Starring:
Date: July 7, 2015
Summary:
Raion was in the Training Center practicing when Red appeared and ended up asking for training in Water Walking! He got a bit wet but rapidly made progress!
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Red's Water Walking Training!"
Kanayama Hiko Training Center [Kumogakure]
Raion, as usual, is at the training grounds, with a large black cat resembling a panther. He's sitting down and staring at a notebook, and so is the panther-like Atoneko. "Well, Pansa, maybe we can alter our approach a bit? Or maybe… No that's a dumb idea." The now named panther, Pansa (creative name right?) shakes it's head, "Just say it." Raion shrugs, "well. We could do it how we do our normal Speedy Cat Claw. Maybe if we pretend we're just doing that technique over and over again it'd work better than trying to do the technique as a whole." Pansa considers this a moment then nods, "And you only just now thought of this?" Raion blinks and seems a bit frustrated by that comment, "Hey, I didn't see you coming up with that! Don't try to act smarter than me!" Pansa does the cat equivalent of shrugging, "I never said I was smarter than you."
"Keeehhh!" That's the noise that a certain youngster makes as he walks into the Training Center, his baggy jacket and pants falling loosely around his form as the boy falls onto his rear with a soft thump. "That walk took aaaaagggesss!" Lifting hands to rub his face, the youth takes a moment to look at where he was. Truth be told, he entered the first building available to him! And this was it. A Training Hub, given the facilities and other Shinobi here.
With a small frown, Red closes his dark eyes before opening them wide.
Getting to his feet, the youth grants himself a tour of the interior, stopping at the wave pool. With a squint, he crouches down next to it, eyeing off the water with a suspicious gaze. "Hmm."
Not far from where he crouches, Raion and Pansa are having their chat. The conversation draws his attention for just a moment, though it's the talking cat that has his gaze lingering. "O… oi! You guys! Do you know if this water is normal water?" Trying his best not to stare at the talking animal. But it was hard. IT WAS JUST SO COOL!
Raion's slightly pointed ear twitches slightly as he hears the 'oi', and he turns to look at the boy. "Oh, hello. And I think so… I don't mess with that." Raion admits, looking at that vile pool of evil liquid! "We aren't fans of water unless it's an intentional shower or bath. If we can help it, we won't be getting wet." Raion shrugs and Pansa seems pretty tired, but seems to be getting more used to being awake during the day. Doesn't mean he likes it. Pansa goes and examines a dummy, one particularly covered in deep cuts, claw cuts…
"You don't mess with it?" Red asks, looking back to the water with a glare filled by renewed suspicion. "Is that just because you like cats? I know cats hate getting wet. One time, I had this job to give a cat a bath. It didn't go that well. At all." Red frowns. "I like your cat. He's very big and epic. And he talks! I'm still getting my head around talking animals." A nervous laugh comes from his mouth as he rubs the back of his head. "I'm Red, by the way. Just arrived here this morning. Hey, um. Are you a Shinobi here?" He waits with a drawn breath. "Can I ask you a favor, maybe?"
Raion shakes his head. "It's not that I just love cats, I'm a Maneshi. We have cat-like traits and some of us have cat-quirks." Raion looks at his metal claws and clicks them off, revealing normal elongated sharp nails hidden beneath them. "See? I really do have claws, and I have fangs too. Plus I can hear really well. I just… REALLY don't like water." Raion reattaches his metal claws with multiple clicks then looks up at him again, "Oh yeah. He couldn't always talk." Pansa yawns a bit and flops onto his side, Raion looks at him, "Pansa. You cannot sleep. You know this." Pansa grumbles and glares at Raion. "What part of 'nocturnal' don't you get?" Raion laughs a bit, "What part of 'get used to it' and 'you've proven that you can stay awake' do you not get?" Raion then looks once more at Red, then nods, "Oh, yes. I'm a Genin. What can I do for you?"
"Huh." That is the quite dull reply from Red, learning about the Maneshi clan for the first time. "Cat quirks. Like not liking water, yeah? I get it. That's cool. You guys are like the Inuzuka from Konoha. It's funny. I was only just there recently." Red sniffs his nose, rubbing it with his sleeve. Admiring the claws and fangs with an appreciative 'oooooooh', the boy wanderer nodnods in approval. "That is pretty cool!"
