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In [GUTS+] You Awake in a Dark Room → 5 yrs ago Forum: Tabletop Roleplay
Pebbles “Pebs” Meyers
@Alamantus@Vertigo

Pebs widened her eyes slightly at Duncan’s words, but she matched his grin. “Deal,” she said, a cheesy smile hanging on her face as she worked on the lock and key. “Acting sounds fun. I’d try it,” she said, the lock finally giving way and opening with a metallic ‘shhck.’

The door opened itself, Pebs egging it along with a push that revealed the next room. Darkness greeted her, and she felt a flash of fear cross her mind, because it was dark, because anything could be in the darkness, but that passed quickly. Remembering to squint, she did, and in doing so, she made out what looked like a fork in the road: hallways splitting left, right, and forward.

“Oh, a switch,” Pebs said as Duncan pointed it out. He flicked it on, shedding light on the nondescript white that continued down every hall. In all three directions, the hallway turned out of view, its smooth corridors giving nothing away.

“Right, but let’s not split up,” she said as she retrieved the map from her pockets. “Getting lost in here alone would probably give me a heart attack.”

Opening the map up and holding it out so Duncan could see too, she turned it, then kept turning it until the paper was facing the same direction they were. The lines aligned, the fork perfectly replicated with ink on the paper, and she stopped.

“It fits, all right,” Pebs breathed, and, looking between the paper and the hallways, she felt a stab of nausea. What sort of building was this, and why had she and Duncan been chosen for whatever this was?

Swallowing her unease, she traced the bolded path on paper towards the middle hallway, pointing at it. “This way should be right. It’ll turn later, but that’s what’s drawn,” she said. Then, taking a breath, she exhaled, looking to Duncan. “Let’s go,” she said, leading the way down the hall.
In Cooking Fantasy maybe? → 5 yrs ago Forum: General Interest Checks
As a smalltime Adventure Bar Story and Battle Chef Brigade fan, count me in.
In Naruto: Odyssey → 5 yrs ago Forum: 1x1 Roleplay
Kazuhiko Taketori
Land of Fire: Konohagakure

Time was fleeting, and it moved faster than Kazuhiko thought or wanted as the countdown until the chunin exams ran down. Training with Atomu ate up his days when he wasn’t working with his team under Minoru, and even on the weekend he felt compelled to keep busy, do something other than sitting around listening to his parents and clan elders talk. There would be time for all that and more after he passed his chunin exam, but first, he had to pass it.

Talking with his teammates about their training had reminded him about what was important: getting stronger. So Hidemi hadn’t agreed to train him—he had Atomu, who was no less capable of training him at his current level. Trying to figure out what the puzzling man wanted could wait until after the chunin exams, he figured, especially since most of the skills he first had to work on were basic, foundational ones that set the stage for those more complex. There was activating the sensaigan, maintaining it, and becoming accustomed to it. Then there was actually incorporating it into attacks, familiarizing himself with the intricacies of the nervous system so that he could make the most out of every strike. The day he managed to land a true, sensaigan-backed hit on Atomu was a landmark, but it was one of many. Every new skill led to the introduction of another, and each required what seemed like endless hours of practice.

Many a time, he wondered whether the Hyuga’s byakugan required as much time and practice as the sensaigan did, and when he finally brought it up to Atomu, the answer was an amused ‘of course.’ Taijutsu often required more time to master than ninjutsu since it was the body that was being molded, not the mind and the intricacies of chakra and how it was used. The two were taxing in different ways, but physical conditioning still took more time than chakra-fueled ones, for some reason. Perhaps, as Atomu theorized, it was the difference between the physical and spiritual worlds, but neither of them were philosophers and breaks between exercises were short.

In terms of progress, Kazuhiko was quite proud of how far he’d come, not he’d ever admit it. When he described it to his parents, it didn’t come out sounding quite as impressive as he’d thought, but his father had easily understood. Despite choosing a life of politics over field work, Kazuma was a jonin-level shinobi, as was any other “self-respecting Taketori.” According to his father, it was a matter of pride, which was why the seemingly small improvements he was making made sense with the amount of time he was investing.

“Foundation is key,” his father had said when Kazuhiko finished talking, echoing Atomu’s exact words—words that, Kazuhiko soon realized, were a mantra for most Taijutsu schools. Training, honing, and conditioning were what made the difference when it came to Taijutsu, and his gradual improvement in terms of accuracy and fluency showed.

As he transitioned from foundational skills to his first few Taketori ninjutsu, though, he realized that there was a reason why the Taketori valued their own dojo so much: Many of their skills could only be taught by those experienced with sensaigan. Ninjutsu and taijutsu skills aimed precisely at nerves could easily lead to lasting consequences, after all, and a learning Taketori had little control over their strength and precision. Though there were discussed rules and limits, deflected blows were not easily as easily dodged, and many a time Kazuhiko had felt compelled to apologize profusely to Atomu as he watched his tutor tend to fried nerves with a special blend of medical ninjutsu developed by Taketori, for Taketori. Trying to imagine putting Minoru through the same injuries was unthinkable, and he was glad that both of his teammates had managed to find tutors within their clan. Though neither Koharu nor Natsuko wielded jutsu as focused on immediate damage as his, he’d seen the reason behind in-clan tutors firsthand, and the benefits didn’t end at experience.

Though practicing with his team was allotted less time than it was in the past as a result of all three of them working on their kekkai genkai, the time they spent together was more focused than it was before. The looming deadline of the chunin exam date was daunting enough to keep Natsuko focused, and Kazuhiko had to admit he was impressed with how far she’d come over the past year. Minoru had encouraged them to combine their skillsets since “three heads are better than one,” and Koharu and Natsuko did wonders with his encouragement. Combining their wind ninjutsu was hard to time, but when they figured it out, the number of trees they managed to whip bare intimidated Kazuhiko, as did Natsuko’s lighthearted warning of a “bigger, better, more amazing technique” when she figured out how to properly mesh her wind with Koharu’s ice. The thought of ice shards zipping through the air was scary enough with Koharu on her own, nevermind more numerous ones at faster paces when Koharu was allowed to focus on just controlling her ice.

As for his techniques with his teammates, his options had been rather limited. His sensaigan didn’t mesh well for obvious reasons, and Natsuko’s wind did nothing for his lightning other than helping his electricity-charged kunai fly faster. With Koharu, he’d managed to come up with a large-scaled attack featuring her water ninjutsu, but those were rather limited in comparison to her ice-based ones, so progress was slow there.

Trying to develop team tactics, though, had encouraged an interest in picking up a second chakra element. Some water release ninjutsu would greatly expand his options with his lightning jutsu, and it’d mesh well with Koharu’s skillset too. Though Taketori water-wielders weren’t common, they weren’t unheard of either. Wind and lightning chakra affinities were most common, but water affinities made up a healthy minority of the clan. This thought, though, remained but a thought, and both Atomu and Minoru had agreed that it’d be a good thing to work on after the chunin exams. For now, he focused on improving his existing skills with his own skillset and with his teammates' because even if his sensaigan didn’t directly work with their jutsu, there was no reason their jutsu couldn’t help him close the distance between him and his opponents.

Natsuko Rinha
Noon || Land of Fire: Konohagakure — Rinha Compound

“Hi-ya!” Natsuko shouted, kicking off Sayumi’s arm and landing a few feet away. Her tutor rolled her eyes, prompting her to straighten. “What?” she whined. “Can’t I make cool sound effects while I practice? I’m bored enough as it is.”

“Training isn’t supposed to be fun, Natsuko, and you’re supposed to be focusing.” Sayumi said, sighing and straightening as well.

“I am!” Natsuko protested.

“On the basic taijutsu we were working on, or on making your ‘sound effects?’” Sayumi asked. At Natsuko’s pout, Sayumi sighed again. “Alright, run along. It’s about lunchtime anyway,” she said, dismissing Natsuko with a flippant wave of a hand.

“Okay!” Natsuko said, instantly perking up. Food sounded pretty good right about now, but just as she turned to run off, she hesitated, remembering something her father had mentioned to her. “Um, Sayumi-sensei, my parents wanted me to invite you to have lunch with at our house sometime. As thanks for you agreeing to tutor me. I think my dad’s home now, if you’re free to drop by? We’re having udon, I think.”

Sayumi looked up from where she was retrieving her water and towel. “Oh, sure. Udon sounds delicious,” she said, slinging her towel over a shoulder and walking over. “Lead the way.”

Though Natsuko led the way with a smile, she couldn’t shake her nervousness. Inviting Sayumi over for lunch had mostly been her mother’s idea. It’d been decided that her father would open up his schedule for lunch to get some time to talk to Sayumi, see how Natsuko was doing and how Sayumi was as a tutor. Since it was Minoru who’d introduced Sayumi to Natsuko, her parents weren’t as in the know as they wanted to be, and Natsukawa Rinha liked to be in the know about her own clan members. From the snippets Natsuko had heard through her room’s walls, Sayumi had been a properly accomplished jonin on active duty until very recently, when she’d had a rough mission where she’d been forced to take some risks. Though the mission had been successful, Sayumi came out of it gravely injured. Something about overloading on chakra and overexerting her body. Natsuko wasn’t too sure about the specifics, but at that point she’d figured she’d probably heard a little too much. As far as she’d been concerned, the loose cloth Sayumi wrapped around her arms and legs had been an aesthetic choice, communicating a sort of bandage-like feel without the rough appearance of gauze and injury. Knowing the truth behind them tended to make her feel guilty, and she’d spent a few days hesitating before striking when direct-contact attacks were part of the day’s training regimen.

