Starring:
Shikoge, Itami
Date: July 13, 2014
Summary:
Rubble is being torn apart to be used for materials to reshape the former San Sara-Durata into a new village. One to inspire hope and bring change to the Land of Wind as a whole. However, not all goes as planned as the work deviates into a battle between boy and dragon.
"Breaking New Ground - Starting from Scratch"
Ruins of San Sara-Durata
Today should be the start of something new and different! A project that should change the face of this area, but nothing starts without first breaking ground. Though, it's not the ground that necessarily needs breaking more so than the larger pieces of the ruins. So, she calls in someone that she thinks would be a professional for this thing. "Shikoge," Itami stated his name. "Your blade is unbreakable, correct?" She inquired. "If so, then I'll need you to cut through some of these larger pieces of rubble. We need to break down some of this so we can get it moved out of here and clear this place for some construction," she explained. "Since you seem so keen on striking things, I figured you could do this much."
Strange…it was snowing today. Lightly, but it was enough. The weather was fairly chilly and enough clouds had gathered to allow flakes to fall. Some rested on the sand while other pieces melted. Itami wasn't sure what to make of it, but at least it was a more refreshing sight than seeing blowing sand all the time.
"What kind of construction?" Shikoge questioned as he walked up to some of the larger pieces of rubble, inspecting it for hopes it might be valuable in some way. Though none of it really seemed to interesting as he walked around the rubble, pushing on some of it while climbing on others until finding a good spot. Standing high above Itami, snow landing lightly upon his form, sticking briefly to his head and shirt before melting away. "What is this place anyways?" Looking about the area from his high perch, trying to spot some sort of treasure out of all this garbage.
"This place is not important," Itami waved it off. "Well, not what it used to be, anyway." Her enthusiasm disappeared in favor of a slightly disdainful tone. "This place will be something new. Something that will be of some future importance to Sunagakure and the Land of Wind as a whole," she explained. "So we need to work towards this goal as the past has already…passed," she shrugged. "Let's get to work. I'll be working on chopping up some of this rubble myself," she walks a short distance away and proceeds to make single handed seals to summon down blades of wind to cut through the stones.
Shikoge tilted his head slightly, unsure what Itami was trying to say…because she wasn't saying anything. "So Suna approved this?" He asks as he hops down from the rubble and reaches for the blade strapped behind his now shirtless back. "Let me get this straight though." Clutching the blade within both hands, chakra slowly forming before he swings the blade at some rubble that splits in half even though he completely missed. "We're destroying large chunks of rubble, to make smaller rubble. Wouldn't it be easier to take away large chunks?"
"Yes, Suna did approve of this…" If Suna meant herself. "Larger chunks of rubble are incredibly heavy and difficult to move, so we need to cut them into smaller pieces so that they can be carted off. Good pieces can be cut down and reused for materials," she offered in response to his inquiry. "Even shinobi have difficulty lifting things that are hundreds of pounds," she shrugged. "But we'll also be getting civilian help here as well in due time. We need people to be invested and involved in this project. Build up support."
Breaking up rubble was tiring so Shikoge paused briefly to stab his blade into the ground for something to lean up against it as he took his first break of the day. Crossing his arms over his bare chest, the snow flakes melting off his skin, "We wouldn't need to do any of this if we spent more time trying to train the massive sand worms or giant ants that live around the desert. They could do all the heavy lifting and in return we don't kill them." He offered as he glanced toward Itami.
"If you can figure out a way to train sand worms or ants, then come back to me, Shikoge," Itami stated in exasperation as she continued working down the rubble with her wind. "You haven't even worked that long. Why are you taking a break now, you've only just arrived," she grumped. "You can rest later when you've done something of more significance," she looked back at him and his blade. Honestly.
Shikoge laughed aloud as he pushed himself off the sword to point toward Itami, "But I've already figured out how to train them! Don't you remember?" Reaching over to grab the handle of his blade to rest it upon his shoulder, "It's simple in fact. All you must do is…become one with them." Nodding thoroughly as he walked toward another large piece of rubble, raised the blade high above his head and brought it through another piece of rubble. "Using chakra is tiring. Cut me some slack."
"Ah, yes. That moment. That wasn't training, that was acceptance. Remember, you're also the same one that stabbed one in the back and made them angry in the first place," Itami reminded. "All they did was avoid you because you were covered in their…waste," she shuddered. "If they'd known that you were the one that attacked them, you wouldn't have been as lucky. On that note, watch where you swing that blade so you won't cause anything bad to happen. I don't know how it could happen here, but you have ways that I know not of."
