Starring:
Date: December 4, 2010
Summary:
Koudo meets the wandering Iga Ryoji by luck.
"Plains Banter"
Open Plains [Land of Wind]
Open Plains [Land of Wind]
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The long grass of the plains rises easily 5 feet tall, and it is a truly beautiful sight with the blowing wind. The grass swirls and ripples like eddies and waves on a lakes surface as the wind blows, and the golden stalks in the sun almost glow with a good natured light. The sweet smell of the plains is adrift in the air, and many travelers will stop to rest amidst the stalks for a night.
To the south lies a rising mountain, with a barely visible narrow path beginning up its massive height. Far to the east lays a narrow path, following a small river out of the stalks of grass, and into some distant trees.
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Contents:
The tall grass would always sway and flow with the wind by the occasional breeze blowing by. The weather in the sky was not sure however to stay the same from day to day or hour to hour, like in the desert. This afternoon, the cloudy sky was blowing over as the clouds basked under the sun.
Koudo was outside the village with and a clipboard in hand, at a clearing amongst the plains. Edged with chakra into the ground were symbols, made up with seals, and as he finishes writing the last seal he stand up straight, finishing the last of his notes about the control part of the test.
Awakened to Pain and Blinding light. Despite his lack of sight, these two things happened in quick succession just as Ryoji was forcefully ejected out of one of the old lines running throughout much of the Land of Wind thanks to his ancestors. For a few moments after the initial pain swept through him (no too quickly unfortunatly) the Iga experienced paralyzing fear yet blissful weightlessness for a time until gravity finally caught up with him.
The sight of black and brown cloaked Ryoji would be the first thing Koudo would see (besides the light somewhere off in the far d istance) followed by the sound of grass being torn from their roots and earth being upturned in the wake of Ryoji's crash landing.
He does not move in form or way once he finally rolled to a stop….
Looking over the clipboard Koudo does a last checklist of things "Atmospheric pressure, Pressure plates, Temperature…" He hadn't even activated the seals yet when he notices a strong tremor in the earth. He looks up to where it was coming from, and in no time, watches as he sees someone come flying out, with some force that sends them across the floor of the plains…"Ryoji?" He stood standing with a look of bewilderment, before shaking it off and running to see if he needed help. "Ryoji-kun, Are you ok?" He asks to see if he could lend a hand "It is quite a surprise to see you…" He was glad on some level, but not sure exactly what to do for a moment.
Words were meaningless to the uncouncious boy. Only time. Time that seemed to have sped up in an instant for the Iga the moment sea-green sightless orbs snapped open within in an instant his mind came back online. In the same manner that his eyes opened Ryoji's body jerks forward into a seated position, then once more until he's standing like an statue; brushing aside any attempts at aiding him in the process. "…..*sniff*…..*sniff sniff*…. These wildlife.", He states emptily as his head swivels around a few moments.
Once satisfied with his observation, his head snaps back towards Koudo with an audible popping noise. "Hero-san again….Only trouble awaits such a meeting like this", He emitted plainly before starting into a series of mild level stretches.
Koudo found the boy to be unconcious, but now that he was awake, it was the same old Ryoji-san that he knew. He grins at the younger ninja, listening to what he was saying. "Trouble?…I'd hate to think that I am a bad omen." He says in a worried tone "I doubt it though, I carry luck with me wherever I go. That is what has brought you here today, I guess." He was not sure what really had brought Ryoji here in the first place, but in any case he had basically told the boy he was welcome to Suna under any circumstances. They were not in the village yet, though "I was just in the middle of a little experiment to conduct research on the earth and the atmosphere." He says starting to motion over to the spot.
Ryoji finishes the last of his stretches without too much trouble, and even manages to relieve some of the stress pent up between the joints. And while he did listened to all that Koudo had to say with an open mind, he still turned back to the jounin with an incredulous look present. "That is debatable.", He stated bluntly before continuing, "Anyways, what's the point of doing that now? Anticipation perhaps for what mister thunderbuff-san was talking about?", He asks simply.
Koudo looks at Ryoji with a considering gaze, and responds with a nod, finding the boy to have a certain kind of intelligence that he would never have, which he found impressive. "Yes, in fact, after these tests I will be setting up seals in places to alert me of any irratic or unnatural occurances in the weather patterns or the earth itself." He takes a breath and says "I should probably send the diagrams to Raiga-sama, and other villages so they can be prepared as well." He moves to stand at the seals and settles into place. With a long string of hand seals, the first seal lights up with chakra, surging to the rest of the circles on the ground. Finally, he releases his concentration and says to Ryoji "Now we just have to wait for the data."
"…Why?…", Ryoji asks blandly. "While I understand the reason for sending the information to thunderbuff-san, I do not understand why you would do the same for the other shinobi villages. It's…illogical in so many ways.", He continued without any hint of change in his voice. Subtle as it might've been, the surge of energy could still be felt, but only after pulling back his hoody does he turn his head and incline his head to follow the invisible trail. "So much loss…"
For a brief moment Koudo thought that this boy has a lot to learn…And though it was not the ninja way to share information, it was for the sake of humanity that Koudo wanted to send the information to the other villages. His look focusing on the boy again, then letting out a sigh "That would need authorization from Kazekage-sama." He says in a passing tone. Then he finally sees the boy's full face and head as he takes off the hoodie, he looks in the same direction as the Iga with strangely mutated skin. In a soft yet deep voice he says "Yes, Ryoji. I wish to prevent any more loss of people to the power that created the storms." He thought that is what Ryoji was referring to, but he couldn't be sure.