Now, she was mostly over it. Though it was scary to think about what sort of injuries could force a full-fledged jonin onto sick leave, it wasn’t like Sayumi was bedridden or unable to move. To Natsuko, her tutor seemed as capable as the next jonin, but she couldn’t shake the uncomfortable feeling that’d settled on her whenever she thought back to her parent’s words. ‘Gravely injured’—that sounded bad. Very bad. And Sayumi didn’t look like she was injured that bad. Which, if Natsuko had to be honest, only scared her more.

“Dad, we’re here!” she called, opening the sliding door to their house.

“Natsuko-chan, welcome back. And you must be Sayumi-san,” Masaya said, emerging from another room and bowing in greeting. “Welcome.”

“Masaya-sama, thank you for inviting me over,” Sayumi said, bowing as well.

“No need to thank me. I should thank you for offering to tutor Natsuko,” he said, gesturing to a doorway. “This way,” he said, leading the way to the dining room.

“Tell me, has Natsuko been doing well in her training? I know that she can be a bit… distracted at times, but I hope that hasn't been hindering her,” he said, indicating to a butler to have another meal set up.

“She’s been fine. She could use a bit more focus at times, but she’s learning and improving at a very reasonable pace,” Sayumi said, shooting a pointed look at Natsuko, who gave her a pursed smile.

“Good, good,” Sayumi said, indicating where Sayumi should sit. Natsuko took the other available seat beside her father, hesitating before picking up her chopsticks. Eating alone seemed like a preferable option right about now.

“How is her dark release coming along? I heard from her sensei, Minoru-san, that she’s been able to perform some Kusunemasu skills,” he said, picking up his chopsticks. Natsuko took the cue and dug in, slurping up her udon heartily. Training tended to distract her from how hungry she was, but the smell of food helped remind her of it.

It wasn’t until her third slurp that she remembered that maybe she should tone it down. Generally, she liked to slurp as loudly as she wanted, but there was a conversation going on right now, and it wasn’t like her father took a lot of time off work. Someone had to go experiment and develop new jutsu, and her mother couldn’t do it all.

“It’s, well, it’s coming along,” Sayumi said. “Her control needs some work, but whose didn’t, at her age.”

Masaya nodded, finally starting to eat. The conversation progressed from there, with Natsuko focused on eating so she could dismiss herself from the table. However, because she couldn’t slurp her noodles, trying to eat them quickly was proving quite difficult. Finding the balance between speed and manners, between quiet and loud left her teetering, and more than once her father had to glance at her.

“Also, forgive me for how late this is, but congratulations on your most recent mission, Sayumi-san. I heard you were key to the mission’s success,” Masaya said.

“Thank you, Masaya-sama. The entire team was great, and I’m lucky to have had them,” Sayumi said, dipping her head.

“I also heard that you were injured, but you seem to be in good health. I assume you’ve healed up, though? When will you be taking your next mission?”

Sayumi paused. “I’m taking a short break from missions, actually. To rest and recover.”

“Oh, of course. Good thing Natsuko found you when she did, then,” Masaya said, smiling.

Natsuko felt the stir of discomfort again. ‘Gravely injured’—did that have anything to do with Sayumi taking a break? Because, by the way her dad changed the subject again, it seemed like it did.
Late Morning || Land of Fire: Konohagakure

“Here!” Natsuko shouted, dashing towards where her team was gathered by the bridge. Looking at it now, with shoots of grass peeking out of the slush-speckled ground, invoked the memory of the cold wind from the year before, and Natsuko shook out a shiver as she came to a stop beside Koharu. “So? What’re you all talking about?”

“You,” Kazuhiko said simply, throwing her off for a moment as she stared at him, taken aback. Though she quickly realized it was a joke, it’d taken her a few seconds longer than usual to make the connection. Surprise accounted for that delay since it was Kazuhiko making the jokes. He’d started to snipe back in the past year, sometimes returning jibes with a flippant tone that always had her reeling, wondering for a second or two whether he was being serious, but she was cutting that time down. Not as quickly as she liked, perhaps, but she was working on it.

“I was just asking Minoru-sensei about how Kazuha and Haru are doing. Apparently Kazuha’s vocabulary is expanding?” Kazuhiko continued, not missing a beat despite his joke. As much as Natsuko hated the fact that his deadpan delivery threw her off, she had to respect good technique. Maybe it was time for her to stop letting her grin betray her attention before she finished her sentences.

“Oh, can Kazuha finally say something other than ‘Natsuko silly?’” she joked. Her eyes, though, stayed fixed on Minoru. Where Kazuha seemed to have multiple thoughts about how Koharu and Kazuhiko were, she’d been branded as simply ‘silly,’ which didn’t work out in her favor when she was making genuine efforts to get to know the girl and her brother.

“I thought she was rather spot-on with that assessment,” Kazuhiko said.

Natsuko crossed her arms, pouting. “First time I see you in a week and you’re this mean? What’d I do to you? Make fun of your haircut too much?”

Kazuhiko pulled a face, one hand going up to try and muss up his hair, which had been cut a bit too short to allow anything of the sort. “It doesn’t look like my dad’s. His is longer in the back.”

“Looks similar enough to me,” Natsuko said, grinning. It really didn’t, but hey, it was getting to him.

@Sunflower
In The Promise - Second Star to the Right, and Straight on 'til Morning. → 5 yrs ago Forum: Casual Roleplay
Keaton Plasse

Keaton sipped her tequila as she watched Lynn leave, doing her best to ignore the burn of liquid regret. From the way Lynn was acting, all tipsy and unsteady and in need of a reassuring hug and a good cry, it was clear that she wasn’t leaving to use the bathroom. Following her after she said that, though, didn’t immediately strike Keaton as a good option, so instead she watched Eli follow Lynn into the woods, then watched Amelia head in the opposite direction, disappearing by the time she glanced back. That was two people going after Lynn now—two people too many, perhaps, but maybe she was the one who was wrong. Maybe Lynn did need reassuring, did need a comforting presence and a solid shoulder. Keaton had missed her chance with that, though. Three was a crowd enough, nevermind a fourth.

Taking another sip, Keaton opted to watch the party around her for a second. Archie’s heart monitor was beeping, but that wasn’t new. With Natalie looking pretty and more than enough booze to go around, Keaton was surprised he’d lasted this long. He wasn’t turning yet, though, so she figured Natalie had it handled. Third-wheeling wasn’t on her to-do list, and new guy Nic already volunteered for that role.

Gen the poser was talking to Cara on his own phone now, looking in Archie’s direction. Considering how smooth his Japanese sounded, he was indeed a foreigner—just not one who didn’t speak English. Whether he thought pretending so was a better tactic or just more polite was uncertain, but Keaton didn’t feel like talking to him any more than she already had. She’d come, she’d seen, and she’d judged. Lynn could do better.

The rest of the people at the party melded into the background. Being stuck on the ship for the next few years didn’t seem too important considering what had happened. Salamandra, Arianna, the Faceless and whoever they worked for—all in a month’s work. Keaton would be lucky if she lasted past the year, much less a few. But, even if she couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, she had to pretend she could. Picking up another acquaintance or two could be beneficial to her cover, if not her mental health. Was it the ginger in the flannel, then, or the blonde in the leather skirt?

A trio setting up solo cups on a side table caught her attention, and she joined them after a second, rounding out their teams. Her partner, a bubbly brunette by the name of April who probably couldn’t tell water from beer at this point, missed every throw after her first but cheered Keaton on as if they were winning despite that.

“Go Keaton!” she shouted as Keaton tossed the ping pong ball forwards. When it bounced off the rim of one of the remaining three cups, she groaned, then immediately brightened. “Next turn I’ll get’em, you watch,” she said, cupping her hands around her mouth as she turned back to their opponents. “Jake ‘n Josh, you’re goin’ down!”

As Jake made his toss, Keaton watched, her mind still stuck on the fact that she’d missed. Sober, she was brilliant at beer pong. Something about being able to intuit the force and angle necessary to land a ball in a cup did that. Tipsy, though, she started messing up. Having doubts. And it was scary. Keaton didn’t do doubting about simple stuff like where to throw a ping pong ball in beer pong. The game had always been fun—relaxing in the way not having to think too much about anything but landing a ball and getting some praise tended to be. Now, though, she was too aware of her power to not try and think about it, but thinking about it made her aware of more than just her mediocre beer pong skills. She’d always hated getting drunk, disliked the prospect of going past the sweet spot of tipsy. Why, she’d never stopped to think too hard about, but now, as she missed throws in beer pong, she realized why: Her powers didn’t work well with alcohol. Rather than getting the solid, black-and-white hunches she was used to, she was feeling maybes. Maybe throwing the ball a little harder this time will land it. Maybe underhand would work better than overhand this time. Maybe, but… maybe not.

