Eaten Bread is Soon Forgotten

[Punslinger]

The sound of rattling chains and the harsh grating of stone broke the relative tranquility of the morning as the sun rose high enough overhead to bathe the entirety of Iwa in its warmth. Shin for one was happy for the heat, even if it meant more sweat. He was wearing a tunic with the sleeves suspiciously missing, and had gone bootless this morning, relishing the feeling of the sunshine soaking into his feet when he ran across a particularly sunny patch of rock.

As a creature of habit, Shin had already noticed that his usual route around the district had begun to leave a telltale trail where the runners of his sled had begun literally eating into the seemingly invincible bedrock. Something to be proud of, sure. But it was probably time to change his routine, just a little.

Why had he kept going over the same route time and again?

[Aeveria]

Katsumi was picking through the market, her fingers brushing lightly over vegetables and fruit, a couple of crates already sitting by her feet as she'd been unable to hold them and peruse the selection before her. This should have been an obvious sign that she wouldn't be able to get them back home, but, well she hadn't really considered it at the time. She'd normally be running at this time in the morning, making her way through and around the village, getting her cardio in before her morning training session, but her father had errands for her that morning, shopping being one of them. She finally made her selctions dropping the coin into the hand of the merchant and smiled warmly dropping them into one of the bags slinging it over her shoulder and carefully balancing the boxes and shuffling her way toward the next stall.

This went on for a bit longer, taking up all the time she normally would have used for training, seeming like a late session would be in order, but at least she got some strength training in right? She shifted the boxes huffing as she did so squeaking and shifting quickly to the left as one started to topple. She sighed in relief as it settled back into place, that would have been fun to explain, why she was short some of the supplies because she'd been clumsy and smashed them. She gingerly lifted her shoulder to adjust the strap of the large bag that was now slipping down her shoulder, her shambling gait was already awkward enough under the weight of the boxes without her being further off balance because the weight was resting in the crook of her elbow.

As she walked she heard a familiar sound, one that she had often heard on her runs in the morning and she'd smiled and then remembered he likely wouldn't be able to see her behind all her boxes, silly girl honestly. She shifted the boxes gingerly again and bit her lip as she tried to concentrate. The jingling and rattle of the sled that she passed every morning continuing to break into her thoughts. As she continued on a thought struck her, honestly her running route was the same every day, straight to the training grounds, and then home, but she'd always had her routines, it wasn't about to change now. She continued shuffling forward with care as her thoughts continue to tumble through her head somewhat lazily, her checklist of what she had planned for the day, which included her run and training no matter where she had to squeeze it in, and then maybe she'd settle in with her book somewhere. She was starting to strain a little under the weight of the boxes, her tail feathers rustling as she huffed in annoyance with herself, honestly why in the world had she attempted this in one trip, she was far too slight to be doing this on her own, and it was quite obvious to everyone but herself apparently.

[Punslinger]

Oh, right.

Shin wasn't overly sociable. In fact, to hear Shio tell it he was a recluse and a grouch. But there was something deeply calming about being around people, seeing them in their routines, saying hello, making small talk about the weather today and how much weight he had on the sled. It was a reminder that every face in the crowd was another story, someone whose life was being lived at the same time as his own, if not exactly at the same pace.

Case in point. From around a walking tower of shipping crates could be seen the telltale wings of an Ayatori, one he usually passed once or twice a week on his route as she was on hers. She was the girl with the wings, he was the guy with the sled. Most of the locals referred to them as such, and he had to admit they were pretty defining characteristics. He had always wondered why she jogged when flying was an option, but unlike so many bloodborn shinobi this one seemed to appreciate physical preparation as much as her natural abilities. That resonated well with Shin.

Like several other passers-by, the teen stopped to watch the spectacle, pulling his shaded frames from where they hung on the back of his tunic to cover his eyes from the glare of the sun on the slate gray buildings. Despite an impressive balancing act and pace that looked like a posturing debutante, the girl seemed to be having difficulty with her payload wiggling her wings and tail in a fashion that would be comical if all that food didn't look so expensive.

Seeing that no one seemed intent on saying anything further about the issue, Shin made his way across the street, careful not to step directly in the way of the potential disaster.

“Excuse me Miss Ayatori, but do you need a hand?”

[Aeveria]

She made her way forward carefully, able to feel the ground under her feet as though hypersensitive in her worry of accidentally losing control of the crates she was carrying. She was rather small but she had a lot more muscle than it appeared at first glance, likely because she focused on her body as well as her mind when training. It was more the prolonged weight of them that made her muscles start to protest slightly, but the care with which she was walking was necessary, the precarious tower was just too precious to allow to tumble to the ground. She heard the runners grating against the bedrock getting louder and could feel the eyes of the people around her on her small from but she ignored them. She was a stubborn little thing and refused to ask for help, she was a shinobi for cripes sake, she couldn't be giving in now.

Katsumi heard the runners slide to a stop and shifted a little squealing as the boxes jerked a little and she quickly adjusted so that they didn't go toppling sideways. She breathed out in a soft sigh of relief honestly she would have been extremely distressed if she had lost it now. A moment later she heard a voice, a now familiar one and smiled at the man's question, "If it's not too much trouble, I seem to have made a bit of a mistake when I decided it was a good idea to do all of this in one trip." She giggled a little nervously huffing as she crouched to set the boxes on the ground.

She straightened and then groaned as she stretched and then she blinked looking at the man in front of her, she'd said hello to him in the mornings when she passed him, but neither had really ever stopped to have an actual conversation, just the usual passing greeting. She cleared her throat and looked up at him, appearing rather tiny next to him and she shifted her shoulders dragging a hand through her dark hair, "Thank you mister... uhm.. She hadn't gotten his name, of course she hadn't, she'd have to hope he'd supply his name if not she''d actually ask.