Ryoji grinned, "That is just plain silly. Why should it matter if the others get wipped out? Shinobi or Citizens? Why should they be of any concern to Sunagakure?" His eyes narrows to slits before he continues, "More importantly, what type of councilman dares even speaking of these types of things to a vagabond of all things? Relatively anyways… But without the approval of his Kage first? This I ask both in regards to the information as well as setting these seals in place of course." He says all of this without once turning back towards Koudo.
"Ryoji-kun!" Koudo says sternly "This is no laughing matter." He could help but have been itched the wrong way by Ryoji's lack of effort to understand, at least his disregard for others was not what Koudo found to be well at all. "If you could call the Kazegake your leader, you would understand. This information poses no threat to Sunagakure, it only helps to improve defenses. There is no way for a wanderer, or vagabond, as you say, even an enemy to use this information against us. So tell me, why do you feel that I am out of order? You by chance have been expelled from the earth, where I was standing, this is the luck of the draw as they say. For reasons beyond our knowledge, we have been put here together, what we do with it is our own to choose, though we have been given the power to use for the better of all, so this is how I intend to use it." Tapping his foot on the ground for a second and angling his look in towards Ryoji "There is only one earth, how can we live in it together if we destroy it."
"I never laughed *chuckles*….Hm, but now I have", He finished jokingly with a snort. "…As old as you are, your not much of a Shinobi to think those seals are safe. The golden rule that any good assasin and saboteur knows is that -anything- and -everything- can be turned into a weapon. It is all a matter of -creativity- and -adaptability- of the one attempting to do so", Ryoji explained, wagging his finger with each point that he emphasized on. "And besides, who said anything about destroying the earth? Or.." Tempted as he was, the Iga catches himself before he explained his arrival, and instead simply smiled brightly. "Well, and If what you are saying is that it is destiny that has brought us together like this, then I must deny this. Because once one starts to believe in that they are lured upon a path that blames everything but their own actions on that force and not themselves….Thus, simply foolish."
Koudo was not pleased with Ryoji's remarks about his intelligence, though he doesn't disregard the boy's words. Taking a few moments of thought, he lets out a long breath and says "Then we will have to set up guard posts by the seals." With a nod, if what Ryoji said was true then they would have to be careful about people randomly or not stumbling onto the seals. "Foolish or not, it brings us closer to the true meaning of life, but there are many things that mold destiny, and everyone has the will to mold their own." He was not in a mood to debate though, and that he felt so strongly on the matter, he could see it ending badly, and didn't wish to make Ryoji feel that he actually was a bad omen, so he lets out another sigh of relief and says "Would you let the one attempting to sabatoge the seals, do so?"
Ryoji chuckles once more in bemusement as he listened to Koudo's counter strategy for interlopers. Aside from this though he relaxes his expression into an unreadable one throughout Koudo's explination; crossing his arms over his chest mid-way casually. "….I hold no loyal ties to none, but three, and I'm afraid unlike my…*sighs*..Unlike my clan the Kazekage, this land, and this people are not the three, Gomen……But in answer to your question, that would depend in all honesty. While I my ego is not big enough to make me falsely believe that another could not break or use against me my own creations, I am however still a true blood Iga in the end. And because of that, in pursuit of satisfying a boundless thirst for knowledge", He leans in briefly to say in a whisper with his cupped next to his mouth "Among other things..*leans back*..as well as because it'd be entertaing…those are the only reasons why I'd allow it. Is this so wrong?"
"It is not wrong, Ryoji." Says Koudo "Yet, it is thoughtless, even with the amount of thought put in, in the end, if you only get what you crave, then you will see only those that you hold ties to fall." he was not going to rant, but he also wondered who were these three ties to. "In any case, we are all tied to one another in some way. If you don't know by now, and keep professing this theory that knowledge is everything, getting only what you crave, it will all come crashing down on you some day, with noone to look to, you will be alone." Then he relaxes a bit and speaks with a warmer tone "Ryoji, start down the right path, so that all those whom you come across may continue their lives with an ounce more of hope. Come to the village with me, to learn the knowledge that is most powerful though you disregard as foolery, for too much knowledge about questionable things that you know nothing about, will only lead you astray."
Ryoji simply shrugs, "Once again you assume too much of me. Although I crave it like my brethren I do not see it as the most important thing to me. It is too hollow like so many things in this world", He said in a melancholy tone before allowing his mind to wander into the past. "…And you should know that no path is truly the right path. Only something that can be determined in the eye of beholder *chuckles* like beauty..and truths. I shall go to Sunagakure, I will hear what else is there for me, but! Just so you know this. If this is a trick to enslave me. -You- will be the first to pay for this mistake, kay~" He asks in a sickenly sweet tone.
Koudo laughs at Ryoji's remarks, as if he were really trying to trick him. No, though it was certainly difficult, for many people, to put certain things into words, and discuss such matters with a completely different person whom he had only a few small clues to tell him of his past and outlook on life. He grins and says "Okay, Good!" With a bit of a cheer. He was on his first step to learning about the true way of the ninja, and as it was to each his own, he felt that Ryoji would even find it interesting to dig deep inside. "now, off to find a couple guards to come out here." He says.