“Here, I’ll handle this. You focus on throwing,” Keaton said, taking the beer cup from April and pushing the ping pong ball into her hand. No time to experiment like the present, when she was already decently tipsy and in the company of friends. How fuzzy could her power get? And how much did she need to drink to be able to relax despite knowing she was drinking herself into uncertainty?

Downing the beer as April lined up to throw, Keaton watched as April landed her second throw of the night. Her phone buzzed as she whooped, hugging April with a giddy grin on her face as she fumbled for her phone. Rather than it being her dad with a text or Cara with a reminder, though, her phone was flashing an alert notification. The alert notification.

“Shit. Shit. Sorry guys, I need to bail. Emergency,” she said, pointing to her phone before turning around to search the party. Archie and Natalie were still here, so that left Radvi, Freaky-D, and Eli. Eli?

Her power gave her a non-committal nudge, but that was enough for her at the moment. Breaking into a run, she sped towards the woods Lynn disappeared into, her heart racing. Arianna was here. Now. On the one day Keaton had thought she wouldn't come, thought it’d be okay to relax and go past being just tipsy.

The woods were a mess of shadows and fading sound, and Keaton gradually slowed down, straining her ears to try and catch some indication of where Lynn, Eli, and Amelia were. At the first sound of voices, she jumped, sprinting towards it. Plan. Did she have a plan? She wanted to talk to Arianna, to ask questions and get answers. She wasn’t in the best condition for either right now, but no one had to know that. As far as Arianna was concerned, her powers encouraged some degree of honesty. Whether that was enough remained to be seen.

As she got closer to the voices, she slowed down, her eyes struggling to adapt to the faint moonlight through the trees. Lynn was pretty obvious, glowing as she did, but Eli and Amelia were nowhere in sight. Instead, there was a girl—a scrawny little thing who looked as much like Arianna as anyone else.

Shapeshifter, Keaton reminded herself, creeping forwards carefully. The girl looked as if she was about to cry, and, straining her ears, Keaton made out something about running and hiding. That was what Arianna was doing, had been doing for the better part of a month, but nothing about how scared she was matched the ruthless, calculating image Keaton had conjured for her. Where was the girl who’d evaded the entire Promise staff so she could plot the downfall of the ship? The girl who’d decided that releasing parahuman murderers on kids as a distraction was worth the human cost?

But, as she stared at the girl, willing her powers to give her something to work with, some ledge to grasp other than frazzled emptiness, nothing solid came forward. Keaton had no idea whether Arianna was telling the truth, no idea whether the sniffling girl beside Lynn was Arianna in honest, no idea about anything. Instead, she sank down into the leaves, not minding the sharp pain as she tore tiny pieces from the edges of her nails. All that mattered was the black void of not knowing.

Footsteps behind her sent her scrambling to the side as Radvi and Freaky D emerged from the woods, a gun—gun?—in Radvi’s hand as he hollered at Lynn. The frail girl beside Lynn bolted, and Radvi and Freaky D gave chase as Keaton sat in the shadows of a bush, watching as they left. That was Arianna—she should have known—in disguise—she should have known—putting Lynn in danger—she should have known. Had it been obvious? Yes. Yes, it’d been so, so obvious, but somehow she hadn’t known.

The sounds and screams died off within minutes, and Keaton stood from her spot shakily, walking towards where the fight had gone. Arianna was nowhere in sight, and Keaton figured she had to be gone. Hopefully.

Making out where the others were, she walked towards them, lingering a few feet from where Eli and Lynn were gathered around Radvi. Freaky D was a robotic mess on the side, whereas Radvi was a bloody one, his face—

Lynn was there, applying pressure to the wound. Keaton vaguely wondered whether she should do that. She could ask Cara to feed her information on where the blood vessels were, where to focus the pressure, but was that really more effective at the moment? She couldn’t be sure, and the fact that she couldn’t meant it probably wasn’t.

Eli was at Radvi’s side too, likely using her power somehow. To stop the pain? To stop the pain. The certainty of that piece of information was addictive, and Keaton clung to it as Archie and Natalie arrived. Archie’s heart monitor wasn’t going off, wasn’t on him anymore, for some reason. While the knowledge wasn’t comforting, the certainty was, and that was almost enough.

Bolstered by the slow return of her power, Keaton willed herself forward, pulling out her phone and aiming the camera at Radvi’s face. “Cara, is there anything else we can do?” she asked.

“Miss Holmes, keep applying pressure to the wound. I’ll connect us to a line at the hospital so we can relay the damage to them. Miss Wessex, if you could describe to them where the pain is, it’d help them figure out which injuries might need addressing first.”

Cara opened the line to a nurse, whose tone got rapidly more professional as she started asking questions about the injuries and the pain. Keaton listened along, connecting and translating any rough phrasing Eli used to medical terms the nurse provided when her power cooperated. Being helpful helped calm her down, and she gradually managed to still the phone in her trembling hands. It was comforting to be in control again, at least somewhat.

As the questioning went on, Amelia appeared, announcing her plan, and Keaton stared at her, realizing that she’d forgotten how viable an option that was.

“How many people can you teleport with you? Eli should go to help the doctors figure out where and how much brain damage there is, and someone needs to keep applying pressure on the wound,” she said, eyes flicking to Lynn. Just because Amelia was willing to see Gennedy didn’t mean Lynn was.
In Pokemon Chrome: The International League → 5 yrs ago Forum: Casual Roleplay
@Sho Minazuki Might be busy for a spell longer but how's the CS look?

—Leslie ‘Essie’ Hietz—
In The Promise - Second Star to the Right, and Straight on 'til Morning. → 5 yrs ago Forum: Casual Roleplay
Keaton Plasse

Ten—that was pretty early. Really early. Was it surprising? Yes, in that Keaton couldn’t really imagine drinking at such a young age. Drinking around her dad only became normal once it came out that she drank; before that, it was sneaking around curfew and popping mints as she did her best to sober up before arriving home, but those were all late teens antics, not preteen ones. High school PSAs about alcohol affecting brain growth came to mind, the thought dwelling as Keaton stared at Lynn. If Lynn knew what she was thinking, Keaton would probably get a burn or two, but drunk Lynn didn’t seem as attentive as sober Lynn. Pity would go over her head, then, especially with Keaton’s poker face, which was honestly better when she had another emotion to distract herself with.

In this case, the distraction was her other two jello shots, and she pulled a grin as she swallowed the second, the tang of vodka biting past the off-fruit aftertaste of the jello as she watched Lynn address Fish. Amelia and Eli weren’t as caught up in Lynn’s words as she was, though, and Keaton took a hint from them, downing her last jello shot and turning her attention on the newcomer, who identified himself as Gen, or Zack, with choppy English. Wearing a collared shirt to a campground party marked him as either a guy looking to get laid or socially awkward, and his marked hesitation as he introduced himself had Keaton place him as the latter. His bow marked him as some sort of Asian, east instead of south, so mixed. Black? Keaton did a double-take, looking Gen over. He was tall, but she was generalizing now.

Lynn purporting that tequila would solve the language barrier made Keaton crack a laugh, though she sobered up as Amelia piped up about wanting the complete tale of ten-year-old Lynn and whiskey. Staying silent as Lynn fumbled with her cigarette, she watched, only tuning in fully when she heard Cara’s name. Out came Eli’s phone, and Keaton looked at Gen again, frowning as he spoke. How had he survived on the station without learning English? It was basically a mandatory class, and it wasn’t like Cara wasn’t a viable practice partner. Keaton herself had briefly considered learning some Spanish, after hearing Lynn throw it around, but she’d never gotten around to it. For Gen to sound like he was fresh off the boat at this point in time, well, he had to have either holed up in his room or—Cara’s tone. Cara had tones, and her tone hadn’t matched her words fully, didn’t tend to match her words when she had thoughts on the subject. Being on the receiving end of Cara’s penchant for subtly rubbing wins in allowed Keaton to place the tone, and she fixed Gen with a sharp look. He was understood English—had understood everything Eli and Lynn had said even before Cara started translating. He was lying, and Keaton, be it because she felt that it was her responsibility to vet people for Lynn or because she was beginning to feel the buzz of not really wanting to consider or care about why the antisocial boy decided to lie, had no sympathy for liars.

“Hey Cara, how’s Zack doing in his English classes? Well, I assume?” she asked, flashing Gen a bit-too-wide innocent smile. If Lynn hadn’t introduced him, hadn’t implied that she’d be open to considering him a friend, Keaton might have cut him some slack. But Lynn introduced him, and he decided to lie. He was a poser, a fake, a liar who wasn’t afraid to take advantage of someone if it meant he’d be more comfortable. If he’d just told the truth instead of being a spineless idiot, maybe he’d deserve the name ‘Fish,’ but even fish had spines.

The boy next to Eli stepped away, and Keaton suddenly realized that she’d managed to tune him out completely when she focused on Gen. Shit. How strong were those jello shots? She could handle a bit more, but they were hitting. Hard? Kinda. She hadn’t drunk anything in a while—a long while, now that she thought about it, and yeah. Okay. So she had to revise her drinking standards a bit. Big deal.