"What?" Shikoge asked as he shook his head slowly while walking toward some more rubble, "That's not how it happened at all. With the worms I moved like them, rolling around on the sand and wiggling toward them so the mommy wormt thought I was its young. The ants though, I fell into their bathroom by mistake and when I climbed out, I smelled like them. So they trusted me even as I killed them." He brought his blade around and swung it wide, slicing through several pieces of rubble at once.
"Well, even if that was the case, it still won't do any good for you," Itami states. "There are no worms here…" She pointed out. "And no ant poop for you to fall into," she explains. "So, what will you do now?" She wondered. "Your only option is to keep cutting rubble. Already, I've begun to cut a larger piece down into smaller ones and I'm not tired. Oh, but wait, I don't have a sword, right? Well, okay," she states as she draws out her own blade. "Sword for sword, let's see who can chop the most, hm?"
Shikoge shrugged, "Not here, but next time around I'll probably have one trained. Maybe even that dragon. Seemed pretty trainable." Seeing Itami pull out a sword, he stabs his own into the ground to lean up against it once again. "Swinging a blade doesn't tire me. I just said using chakra is what tires me. You're losing your hearing in your old age. Maybe it's time to retire? Get out of field work and leave it to the younger generation."
Itami's jaw shifted in mild irritation. She seemed trainable?! If she wasn't in her right mind, she'd cut him in half with the blade in her hand. "Dragons are creatures that are notoriously difficult to handle—what do you mean my old age!? I'm not old!" She cut down on a piece of rubble particularly hard and nearly went into another piece. "My hearing is just fine! And the younger generation could learn a thing or two from me! I'm the one that got them here in the first place!"
Shikoge glanced toward Itami, "You got us to ruins? Thanks." He says on behalf of all the younger generations. "Anyways, I'm still pretty sure there should be a better way to dealing with this rubble." Thinking on the matter for a few moments to contemplate a plan. When an idea comes to mind, he makes several hand signs to focus his chakra before bringing a hand to his mouth and exhaling some flames that generate a clone of the boy. The fire clone runs forward, careening into some rubble and exploding.
"No, I didn't…I hate you," Itami huffed. "Always turning my words into something else." She had a hard time evading that trap. As she continued cutting away at the rubble with her blade, she began to hear explosions going off. When she turned to see what was causing them, she had to cover her eyes for any smaller pieces that were jetting out from the blast. "…That's actually a very good idea. Finally, some glimmer of actual thought exists within you!"
Shikoge resituates against his blade and takes in a few shallow breaths, "Sure, but it's so tiring to use chakra." He wasn't sure why, thankfully he had a blade to make up for his weaknesses, "So, maybe you should start blowing things up or something. Be done in no time."
"I suppose I could start blowing things up…" Itami started. "But first, I'm going to take my break." She popped the cork on her bottle and lifted it to her lips to drink from. She then walked away from the site. After a short while of being gone, she comes back trudging along as a hulking dragon. She just needed to test exactly what he meant by being trainable.
Shikoge nodded at Itami, "Breaks are good. You should take a lot of them" He said while he watched her walk away before he turned away and looked off into the distance. Though when she returned or a dragon did in her place, the boy was fast asleep and…pantsless. The light flakes of snow that still fell sticking to his skin only momentarily before melting away.
Itami drew close to Shikoge and saw that he was asleep and…without pants. How did it transition from shirt to pants?! She narrowed her eyes at him and grew frustrated with the events that just unfolded. When she opened her mouth to yell, what instead came out was a roar. She had…almost forgotten which form she took. She wanted to speak to him, but that was out of the question now. At least, while she was yelling…roaring, rather.
After using a few chakra based techniques, Shikoge was in a rather deep sleep and it was unlikely anything would wake him. You know, except for a dragon's roar of course. The moment the booming voice reached the boys ears he toppled over from his vertical sleeping positon and fell to the ground. Dazed and confused, the boy rolled over only to come face to face with a dragon. "You!?!~" He calls out, recognizing the dragon as the one he battled with before. "Come back to finish me off? Well you're too late, I've grown in strength. You had your chance to finish me off." Slowly clambering to his feet and reaching for the handle of his blade, but not pulling it out of the ground. "So begone from here beast or bow to me. Those are your choice if you want to leave here unscathed." His eyes scanning the dragon, noticing the nostrils are still exposed. A nice fleshy spot for his blade to puncture.