Smiling in delight at the banter between the pair, Red smirks a bit before turning back to face the water. "I want to learn to walk on water!" He proclaims somewhat loudly. "Can you help me with this, Maneshi cat man? I think it would really come in handy on my adventures. And no-one has ever taught me."
Raion blinks in surprise at being asked to teach him Water Walking. "Well. Yes I learned how to do it. I kinda had to. I refuse to swim, though I can. And going around lakes takes too much time sometimes. I saw some older man do it and I spent the next four years… Torturing myself… So much water. But in the end it was worth it. I suppose it's easier to learn if someone actually helps you though. So it shouldn't take four years, heh. Well… I suppose for you." Raion stands up and moves towards the wave pool. After a bit of hesitation and a gulp he steps out onto the pool, focusing his chakra into his feet and standing on it's surface. He really doesn't seem comfortable, but he is standing on it. "Okay. Uhm. Do you know how to walk up trees and walls? Because you need to know that first before you can do this."
"I do?" Red asks, watching as Raion quite uncomfortably goes out and onto the wave pool. The smirk remains on his lips, the dark haired youth finding it amusing that he is on the water! Despite hating it so much. "Lucky for you, I got taught that one already! I have to stick chakra on the bottom of my feet." To demonstrate, Red lifts a foot, pointing to the bottom of it with his index finger. "Right there is where I focus is. Then boom! Magically, I stick. Is it something like that for water as well?" Knowing that he will fail, he begins to take off his thick and heavy jacket. "I dunno if I can wait four years just to learn this! I'm gonna nail it way before then."
Raion shrugs, "You might. And I wouldn't be surprised. But sorta. You have to adjust the amount of chakra you're focusing as the waves change and the water ripples. It's really weird. Just shooting a lot of chakra into it won't do much, like if you use too much chakra when doing the tree one. You'll knock yourself off. So uhm. Be careful. And uhm, I'll go find a towel… Just in case you don't get it first try." Raion steps off of the water and stands on solid ground. He then, VERY quickly, darts off somewhere unknown, to get a towel from wherever they are kept. He doesn't take very long at all to come back with a small towel and he stands by near the wave pool, and watches Red. "Well. If you want, give it a try! Just don't jump in… Try to get your first foot to float before placing the second."
"Right! That makes sense. One step at a time. One foot at a time." Red takes a breath and focuses some chakra onto his feet. Well, beneath his feet really. Narrowing his eyes in concentration, the youth delicately takes a step forward, putting a foot onto the water! And then? He sinks like a brick! It's almost as if he didn't put /any/ chakra into his foot at all so quick did he fall in! SPLASH!
Surfacing with a cough and splutter, Red angrily drags himself out of the wave pool and by the edge again. "Crimson! This is really hard!" Oy. Maybe he won't get it first time. "There's no way I'm going to do this for four years. NO WAY AT ALL!" Red tries again, stepping onto the water. This time? …is the exact same result. With a splash, he falls in and surfaces, spluttering about.
Raion blinks as Red sinks. And then sinks again. "I… Uhm. Are you sure you're actually focusing your chakra? Not too much and not too little?" Raion looks at Pansa. And Pansa just kinda shrugs, lotta help he is. Raion looks a bit awkwardly at Red. "All I can say is practice. And experiment. And I have a towel for whenever you want to stop…
"OF COURSE I AM!" Red barks at Raion, grumbling as he gets out of the water again. "ROSE! MAROON! SO STUPID STUPID!" The boy stomps on the ground in frustration, the first two clearly failed attempts obviously really bothering him. Taking big breaths, the youngster grits his teeth before forming a seal once more. Then, with chakra gathered, he walks out again! This time, it's not a complete fall in. He appears to actually gain traction on the surface, before he falls in. Despite the progress, he surfaces in a frustrated fashion again. "CARDINAL!"
Crawling out of the wave pool, he begins to change things up. "So you're a Genin, huh? How old is Pansa? Does he do ultimate ninjutsu too?" He begins to focus chakra again.