“Lynn, pour me some tequila,” she said, fully intent on directing the shorter girl back towards the booze table and away from the wannabe fob. Archie and Natalie were there too, along with Nic, now. Maybe if they all left, Gen could get what he wanted: some more alone time.
In Pokémon: Start → 5 yrs ago Forum: Casual Roleplay
Eryn Montero
Trial of Fear || Day 4: Evening || @PlatinumSkink

Sneaking through the maze was rather nerve-racking, even with Eri the Lunatone leading her. Every corner presented a new chance to get spotted, and behind her, the Umbreon showed no signs of letting up. Having it around creeped Eryn out, though she knew from the Umbreon’s Pokedex entry that the unsettling feeling she had about it was just a part of its powers. Still, it didn’t seem to be looking to fight, and Eryn was happy with that much. So they had a silent, fear-striking stalker with glowing rings. They’ve had worse.

Eri froze first, and Eryn peeked around the corner, brows rising when she saw a kid up ahead, yellow shirt, blue cap, and all. Beside him was a Rattata with some red band tied around him, and as soon as he started talking, identifying himself as a part of the trial’s challenges, Eryn grinned, walking up to him.

“Sounds like we’re almost done then,” she said. “Which is good ‘cuz I’m getting hungry.”

Looking at his Rattata curiously when it was brought up, Eryn frowned. Even though it looked like it was raring to go, determination filling every follicle on its body, it didn’t look very strong. What the red ribbon or sash it had on was, Eryn had no idea, and she made an internal note to study some items. From the way the youngster worded his challenge, it was clear that there was something up with this battle, but what was it? The no switching rule meant he fully expected to knock his opponents out, and adding on the healing rule he put forth, it sounded like he was expecting his Rattata to get pretty beat up doing so.

“Trial of F-E-A-R, huh?” she repeated, grinning again. “Bring it.”

Whatever it was, she’d figure it out when it came. The Rattata didn’t look very challenging, and she had no more clues as to what the boy’s brilliant plan was.

“C’mon out, Kylie,” Eryn said, Kylie materializing in front of her. She’d play it safe first. Kylie’s typing made most normal-type attacks useless, and she could tank a hit or two if the kid pulled anything surprising out of his sleeves.

On the field, Kylie looked around for a moment before settling her eyes on the Rattata, a smile playing on her lips. “Maw,” she sang, waving at her opponent, her eyes trained on the red sash the Rattata had around it.

“Let’s go, kid. Kylie, Bite,” Eryn called

On the field, Kylie leaped forward, jaws first. Her teeth wrapped around the mouse, clamping down, and when she let go, Eryn was surprised to see that the Rattata already seemed to be on its last legs. It had seemed rather weak, yes, but she’d given it the benefit of the doubt since there was no way such a weak Pokemon could beat any of her Pokemon, nevermind her whole team. In fact, she was surprised it was still standing when a slight breeze looked capable of blowing it over.

Then came the reveal—Endeavor. The dots connected, and Eryn’s mouth dropped, her eyes wide as she watched the kid command a follow-up Quick Attack to knock Kylie out entirely. With a measly hit that couldn’t have hurt any of her team on a good day, the Rattata took Kylie down, crumpling the Mawile.

On her side of the field, Eryn spluttered, recalling Kylie with some amount of disbelief as the youngster healed his Rattata up. The red sash—it had to be. It’d prevented Kylie from knocking the Rattata out, thus opening her up for Endeavor and Quick Attack. In short, it was brilliant, but Eryn was a bit too annoyed to tell the boy so. Cheap tricks and rules established in good faith were what had led Kylie to get knocked out so easily, and Eryn didn’t like it one bit. This wasn’t a real strategy—wasn’t a strategy anyone could use anywhere except in this battle, where switching was barred and items were allowed in an established pause.

Eri the Lunatone drifted over, red eyes boring into Eryn’s, and she sighed, nodding. “Alright, kid. You got me. That was good,” she said, eyes drifting to his Rattata as she pondered her options. She needed something to break his two-move knock-out strategy—something that could hit faster than the Rattata’s Quick Attack, something that could knock the Rattata out before it could execute its two-step plan. A ranged move? Dei could jockey Smokescreen and Ember, smoke the Rattata into missing and take it out with a second Ember before it could get close enough for a Quick Attack. Or was it Peri and Rock Tomb to hinder the Rattata and allow her to get in the final hit as the Rattata took its time climbing over rocks? The red band—that was key to the boy’s success, so something that could get around it would solve the problem.

“Hold up, Eri,” Eryn said, grinning as she looked to her resident shapeshifter, whose blank, stoney face communicated no emotion whatsoever as he turned to her. “Multi-hits—you know the one.”

Registering her words, Eri's eyes glowed in understanding, and he drifted onto the field, hovering a foot or so above the Rattata on his side of the field. Behind him, Eryn was all grins again. Thinking fast in a pinch indeed.

“Alright, kid. I better get something for beating you in this game of wits!” she called. “Eri, sic ‘im!”


In Naruto: Odyssey → 5 yrs ago Forum: 1x1 Roleplay
Team Six
Morning || Land of Fire: Konohagakure

A year had passed since he'd urged the genin to seek out tutors in their specific areas. They'd improved far beyond his expectations and when they did a mission here or there, it was nice to see how much they'd grown. This was what he loved about being a sensei, but it also made him weary. Soon enough his students wouldn't need him anymore and he wasn't sure he was ready for that. He wouldn't be there to protect them. His own team had changed considerably since his genin days. He'd lost his sensei and nearly one of his teammates. Minoru didn't want that to happen to them.

After some deliberation with Azumi, they'd come to the conclusion that they needed to get a picture of his team. Now would be the best time. In another six months they'd be approaching the application submission date for the Chunin Exams. He had faith in his kids that they'd make it through. If not there was always next year. It was barely even spring; snow was still on the ground but the beginnings of buds formed on the trees and new shoots of grass were trying to push their way up through the snow.

The sound of snow crunching from behind him caught his attention and he turned towards the sound. They were meeting at their usual spot not too far from the training grounds. Minoru had to look down in order to look at Koharu as she approached. While the kids were almost fourteen, she was still as short as she had been when he first met her. He'd asked them to dress nicely for this, as it was a special occasion. Koharu was dressed in a white long sleeve shirt with her clan symbol on the back and the hem of her sleeves was the same bright blue as her clan symbol. Her pants were much the same as they always were--basic black and slightly baggy. The sash around her hips matched the hem of her shirt and clan symbol and he was unsurprised to see her sword hanging from it.

He pat her head gently, fixing a stray lock of pale hair. "Was that necessary?" She asked with a hint of amusement lacing her words and expression. Koharu untied her braids and fixed her hair.

"Sorry. We're just waiting for the other two. Where's your shawl?"

"Home. It's warming up."With her training the use of her ice came easier and with it was a growing tolerance for the cold. She wasn't immune, no one in her clan was, but they got used to the feeling of cold when they could create ice.


Kazuhiko arrived just a few minutes early, and though he was unsurprised to find both his sensei and one of his teammates already there, he felt a twinge of guilt for not leaving earlier. While he’d been ready to leave a few minutes earlier than he did, his mother had elected to stop him, fussing over the collar of his black vest and the cuffs of the grey long sleeve he wore inside. As always, Kazuhiko had grown during the past year, and though he still fit his everyday clothes reasonably well, his mother had insisted on having new formal clothes tailored.

“The future heir deserves the best, ought to look his best,” she’d chided when he voiced his doubt, and just like that, the argument ended.

His new formal clothes weren’t so different from his old ones; all the key pieces were in place, from the Taketori symbol on the back of the vest to the small detailing trailing down the sleeves. The only real difference was that this set was slightly looser on him, held together by the belt that looped around his black pants into which his shirt was tucked. It was this slight upsizing that had prompted his mother’s fussing in the morning, but when asked, she’d merely smiled at him, patting his shoulder. “It’s in case you grow more next year,” she’d said, “so please do.”

“Good morning, Minoru-sensei, Koharu,” Kazuhiko said as he joined the pair in the snow. It was a bit chilly out, he noted, and both he and Minoru were more bundled up than Koharu was, which was more interesting than surprising. As a member of a clan from the Land of the Snow, Koharu had often talked about her memories of her previous village, which had always interested Kazuhiko. Despite the superiority that Konoha was often regarded with by his clan, none of the other villages seemed too different, if not a bit more adapted to their surroundings.

“I’m coming!” came a lively shout that Kazuhiko had come to associate with Natsuko, who dashed over, her feet crunching through the melting snow.

“Good morning, did you miss me?” she asked with a grin, looking between Kazuhiko and Koharu. “Ohh, Kazu-kun, you got taller again. Hmph, I thought the bit I grew would finally shine, but no, you had to go and grow again, huh,” she said as she stood beside him, tracing the distance between the top of her head and the top of his. “And you grew more than me too? What a surprise.”