Be gone or bow? Those are the choices? That's what he called training? She thinks about this for a few moments as she circles around him. To leave would be that she listened to him and was trained…but to stay would be that she listened and…would be trained. She isn't certain how he does it, but she's been caught in this trap for a second time. Still, she does have the option not to bow and Itami responds by drawing nearer and lowering her head as if to beseech the boy only to sneer and release flames against him.
There was a reason Shikoge didn't pull his blade from the ground and as the dragon let out a stream of flames it showed exactly why. Without missing a beat, the boy quickly shifted behind his blade allowing the flames to hit against his sword and pass over him. When the flames died down Shikoge came out from behind his sword at full charge toward the dragon then jumped into the air to latch on to the dragons face. Moments before doing so, Shikoge suddenly exploded into flames from a bladed gale cast by the real Shikoge standing back where he started, sword in hand and pointing at the dragon.
When Shikoge connected with her face, she began to shake her head to fling him off only for him to explode into a bunch of flames. She snorted to remove any soot left over from his explosion and locked eyes with him and his blade. Raising up to her hind legs, she unfurled her wings and with a strenuous bat, she sent a gale of wind towards him and a plume of dust into the air.
"Big mistake!" Shikoge shouted as he charged the beast with sword poised to strike the soft underside of the dragons belly the moment she raised up on her hindlegs. Though as the wings started to flap and a gust picked up, Shikoge found himself fighting to continue moving forward. He'd stab his blade down in to the ground to help him remain mobile, but the wind was too much and next thing the boy knew he was airborn and flying backwards, stopping only once he crashed into a pile of rubble.
Following up her attack, Itami took off into the air and dove downward toward the rubble to tear more of it apart, seeking out Shikoge to crush him along with it. With a sizeable amount torn apart, she clawed around the area, leaving marks on the standing rubble around her. Whatever met her gaze from afar was met with a large ball of flame and what was behind was lashed apart by her tail. She has to admit, this is a much faster way of doing things.
Crashing into the rubble Shikoge's body buried deep within, leaving him pretty well hidden. Even as the dragon came crashing down on top of him and began to tear up the landscape, the boy somehow managed to avoid being clawed into pieces. It wasn't something that would last long, he was sure. Especially not as he began to focus chakra and with a few hand seals caused the air around the dragon to heat up and rise to scroching temperatures that would hopefully be able to penetrate through the tough scales.
The heat that was building in the atmosphere was easily sensed by Itami. It was rising fast, though. That wasn't normal in these weather conditions. Searing heat danced across the whole of her body and her scales and it almost got through, almost. It got deep enough that she thought to quickly bury herself beneath the sands before it was able to do anymore damage and that was the best move she could've made. Now underneath the ground, she has free range to move about while taking advantage of how cool it is to recover from that sensation. She knows that her muscles are slightly shot, if only because that technique nearly got to the core of her being. The moisture it did burn off made her ache in a small way, but she'd be able to recover.
With the dragon burying themself in the sand, Shikoge burst out from beneath the rubble and with sword now strapped to his back, instantly took off running back toward the village. Though he wasn't giving up nor was he running away from the fight. The boy wasn't bright enough to know when to give up. Probably unnecessarily face death without realizing how it even happened. Like now, but at least he had a plan or figured he did at least while he continued to run across the sand, putting as much force as he could behind each step to give away his location. He didn't run too far though before jumping into the air, making several hand signs and sending several flaming bullets in the sand beneath him expecting the dragon to appear.
It'd be foolish not to chase after prey and that's exactly what Itami did. She was in pursuit of the boy, feeling his feet against the sand, though the vibrations were partially dampened by its shifting. She could visualize him and above and noticed his feet left the ground. She launched herself from the sand, returning the flaming bullets headed her direction with a stream of fire to cancel them out. She continued her lunge to draw close enough to snap down on his leg and send him back to the ground along with her.
Sending out the fire barrage, Shikoge was quickly growing more exhausted. He had already used more chakra based attacks than he had intended and it didn't help he used a few just to destroy rubble earlier. So when the dragon appeared from the sand and lunged for him, he wasn't fast enough to avoid the snap down on his leg that suddenly hurled him into the ground below. The sand of course cushioning much of the impact, but the force was enough to cause the sand to crater beneath the boy. Lying in the sand he didn't try to move, he didn't plan on retaliating at all. In fact, he was passed out. The damage he sustained coupled with the extra stamina needed just to use chakra was too much and it left he unconscious.