Michiko hears all the swearing and can't help but poke her head into the training center, watching the water walking with a raised brow. "Ah, Raion-san. And Red-kun." She remembers the wanderer had visited with Mushi… Well, 'visited' might not be the best term for the whole meeting…. Ahem! "I see you two are training together. Is it going well?"
Raion recoils a bit at being yelled at. And stands by as he keeps trying. And when Red asks how old Pansa is, he seems more confused, and even more about the 'Ultimate Ninjutsu' thing. "Pansa is about as old as I am. Nin cats grow at about the same rate as us if I recall right. And he learned Water Walking too. At the same time I did. If that's what you mean by Ultimate Ninjutsu.. We both use taijutsu…" Then Michiko appears, which makes him seem significantly happier. "Ah, hello Michiko-sama! Red wanted to learn Water Walking… I am not a very good teacher… Considering I never was taught it, I just kinda… Guess and checked."
"Huuuuuuh?" Red looks to Michiko, taking in the form of the Jounin as water drips from his lean body. Only his pants remain on, the baggy things sticking to him in parts and dripping in others. "Michiko, right?" He asks, wiping some hair out of his eyes. "Oooou! Michiko! I've been looking for someone like you. How've you been? Have you seen Mushi around lately? I've been looking for her." At the question itself, he grumps. Hands go to his hips. "This is really hard. Who knew walking on water would be pretty much impossible?"
Tch. Raising an eyebrow to Raion, he waves his arms. "No way! You're a good teacher! You told me how to do it and everything. I just SUCK. At everything. Bleaahhh." He sniffles, before trying - and failing - again. Slowly getting back up to the surface, he wrinkles his nose. "What sort of taijutsu do you guys know?"
Raion shakes his head at Red. "I'm not that great." Then Michiko takes over. "See? Michiko-sama knows how to teach. Not me." Raion shrugs, and then says "Oh. We use our claws. And a bit of stuff only a Maneshi can do! We can move super quick and move with cat-like grace in combat." Raion shrugs, "Nothing really."
There's a small sigh from Red when Michiko admits she has yet to see the Legendary Healer, before he shrugs. "It's okay." He mutters quietly, before nodding to the guidelines offered by the Jounin. He does as instructed, offering one foot forward. Instead of stepping out onto it, he appears to change the amount of chakra gathered on that foot as he puts further weight on it. That way, he doesn't fall in! "Oooooh." He breathes, feeling the off sensation of standing atop of it! "Think I'm getting it!"
"Cat like grace? That sounds awesome!" Red cries, looking to Raion with surprise and awe. At just that moment he loses concentration and falls forward into the water. SPLASH! "Augh!"
Surfacing again, he mutters and grumbles before getting back out again. "I love cats." He admits. "I think they're the best."
Michiko smiles kindly to Raion. "You are a fine teacher. It just takes some time to give people the right instructions so they can understand what you mean." The girl glances over at Red to see how he's doing, nodding in approval. Then he pretty much falls into the water, but she's close enough to prevent him from actually splashing in face first. "Close, Red-kun. Keep trying and you'll have it down to second nature," she says with a smile. Then she moves off the water once the boy has his balance and stands beside Raion and Pansa.
Raion smiles at the statement about him liking cats. But stops when the boy once again sinks. "You're getting it really well, Red-san. It won't take much longer at all before you have it." Raion looks at Michiko moves to him. "So, busy huh? What have you been up to? Secret stuff? Awesome stuff?!"
"Oh yeah." Red comments, wiping away some of the water from his face. "I heard that Kumogakure was under attack by some bad guys. Did you guys manage to pull through okay?" Wiping his hair back, the boy considers. "Um, they were called something like… Recluse. Yeah! That was it. Wow, I got it first try." Proud of himself, he begins to step out onto the water again. Just keeping the one foot out there. "Did they destroy lots of buildings? Can you guys tell me about them? Are they ninja?"
The praise from Raion gets a solid thumbs up from the young wanderer, who then looks to Michiko. Had she been doing awesome stuff?
"We've rebuilt quite a number of buildings since the attack, so you won't see the marks of war unless you're looking hard," Michiko tells Red. "And I don't think anything is very awesome at the moment. Mostly paperwork to keep things running smoothly. And speaking of such, I think I should go do some now." Ashe offers a small now to the pair, then disappears quite suddenly into the ground.