Her dry smile hooked upwards again as she hopped through the snow to stand beside Koharu, her hand tracing her height to a hover over the pale-haired girl. “Hey, at least Haru-chan didn’t outgrow me too. Wait, did you grow at all, Haru-chan?” she asked, tracing her teammate’s lack of height again. “I feel like... you were this tall before...”

Looking back at Kazuhiko, she grinned, hopping over to his other side. “Kazu-kun, stand over here,” she said, giving him a shove that took him by enough surprise to send him stumbling so that he stood beside Koharu, “so that I can see better. And, yep, yep, the height difference is even bigger now.” She shook her head, sighing dramatically. “You two are going to end up with giants and midgets when you have kids.”

“W-what?” Kazuhiko managed, eyes wide, but Natsuko was already onto the next thing.

“Minoru-sensei, where are we taking the photos?” she asked, flourishing the silky purple blouse she wore. “I stole this thing from my sister’s closet just for the picture, so we better be taking it.”

She giggled, patting down her sleeves, around which her clan symbol was repeated in a near-white band. “As long I return it before tonight, she won’t know a thing,” she said, winking at Koharu.


Minoru didn't know what to do beyond hide his grin and bubbling laughter behind his fist. Koharu had been glaring at Natsuko when the girl brought up her lack of height. It was obvious that the girl wouldn't ever reach the heights of her teammates. Koharu focused her glare on him, and he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. She had improved the glare over the past year and he felt sorry for anyone else trapped under it. "I grew a half inch!" Koharu said, stomping her foot impatiently. Her growth hadn't been that noticeable, and was made even more apparent when Kazuhiko had been shoved in her direction.

Seeing them side by side made Minoru give a hearty laugh that had him clutching his stomach. His head was tossed back and tears had formed in the corners of his eyes. He didn't comment on her teasing because he knew it would be an insult to injury. He had just laughed at them after all. "By the river-" His words were cut short by Koharu throwing a snowball at him. It hit him in the center of his chest and he looked down at the snow clinging to his clothes before he looked at the girl who had thrown it. Her cheeks were a brilliant shade of red but she was glaring at him. Minoru didn't know that the red on her cheeks was caused more from Natsuko's comment than from his laughing at them.

She didn't think that the girl knew that anything between them would be complicated by the fact that they were both heirs, although society seemed to always favor the women as giving up their positions because they could marry into clans a bit easier than men could. When Minoru turned to lead them away (and so Koharu wouldn't throw another snowball at him) the girl took the opportunity to look up at the boy next to her. He'd grown a lot but she was used to craning her neck to look at him. Her green-gray eyes crinkled at the corners and a small mischievous grin came to her lips. She didn't tease as often as Natsuko did, but she wasn't always stoic.

"If those kids are as cute as you, I wouldn't mind if they were tall or short." Koharu followed after Minoru after that, a little unsure if she crossed a line with that teasing or not. She wasn't Natsuko. And besides she wasn't entirely sure about how she felt about the boy. Koharu enjoyed his company, as she did Natsuko's, but it made her palms sweat when he'd help her when they were up high but she didn't know if that was because she was afraid of heights or because of him. It was fun to see him caught off guard though.

The pale haired girl walked beside Natsuko, hands clasped together. "I like your blouse. It's pretty." Koharu said lamely. Even after all this time she was still a little awkward. "You two have grown a lot this year. I'm just maybe a little jealous."

Minoru led his team to the river, right where there was a small bridge that connected the two sides. It had been around when he was a kid, although he hadn't grown up in Konoha, he had come with his family on occasion. Minoru didn't know who built it but he assumed it was used for training as it was along the border of the training grounds and the start of some residential buildings. The photographer was already there with their camera set on a tripod.

"Okay, kids, who should stand where?" The most obvious choice was Koharu in the middle because she was the shortest and they could all bend to her height. Or perhaps they could have Kazuhiko be in the middle. He could always kneel.


“Thanks, Haru-chan,” Natsuko said with a grin. “Our sleeves match. Sorta,” she said, shrugging as they followed behind Minoru. When they arrived, she looked around, perking up as Minoru asked his question.

“I call middle!” she yelled, bounding through the snow to position herself in the middle of the bridge. When she arrived at the spot, she struck a pose, her hands forming a wide ‘V’. “Ta-da!”

From beside the photographer, her team looked at her with varying shades of amusement and exasperation. Kazuhiko, who looked like he was recovering from being a bit shocked, for some reason, flicked his eyes over before stepping forward.

“Minoru-sensei, maybe you and I can stand on the edges, and then Koharu and me after,” he suggested.

“That’d be good. Makes the middle people look taller, and frames the picture nicely,” the photographer said from where he was setting up the camera.

Natsuko pulled a face. At Kazuhiko’s pointed look, she sighed, rolling her eyes. “Fine, be that way.”

The team took their places, and the photographer finished his last minute adjustments on his camera. “One, two, three, say ‘Chunin,’” he said.


The photographer took quite a few portrait shots: one of the team, one without Minoru, individual portraits, and a few informal shots on the behest of Natsuko, who’d wanted a few ‘fun’ ones. As Kazuhiko quickly found out, this was a set-up to get him and Koharu a ‘couple shot,’ with Natsuko dispelling her clone on the count of three. Improving her skills seemed to have given her more tools to work with when it came to her antics, and Kazuhiko wasn’t sure how he felt about that. On one hand, he was happy that she was getting better, and it was clear that it’d helped her smooth out her confidence, which was geared only towards non-jutsu-related things before. On the other, she now had a whole repertoire of options in terms of her plots, and Kazuhiko wasn’t looking forward to seeing what she could come up with chunin and jonin-level skills, if she ever decided to invest the time and learn those.

Thinking of shinobi ranks and the future reminded Kazuhiko of the countdown until Team Six would informally disband. He’d heard many a story of how teammates grew apart after passing the exams, and as much as he wanted his team to be the outlying statistic in this case, there were statistics and sayings for a reason. Whether or not they’d pass the exam was a non-issue; he and Koharu were among the strongest in their year, and as presumptuous as that thought was, he had full confidence that Natsuko would manage to pass with them, even if that meant just scraping by. She was working on her skills, for once, and in a way Kazuhiko was forced to reevaluate his opinion of her as the team’s slacking prankster. In a way, he was surprised he hadn’t realized her potential sooner: The intensity with with she tackled her training was the same as the focus and creativity she used to devise her various antics. A simple change in application would make all the difference, and he had to wonder what kind of shinobi she would go on to be if she applied herself.

On the other hand, he understood Koharu fairly well. As a fellow heir, she was like him: The prisitine face of their clan, who was expected to be close to perfect and the strongest they could be. Mistakes would be tolerated but not accepted, and pressure and expectations were always nipping at their heels. Was this shared experience why they got along well, then? Was it why he felt closer to her, felt like he could confide more in her?

As the team walked towards Minoru’s, Kazuhiko looked down at Koharu, who was chatting with Natsuko about the local going-ons. Natsuko easily commanded the conversation, but Koharu wasn’t as quiet as she’d been at one point in his memory. Where he remembered her being steamrolled by Natsuko in the past, she now held her ground, even shooting Natsuko glares when they butted heads. She was changing—for the better. And Kazuhiko admired that.


Minoru's house had not changed much aside from the addition of toys and little sandals by the front door. The yard now had a fence to keep in Kazuha, who was walking now. Azumi and their daughter were outside playing in the snow. Kazuha was bundled up more so than Azumi. The little girl had difficulty in bending due to all the layers she was wearing. Her little nose was red and running. "Say 'hi' to everyone!" Azumi said to the girl, smiling when Kazuha offered a clumsy wave. The little girl looked a lot like her mother although the shape of her eyes and nose were Minoru's features.

Kazuha stumbled towards them, almost as if she was racing towards them as she pulled her mother along. Koharu smiled and squatted down with her arms outstretched towards the child. Kazuha let go of Azumi's fingers and launched herself into Koharu's arms. The genin missed the surprised expression of her sensei and his wife. That had been the first steps Kazuha had taken unassisted and she hadn't fallen. The little girl in her arms was smiling widely, pale violet eyes locking to hers. Kazuha loved the genin, as she always got excited to see them, but Koharu knew that she and Natsuko couldn't compete with Kazuhiko.
She scooped the child up and took her to them.

"How are you feeling, Azumi-san?"

"Fine. Just pains that I'm used to!" The woman smiled as she came to stand with the group. She was pregnant again (something that Koharu had glared at her sensei for) and at just a few months she wasn't really showing all that much. Azumi looped an arm around the pale haired girl once she passed Kazuha off to Natsuko. "How'd the pictures go?"

"Good. I can't wait to see them." Koharu really was excited to have a photo of her friends and sensei. She hoped that they'd all stay in touch when they got older. Koharu intended to keep her promise to her teammates after all. When Kazuha was finally given to Minoru, Azumi took the opportunity to hug the other two genin. She held Natsuko tightly, asking her softly if she had behaved. Minoru was lax when it came to scolding the girl for teasing her teammates, although there had been a few times when Azumi had seen the teasing returned.
Natsuko was a special case. Where her team had parents that were involved in their lives, Natsuko did not. Minoru and her had decided to give Natsuko some stability and guidance that her parents might have overlooked.

