair. He didn't look like a farmer to him or any other sort of common profession. He thought perhaps that he was a scholar or maybe a philosopher which would explain the funny hat. He'd heard of people who tried to make philosophy a profession here and there in his time but it never seemed to work out all that well; that is to say he'd never heard of anyone getting rich off of philosophy.

"Hats off when you're inside, forgot to tell ya," the waitress said, coming back towards Aimi and gesturing with her hand. Aimi turned back towards her and gave a nod, reaching up and taking the large straw hat off of his head and setting it down on the floor beside him, the wide brim resting against the side of his leg. His hair came tumbling down as soon as he took the hat off. Most of it was pulled back into a high riding pony tail but his bangs hung loose at the front of his head. Normally he didn't bother with wearing his hair up like this but he figured it was a good thing to change his appearance as much as possible when going from one country to the next. In Fire he had wore his hair in a pair of buns, here a pony tail.

More concerning than the state of his hair was the stranger sitting not far away from him and looking him over, though. He could feel his gaze and it made him a bit nervous. Not that he showed it outwardly though, save perhaps for refusing to make eye contact with him at first. Naturally his thoughts went in several different directions at once in a paranoid frenzy which was natural for any shinobi worth their salt. Did he know who Aimi was? Had he been following him for a while? Was he really a ninja? Of course there was no way for the Kaguya to answer these questions one way or the other so rather than dwelling on them he turned to face the man. "In the habit of ordering other peoples' food are we? I suppose that saves you the trouble of figuring out what to eat on your own," he joked, attempting a tried and true technique to push suspicion off of him. If he could get the man in blue robes to start talking about it himself, to strike up a friendly conversation, it lessened the chance of his being discovered. Not that he was necessarily at risk for that yet, but still. Better safe than sorry.

[Nafan~]

Senji was startled that the man had called out to him. The embarrassment set in almost immediately. The magician resisted the urge to fidget nervously and mustered some level of courage to reply without a sheepish tone, "Yeah, I heard the waitress call it out and I couldn't help but wonder what it would look like up close. I thought it'd be rude to just look over your shoulder." At this point he took a sip of his drink to clear what felt like a rock that had somehow lodged itself in his throat. "I'm sorry if it bothered you." Senji finished, placing his cup back on the table before him and letting off a small chuckle.

Meanwhile the man had let down his hair. It was long, and white. Senji wondered what could have cause a man this young's hair to go white so quickly, and so completely. The magician doubted the man was even thirty yet based on looks alone. While years of borderline torturous training and experiments had caused Senji's own hair to lose its colour for a while, that had been more of a stress bedraggled grey than this pristine white. It was almost certainly unnatural, whatever the cause.

Since the man had decided to at least try and be jovial, Senji decided to try and get a little closer. He picked up his drink and approached the table, "Is it okay if I sit here?"

[Golnax]

His gambit seemed to pay off initially, the man in blue practically blushing as he fumbled out an answer in response to his inquiry. It made Aimi relax knowing that he was at least one step closer to going undetected in this cool land he found himself in. "No trouble at all," the incognito Kaguya said, smiling and raising his hand to lightly wave the whole thing off before turning back to his table top - but not before giving a last glance at the man. Was it just his imagination, or was he looking pretty intently at his hair?

The momentary ease he felt quickly turned sour in his gut as the man walked over and stood across from him. He looked up with as innocent of an expression as he could possibly muster, smiled, and replied, "First you get my meal, then you ask to sit with me? People sure are friendly here. Please, sit," he said, extending his hand out and pointing it towards the chair opposite him. He didn't want the man to sit across from him but to turn away a friendly stranger could invite suspicion. There was still the possibility of him being a ninja after all, or a ninja had eyes on him. One could never be too sure...

"Name's Arisato, stranger. What might I call you?" he said, using the alias he used whenever he was out and about being sneaky as he cared to be. With his ability to change his bone structure however he liked using the same name for simplicity's sake. There could be a thousand 'Arisato's with a thousand different faces, after all. An equal amount to his own. He just needed to play nice, hold some conversation, eat his food and then be on his way. He didn't think that it would be too hard.