Light through the Canopy

[Diatenshi]

Masaru had been spending more time in the forest as of late. Though he wasn't sure whether it was a result of the spirit inside seemingly more peaceful or his own genetic affinity for trees. Could be either or even both he hadn't a clue. He had discovered however, that much like Iburo he too found peace walking beneath the canopy through green filtered light.

He'd come out for a cool down, having recently gone off on his father for what was actually a trivial matter. After all, who cared how many petals were on the flower he'd brought his mother as a gift? However, instead of not paying it any mind he felt irked and insisted on arguing over it. -What's happening to me? Why do I always feel so ... Angry?- He screamed silently in his mind and punched a fist into the trunk of a nearby tree. Crack. Pain. Was it a break? No. Just a dislocation. His back knickle on his pinky glowed a dull cherry red the bark smoldering and turning black releasing a foul smoke as the joint repaired itself and slowly went back into socket.

He groaned, the self repair just another reminder of how much the spirit was changing him. It was driving him bonkers. Would he still be him when all was said and done? Or would he go back to just being a vessel for the spirit, a meat suit? Not that the damn thing had spoken to him since it was sealed. No mostly he just sensed its emotions which more often than not was anger. It was few and far between the moments where Iburo was calm and he was the angry one.

He shoved away from the indented tree and continued to trudge along the air thick with moisture from a recent rain. He began to run. He ran with no thought for himself or where he was going. He just moved, loosing himself in the physical exertion. He was aware enough to avoid obstacles but zoned out enough not to pay attention to his actual location.

[Kabu]

Her lessons/part time work at the hospital done for the day, Hinoka had decided to take a stroll before returning home, through the forest in particular as it had felt particularly inviting this day. What she hadn't expected however was to enter the treeline and spot a tree with burn marks and several shallow cracks on the surface of the trunk, someone having clearly punched it in anger, and very hard at that.

"Well, that's no good. Whoever it is is probably hurting bad, in many different ways." she muttered to herself, her stroll suddenly having turned into a mission to find the vandal and not bring them to justice but rather help them in whatever way she possibly could. After all it was her duty to help those who were hurting, whether physically or emotionally, and even if it wasn't she wasn't sure she could be able to live with herself if she let this go.

And so, feeling that her target would likely not have yet gone back into the village, she walked further into the forest, keeping an eye out for further destruction as she went, eventually arriving at a small clearing, a boy seeming to be aimlessly wandering on the far side. Could this be her target? No... he couldn't be. He seemed to be a Senju and everybody knew they didn't have any degree of access to Katon. Still though... regardless of whether he was her true target he didn't seem to be in a good state and so after a moment's contemplation she decided to approach, calling out towards him, though who knew if he would actually be paying any attention.

"Um, hello."

[Diatenshi]

Boom-boom. Boom-boom. Boom-boom. The steady sound of his heartbeat was all he could hear for a time as he ran aimlessly through the damp forest, the occasional rain drop dripping down from above to splash on his body. He seemed to find peace his anger finally fading as he stopped questioning and wondering and just let things be as they were for the moment. Surprisingly, the exhilaration of running even spread to Iburo who was giving off a pleasant vibe. However, lost as he was in his exercise he failed to detect the approaching stranger.

Hello. Those to innocent syllables sent a bolt of lightning through Masaru's body as he ran. Thrown off guard and surprised he tripped over a root and went tumbling across the forest floor. He laid there staring at the treetops for a moment letting the world settle and stop spinning. Looking around he spotted the girl in blue. She was most likely the source of the voice and his surprise. A spark of irritation spread through him echoed by Iburo. He opened his mouth about to yell when he looked at her face and noted her look of concern. He closed his mouth quietly as he silently berated himself for almost blowing up on a young girl.

He slowly got up and winced feeling the heat in his leg realizing hed twisted his ankle. He leaned back against a tree and waited for it to heal. Standing up he realized just how tiny the girl was. Almost a whole foot shorter and probably half his weight. She looked quite a bit like a child he wondered if she'd gotten lost or something. "Uh hey there. What brought you all the way out here?" He'd smile friendly like, his orange eyes exceptionally bright.

[Kabu]

"I uh... saw a tree back near the entrance of the forest with some real bad marks. I figured whoever had done it had maybe hurt themselves and I wanted to help..." Hinoka responded to Masaru's questioning with a bit of a blush and a nervous laugh. Surely that made her seem like some kind of creepy stalker, though she was speaking the full genuine truth. It had been drilled into her by her teacher to just follow her instincts and this time it had seemed to pay off, though there was no telling if he would actually let her do her work.

"So um... I'm a trainee medic and I don't really know many actual techniques yet but I can probably do something about your wounds if you'll let me, at least enough to ease the pain until we get to the hospital. And I really am sorry if I startled you at all."[/color] she said, slowly walking towards him and kneeling down, frowning as she inspected his twisted ankle. She certainly hadn't treated anything this bad yet but surely she should at least be capable of easing the pain right? Right. Though she had a feeling there was something she was forgetting about...

"Oh by the way, I'm Awai Hinoka. It's good to meet you, even in a situation like this."

[Diatenshi]

Masaru instantly felt a wave of guilt as the realization that she'd gone out of her way for him. She most likely had better things to do yet here she was out in the woods searching for an injured man because he punched a tree. He began to wonder how to explain the crack when she got down to inspect his ankle.

"Sorry about all the trouble. The fool that ounched the tree is me. As for the foot, while the pain wont go away it'll heal up in just a moment, so don't worry about it."

He shifted his weight to move his injured foot away from the young medic. It wasn't that he distrusted her but rather he would prefer to keep his peculiarities to himself. He did his best to keep the dull cherry red glow from showing as his body repaired itself. He'd offer a hand hoping she'd take it and let him help her up.

"Well then Miss Awai, my name is Senju Masaru. It is a pleasure to meet you."