"Don't tease them too much, okay? You don't need them to snap at you." Undoubtedly, the slight changes within the other two genin had been cultivated by the girl, even if she didn't know it. Azumi pressed a kiss to Natsuko's temple before letting her go. She hugged Kazuhiko next. It was a shame that he was already taller than Azumi.

When she had hugged everyone, the Hyuuga woman ushered them inside for some hot tea. "I can't believe that you let Koharu go without a coat!" Azumi wasn't happy at seeing the girl in just normal clothes. "She could catch a cold, Minoru!" The jonin was wondering what his chances would be if he ran away from the scolding.

"She said that she wasn't cold!"

"She's a tiny girl! She's probably freezing right now!"

Meanwhile, Koharu and the others were in the living room. Kazuha was playing on the floor with a few blocks. Koharu heard the scolding going on in the kitchen and it made her frown. She wasn't that cold…right? She looked at her hands curiously before looking up at her teammates. "I don't think she realizes that I'm fine…see." Koharu reached out and patted both of her teammates with her cold hands. Too bad that she misjudged how cold her hands really were.


Hearing that Azumi was pregnant again was a bit strange, considering that she’d only just given birth and stopped being pregnant. Natsuko didn’t really know what to think of the whole situation. On one hand, she was happy that everyone else was happy; on the other, Azumi didn’t exactly look comfortable pregnant, and Natsuko had to wonder about her place in the world briefly. Her own mother had started having children younger than Azumi, and though Natsuko had never thought much of it, seeing Azumi go through her pregnancy made Natsuko realize how many years her mother must have spent pregnant. Five—that was longer than she’d been a genin, and perhaps even longer than it’d take her to achieve chunin rank. With five siblings, there was never enough attention and time to go around, and someone was always sidelined. Azumi, though, was only having her second child, so Natsuko figured there was nothing to worry about. Kinda. She’d talked to Koharu about it, who’d convinced her that Minoru was to blame for the whole situation, which was why she’d done her best to mirror Koharu’s glare when her teammate shot one at their sensei.

“Pictures went great!” Natsuko said, hugging Azumi back gently, afraid to make whatever pain the woman was talking about worse. At Azumi’s question, though, she grinned, giggling. “Not too much! Just had a teensy bit of fun.”

After the greeting and hugging finished, Natsuko bouncing between her heels and toes impatiently, waiting to get out of the cold since the coat she wore over her blouse was more for appearances than it was warmth, Azumi herded them into the cozy warmth inside. Natsuko quickly claimed a spot on the ‘best’ couch, sinking into the soft cushions with a contented sigh. One day, she’d buy herself a couch just as soft.

Azumi and Minoru started talking in the kitchen, Azumi’s tone chiding towards a sensei Natsuko could only assume deserved it. Natsuko, though, was busy staring at Kazuha, who was amusing herself with some differently-shaped blocks that Natsuko was amazed could entertain anyone. But, then again, she herself had been endlessly entertained with a hand-me-down toy tea set from one of her older sisters, so maybe it wasn’t too strange after all.

Koharu distracted her by starting on about her hands, which Natsuko knew were never warm. What she didn’t know, though, were that they’d literally turned into ice cubes.

With a high-pitched squeak, Natsuko flinched away from her teammate’s cold touch. On the couch across from her, Kazuhiko stiffened dramatically, suddenly shooting stick straight.

“Yeesh, Haru-chan. Just ‘cuz you don’t feel it doesn’t mean you’re not cold,” Natsuko said, shaking her hand out. “Must be nice never getting cold.”

“It’s an adaptation. Just like how you’ve gotten used to yelling while you practice your wind jutsu and I’m able to handle my electricity for short amounts of time, and at low voltages,” Kazuhiko said, rubbing his hand. “Do you really not get cold though, Koharu?”



"I do...it just takes a while. We can still get frostbite too. But that's why a lot of the adults wear gloves." She said, looking between her teammates. Koharu wasn't yet to the level that she needed to wear gloves but in a few years she probably would adopt gloves into her clothing. Some of the adults, like her dad, didn't wear gloves. It was more preference than anything else. "I'm still learning to control it." It would get better with age, or so she was told. Truthfully because she was the heir there was more pressure placed on her to advance her skills rapidly compared to the other members of her clans. Her brothers, although not heirs themselves, had been in similar positions. Koharu folded her hands into her lap and looked at the far wall, just a little bit nervous that someone (namely Azumi) would come to wrap her up in a multitude of blankets.

"Tell me more about how your training has gone?" They only told each other so much, and she was curious about the amount of training each of them had done. She lived with her 'new' teacher so she felt as if every waking moment at home was spent training. There were several new callouses to prove it. Thankfully the blisters had healed. The bandages always were a pain to deal with. Her father was a harsh teacher but she enjoyed the lessons. Osamu was a man who didn't show much, and in that regard Kazuhiko reminded her of him greatly, but training was their bonding time.

In the kitchen the two adults had abandoned their bickering in favor of watching the genin. They poked their heads out from the kitchen, watching them all. They'd seen Koharu press her hand to those of her teammates and their reactions. The look of shock that came over all three of their faces had been priceless. As the conversation drifted towards training, Azumi spoke. "She seems to compare her training to theirs a lot, doesn't she?"

"Yes."

"Is she trying to compete with Kazuhiko?" Azumi didn't see any signs of competition between them but they were both reserved enough to hide a lot. (As she knew from experience.)

[Color=darkgray]"I don't think so. Those two can go toe to toe. Their practice sparring matches last a long time. I usually take a nap-"

WHACK

Minoru rubbed the spot on his head from where she'd smacked him. "You let them fight unsupervised? Their both heirs, Minoru. If they get hurt-"

"Kazuhiko is protective over the girls. He won't hurt them, and Koharu doesn't use her real sword when practicing with them." He'd been curious when she'd brought a practice sword, one lacking a dull edge and made of bamboo instead of metal. It still hurt when hit by it though.


“Same old same old,” Natsuko said, waving a hand. “Minoru said I’m finally close to mastering all the basics, thank god. I’m probably close to going to find a tutor to start getting special treatment like you two.”

Across from her, Kazuhiko seemed to still be in thought, his eyes on Koharu’s hands. Then, noticing Natsuko’s amused stare, he glanced away briefly, then back to her and Koharu. In one word? Absolutely adorable.

“I’m still working with Atomu, the clan tutor I told you about. He’s been training me on my sensaigan, mostly on basics right now,” Kazuhiko said, shooting a pointed glance at Natsuko as he spoke. “It’s a lot more training instincts and habits to lay the right foundation for future jutsu, and for speed, since that’s a big part of using sensaigan in battle.”

Natsuko pulled a face at Kazuhiko’s words, sticking her tongue out at him. As usual, the oh-so-cool genin ignored her, forcing her to listen along as he continued or risk being left out of the conversation, which Natsuko absolutely hated. Sure she probably had better things to do than listen to Kazuhiko drone on and on about his tutoring sessions, about which bunches of nerves connected to which bunches of muscle and all that, as interesting as it didn’t sound. Okay, so, she probably could have listened to that part, but the current part about how foot placement and arm placement was important? She could do without that. Minoru had already covered all she needed and wanted to know about posture, and she wasn’t about to listen to Kazuhiko become a more drab and dry version of her favorite sensei.

“But yeah, nothing too exciting, yet,” he said, rubbing his hands together. “I’m also still trying and failing to get Hidemi, our dojo master, to tutor me. He’s the strongest in our clan, or so everybody has said since forever. I mean, he’s older now, and I don’t think he’s been out on a mission in years, and,” he sighed, looking between Koharu and Natsuko, “he’s pretty against the idea of tutoring me.”

“Oh! This is the geezer who called you ‘boring,’ right?” Natsuko asked, grinning. Kazuhiko winced, nodding, but she was on a roll. “Hah! I love it! I need to meet him sometime—he sounds fun! Or boring. Probably boring, huh, since he’s a tutor and all that? And he doesn’t go on missions? What does he do all day then?”

Kazuhiko was silent for a moment, and Natsuko could almost imagine the gears in his head, winding and grinding as they hit the snag of—“I, well,” he started, shaking his head, “I don’t know.”

“Oh, wow, Kazuhiko doesn’t know? Must be a real mystery then. Unsolvable, even,” Natsuko said, clasping her forehead with a hand. “Whatever will we do? He called our local genius, Kazu-kun, boring!”

Kazuhiko shot her a very unamused look, and after a moment of internal gloating—because, hah, take that, how do you like a taste of your own medicine you broody string bean—Natsuko had to admit that she’d kinda overplayed the joke. Saying her boring team member was boring was only funny for so long.

“So, Haru-chan, how’s training been for you?” Natsuko asked.

As she did, Kazuha seemed to have noticed Kazuhiko, approaching him with a block in hand. Surprisingly or not, Kazuhiko attracted everyone under the age of ‘coherent’ to him for some reason. Babies loved him. Now, Natsuko wasn’t saying that she’d want babies approaching her all the time, but she at least wanted to know what it was about her gangly teammate that drew the blubbering masses to him like flies. Was it that he was tall and reminded them of their parents? Or was it that he was often in dark colors?

“Another baby down for the count,” she muttered, watching as Kazuhiko struggled to get Kazuha to stack her blocks on the coffee table. Pointing, gesturing, and inventing new forms of communication when words failed—what was fun about that? No idea, because Natsuko had never had to try.



Green-gray eyes crinkled in the corners as she watched her teammate and Kazuha. "My training is fine. My father is harsh and more often than not I've got bruises and open blisters on my palms but it's...amazing. Sounds odd, right, that I'm praising such harsh training...but my clan has passed down these techniques for generations and I'm finally learning them like my ancestors did." Koharu didn't outwardly show much of her enthusiasm for the subject aside from the way she clenched her hands together to stifle the desire to show off. Koharu didn't know if her teammates or even their sensei understood how harsh her training really was or how proud she was to have learned such techniques.

"Babies always like the awkward ones." She teased Kazuhiko. It was adorable how attached Kazuha was to him. "Play peek-a-boo with her, Kazu-kun. You look like you're scared of the blocks." Koharu leaned back on her palms in a rare display of carelessness. At home she was expected to be proper but here she knew that they didn't care about that. The habit was hard to break though so more often than not Koharu was often sitting in rigid postures that were pretty uncomfortable.

"They've grown so much." Azumi said, although it didn't need to be said. It just wasn't that they had grown physically, all of them seemed a little more sure about themselves and their abilities. Even Natsuko did. She'd often listen to her husband talk about the improvements the genin was making. Seeing the change in the other two was just a bit harder. They'd always been above Natsuko in skill but now she was starting to catch up. "I wonder how they'll be as adults." She crossed her arms, smiling as she watched Kazuha trying to get Kazuhiko to stack her blocks with her.

She glanced at her husband, finding him preoccupied with his thoughts. "Minoru?"

"Hm?"

"Are you okay?"

He nodded. The man had simply been thinking of how his team was almost ready to take the exams. They were getting closer each month. He wouldn't hold them back but he didn't want to let them go. Minoru took his wife's hand and led her into the living room.

Koharu looked up at them with an easy smile on her face. Azumi let go of her husband's hand and grabbed a blanket off the back of the couch. She draped it over the pale haired girl and kissed her on the temple. "You need to get warm." Azumi said, finding the way the girl's cheeks flared red to be adorable.

Minoru chuckled at the display. He knew the girl wouldn't argue with his wife over needing to get warm.

"Yes Azumi-san." She looked at her teammates for help.


That Koharu’s uncle was strict wasn’t surprisingly. From what Kazuhiko recalled of the gruff-voiced man, Osamu was proud and stoic—as clan heads tended to be. Though some mellowed out when not actively performing clan duties, but Osamu clearly fell into the group that didn’t, the group that lived and breathed their leadership because it was as much a part of them as it was their responsibility. Kazuhiko could only hope he’d be as consistent as Osamu when the time came.

At Koharu’s comment, Kazuhiko’s eyes widened. She was… teasing him. She was just teasing him. And offering him advice. Good advice. He’d take it.

“Okay,” he said, nodding and turning to face Kazuha head-on. The little girl’s eyes were bright as they darted between everything close to her, and she wielded a block in each hand, a third on the table. Kazuhiko took a breath, then covered his eyes with both hands. Next… “Peekaboo,” he said, opening his hands to either side like a pair of double doors.

The motion caught Kazuha’s attention, and she zeroed in on him, pausing. He repeated the action, his ‘peekaboo’ pitching up slightly this time. Kazuha smiled, uttering a happy-sounding cry, and Kazuhiko repeated the motion again. Each time he did, Kazuha seemed to go through the same moment of happiness, as if discovering that his eyes being uncovered was the greatest thing she’d seen. Her raw enthusiasm was touching, and he felt his heart warm as she continued bouncing between surprise and delight.

“How does she not get bored of this?” Natsuko asked, brows knit. Kazuhiko chose to ignore her comment in favor of Kazuha, who was now raising the blocks she held at Kazuhiko, mumbling incoherent noises.

“Yeah? Blocks?” he asked, putting his hands out. Instead of giving him the blocks, though, Kazuha walked towards him, falling into his hands and forcing him to catch her. When she didn’t make any move to stand again, he got the hint, hefting her up onto his lap.

“There,” he said, exhaling as Kazuha clapped her blocks together excitedly from her new vantage point. “Thanks, Koharu,” he said, flashing the girl a grateful smile.

At this point, Azumi arrived with a blanket for Koharu, who looked to him and Natsuko with pleading eyes.

“Ah, Azumi-san, I think Koharu managed to warm up already,” Kazuhiko said, looking to Azumi. On his lap, Kazuha noticed her mother, reaching out for her mother with her blocks.

“Yeah, but I’m still a bit chilly, so I’m just gonna,” Natsuko said, lifting the blanket from Koharu and swinging it around so that it wrapped around her instead. “Ah, yep, nice and toasty. This is what I needed.”



Seeing Kazuhiko playing with Kazuha had made the older man smile. It was nice to see the boy be something other than serious for a change. Minoru hid his laughter behind his fist when Kazuhiko pitched his voice. He didn't know just how they'd gotten Kazuhiko to do that. It was unlikely that Natsuko had pushed him to play peekaboo. That only left Koharu. Minoru wondered if she'd simply offered the advice on how to entertain the child. That's what he got for spacing out and thinking how they'd not be his kids soon enough. They'd still be his kids but they wouldn't need him anymore.

"Well Kazuha is a year old. They like anything at that age." He told Natsuko, choosing a spot next to her on the couch. As Kazuha was passed off to her mother, he watched the other two genin and he'd noticed something interesting, and definitely something heartwarming. As Kazuhiko thanked Koharu, he'd noticed that the girl's cheeks turned a faint shade of pink. Minoru didn't draw attention to that, simply because he knew that the girl would probably freeze the floor and his wife would blame him for it.

"You're welcome." Her attention was snagged by Natsuko taking the blanket and she was grateful for the distraction. Koharu knew that they could see her cheeks coloring. She didn't know why but his smile had set her heart picking up its pace and blood rushing into her cheeks. Maybe it was because he didn't smile much at all. Yeah, that was definitely why she'd blushed. "Wear a thicker jacket, Susu." Koharu said, watching the other girl wrap herself with the blanket. Koharu wondered why the girl has chosen a thin jacket despite the cold. While her words were blunt, it didn't mask the fact that she did care about Natsuko's health. Koharu had a higher tolerance for the cold but none of her teammates did.

As things grew comfortable, Azumi laid her daughter down for a nap and when she got back she'd taken the girls into the kitchen so they could help her cook. Azumi pointed out that they'd need to cook for their families one day.
Koharu made a face at that. While she wanted a family one day she didn't know when that would happen. Her clan would want a marriage that brings an advantage, they just had to wait for her to get older. Despite her age, it had been something brought up a few times already at clan meetings. Her dad was really good at making everyone shut up about marriage at those clan meetings.

Minoru was sitting quietly with Kazuhiko, looking a tad bit uncomfortable for some reason. "Kazuhiko...you're getting to that age when you're probably starting to notice girls…" He was uncomfortable with this but he felt it was necessary; Kazuhiko was growing up and he was on the same team as two girls. "Or other boys, if that's more your preference...and that's fine! You just need to be safe with anyone that you-."

From the kitchen he could see a head of pale hair sticking out of the doorway. "That's not something that you discuss in a living room with three girls in the next room, sensei." Koharu said, giving her teammate a look of sympathy. Ouch this was a painful talk. "And you're probably the last person to give this kind of talk anyway. You can't talk about being safe when you've knocked your wife up twice already."

The glare that she was giving made him freeze up. Koharu disappeared back into the kitchen with poorly concealed giggles once she was hidden behind the wall. A yelp a short time later let Minoru know that Koharu hadn't escaped the wrath of his wife.


Koharu’s cheeks colored at his comment—or did he imagine it? Were her cheeks always vaguely pink? It could have been the cold—he couldn’t be sure it wasn’t. Koharu didn’t get cold, said she wasn’t cold, but they’d been outside in the snow earlier. It was probably that, then.

“I will, when we’re not taking pictures,” Natsuko said, sticking her tongue out at Koharu when the girl responded. Kazuhiko didn’t really know what to make of the comment; looking your best was important, he figured, but so was staying healthy. Personally, he valued comfort more than appearances, though both were taken care of by his mother and the tailor she’d hired. Where he’d gotten his clothes personally made for him, Natsuko had filched something from her sister’s closet. The subtle differences between their lives astounded him at times, and as much as he knew it was unfair that he got better treatment as the clan heir, he also understood it. He’d want every clan heir—Koharu, Mariko, or his own in the future—to get every opportunity that could be afforded to them. They were key to the success of their clan, and as uncomfortable as the thought was, they needed special treatment.

“But,” Natsuko continued, a mischievous grin spreading across her face, “say, Haru-chan, is it just me or are you blushing?”

What happened next, Kazuhiko felt that Natsuko deserved it. A little ice here and there never hurt, especially when his most cheeky teammate was concerned. After he helped Azumi lay Kazuha down for a nap, his teammates went to the kitchen, and Minoru called him over to the couch. He waited expectantly as his sensei sat in silence, wondering what Minoru wanted to say.

"Kazuhiko...you're getting to that age when you're probably starting to notice girls…"

Kazuhiko froze, eyes wide. What—what was this first sentence? He’d heard from boys on other teams of the dreaded ‘talk,’ but it seemed that parents usually handled it. When their team leaders did, it always seemed to be in jest, as a passing comment in case they needed a reminder or a jibe. But Minoru was doing it here, now, in his home and with Kazuhiko’s teammates in the next room over. If Kazuhiko was one to jump up and change the topic, he would, but instead he sat there in shocked awe.

A voice from the kitchen doorway interrupted Minoru, and Kazuhiko was horrified to see Koharu peeking out at them, an amused smile on her face. Of all people, her? She was the most attentive, yes, and the one who’d tease him the least, maybe, depending on how confident she was and how much Natsuko had rubbed off on her, but why her?

“What? What is it?” Natsuko asked, poking her head out as well. Her eyes darted between Minoru and himself, a grin forming on her face as she connected the dots. Kazuhiko could literally see the cogs turning in her head as she worked out each piece of the puzzle, and he was so, so thankful when Koharu pulled her away. Their trailing giggles prompted a sense of embarrassment that made his cheeks feel warm, but he stifled the shame and shot Minoru a hard, decisive, and pleading look.

“Minoru-sensei, can we talk about this some other time?” he asked. “Please.”


“He was getting the talk right? That’s why both he and Minoru-sensei looked so uncomfortable, right?” Natsuko asked before dissolving into another fit of giggles. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen either of them look so uncomfortable! Man, this will be great. I can tease him for months about this! Minoru deserves a hug for helping me out.”

And it was true. While Kazuhiko was unshakable in many ways, he’d always had a weak spot: Girls. During their academy days, it was any girl he had contact with, and he talked to quite a few back when he was the class prodigy who helped passed back tests. When he got used to that, it was Mariko, who’d been equally annoyed about it at first. When they started being able to brush it off, Mariko playing along at times and Kazuhiko ignoring her outright, Natsuko had been left at a loss, but then it was onto Koharu, who was someone Natsuko teased not just because it was funny. Her teammates dating—what a story, what a match. Two heirs who were killing it in the field long before they started coming out of their shells. They’d be the power couple of the year, even the decade, but even that had started to get old. A whole year of teasing them about each other had helped the shock factor wear off, but now? Now, Natsuko had some new ammo: Kazuhiko ‘getting to that age,’ ‘starting to notice girls’ and ‘feel some type of way.’ This, she was sure, was going to be golden.

“The talk, huh,” Azumi said, patting her hands on her apron as she walked over. A faint smile hung on her lips—a smile, Natsuko was beginning to realize, that was a lot scarier than it seemed. “That reminds me, it’s about time that we had a talk too. Your parents haven’t given you two one, I assume”

What should she say? What could she say to get Azumi to stop? No? Would that get her to stop? And—damn it, Koharu, why did she have to be such a goody-two-shoes, telling the truth all the time?

“Well, sit down, girls,” Azumi said, herding them to the kitchen table. Natsuko had clamped her mouth shut, unwilling and relatively unable to find something else to say. Koharu! She was definitely getting some blame for this. Sure it was Natsuko’s own fault, talking so loudly, but Koharu wasn’t getting off scot-free from this either. Now came the punishment.

“Now, where do I start?” Azumi asked, looking between them, and Natsuko briefly wondered whether pretending to faint was a viable option.
In Fire Emblem: Ashes of Sacrifice [Fall of the Empire] → 5 yrs ago Forum: Casual Roleplay
Branna Naves
Lothian Empire: Alymere Fort || Midday

The nonrider finally emerged from the shadows, giving Branna a nod. He would follow her lead, then—or, rather, take note of what she did and do in turn since there was no reason for both of them to head for the same target. As a fellow opportunist, she could respect his craft.

Reaching for her wound, she touched it, let the stinging pain ebb as she retracted her hand, which was only faintly wet with blood. It wasn’t bad, but Branna didn’t like being wounded. Injuries were a nuisance that carried on until after the battle, a reminder of something dead, gone, and eaten by Mors or otherwise. She’d forget about the axe-wielder Mors was working on soon enough, but the nick he’d made on Mors? That, she’d remember. Though his skin was tougher than hers, covered by scales that overlaid each other like armor, he was no less mortal than her, and he bled all the same. As the person leading him into battle, then, it was her responsibility to take care of him, to keep him at flying weight and in hunting condition. Injuries were inevitable, yes, but there was a difference between scrapes and actual injuries. For scrapes that only required a few drops of the vulnerary, Branna wasn’t too concerned. Offended, but not concerned.

Scanning the battlefield, she spotted two more targets available: A swordsman engaged with the lance-wielding mercenary in good graces with the mage, and an axe-wielder heading for the cute little archer girl, who was now backed up by one of the group’s healers. Of the two mercenaries, the lancer seemed like he had things more under control, so the axe-wielder it was. No reason to let Mors’ wingspan go to waste.

“Mors,” Branna croaked, peeking over the wyvern’s shoulder to gauge how far along he was in his meal. “Axe.”

Still chewing, Mors raised his head to look at his next target, straightening as he spotted the axe-wielder. Opening his wings, he boosted himself up, Branna grinning on his back. How many bandits would it take to fill him up, Branna could only guess. Keeping count of how much he ate could be done after the battle—after they tore through the axe-wielder and the rest of the bandits in the fort.
_________________________

Status: Scathed
Class: Wyvern Flier
Exp: 30/100
Inventory:
  • Iron Spear (3/3)
  • Vulnerary (3/3)

In Pokémon: Start → 5 yrs ago Forum: Casual Roleplay
Eryn Montero
Trial of Fear || Day 4: Evening || @PlatinumSkink

“Good job, Peri! C’mon back!” Eryn yelled, recalling the Onix as she ran. On her head, Dei was belching Embers freely, lighting up the forest with every burst of flame. Though the plan had been to set fire to the forest, the Arbok on pursuit was Dei’s main target at the moment, and because of that Eryn focused on putting what distance she could between her team and the poison-type.

Bursting out from the grey edges of Dei’s Smokescreen, Eryn dashed through the forest, still avoiding the Sableye around her, which were moths to Dei’s flame. Their eyes gleamed in the darkness, a starry background as Eryn ran ahead, then… nothing. The forest ended, and the Sableye’s attacks with it. Ahead, the moonlight revealed a rocky landscape speckled with floating rocks she could just make out over the top of the stone walls.

“A maze?” Eryn asked, looking to her left and right. There didn’t seem to be anywhere else to go except in, and Eryn grinned. “Alright, let’s see how fast we can solve a maze.”

Jogging forwards, Eryn peeked out the first corner, then quickly retracted her head. There’d been something past the corner—something floating with glowing red eyes. Fetching her Pokedex, she poked its camera out past the edge, waiting as the Pokemon popped up on the screen. Lunatone. A pokemon literally shaped like a moon. Classy.

Making another peek past the corner, Eryn saw that the Pokemon had moved, but not towards her. Rather, it was heading back down the aisle it’d come from. On the other hand, a second Lunatone was headed over from the left aisle, its eyes pointed straight ahead. It was almost as if they were coordinating their movements. Patrolling. They were patrolling the maze.

“Arceus, how many Pokemon does the Trial Master have?” Eryn muttered, hiding back behind the corner when the second Lunatone started turning. The first was already out of sight, and if she assumed that the Lunatone were heading in the same direction, the second would be heading back the way it came in a second or two.

“Right, this is a stealth exercise. Gotta sneak past the Lunatone patrols,” Eryn said, looking behind her to where Kylie and Eri were, the latter still her doppelganger. The dots connected, and Eryn grinned.

“Hey, Eri, what do you say about some Lunatone spy games?” Eryn asked, grinning and waving herself over. The Zorua walked over with wary eyes, though he copied her grin perfectly. Together, the mismatched pieces clashed horribly, but Eryn figured that was intentional. Eri had spent too much time watching her to get such minor details wrong.

“There, the Lunatone. Copy that and lead the way for us. Me peeking over every corner is gonna get us caught sometime, and I don’t think the Lunatone will suspect one of their own,” Eryn said, looking back down to scroll through her Pokedex. “Nope, nothing about communicating with each other or anything. I think we’re good.” She paused, glancing at Kylie. “Right, I think the fewer bodies we have for this, the better. I’m going to return you two, Kylie, Dei, and let you guys out when we get past this maze. Okay?”

Dei and Kylie nodded, Kylie’s smile curiously close to a smirk as she looked at Dei, who didn’t seem too pleased to be hearing that he was to be returned. Still, he took it like a champ, disappearing into his Pokeball in silence, thankfully.

“Right, Eri. Lead the way,” Eryn said, indicating the way ahead with a grin. Eri, now a Lunatone with glowing red eyes that were slightly less unsettling than the real deal, did, mimicking the Lunatone’s straight, streamline movements as they headed through the maze.


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