Starring:
Date: October 21, 2016
Summary:
Naoya takes the twins hunting for the first time, not for a common prey animal but a preditor. Not helping even when they were in danger, he only interjects after they kill the beast, all the while teaching them important lessons.
"Student Lessons: The First Kill"
Unknown location
With the summer heat, few classes were held indoors, activities were rampant but the Okumo was not seen within the village. The twins were instructed along with their father they were permitted to be away from the academy though he was to bring them to the docking village south of Kirigakure. There they would find Naoya not dressed much differently than their father had been. Thinking him for his time, he offers the man not Ryo, but a pelt and a satchel that was seeped in leaked blood. In exchange, Naoya took Kasai and Chiru north.
Passing by the black sands, the twins would be able to see it was hardly noon yet Naoya didn't have any packs or sacks with him now. No matter how they looked, there weren't any snacks or treats this time, though he would entertain their questions other than why they were there. Once at the river, Naoya walks across it effortlessly before turning back, looking at the twins expectantly. "Both of you, I didn't tell you to stop following along with me. Continue" is ordered. Naoya would pause a short distance onto the other side.
The twins could brave the strong running stream rushing water out and towards the sea, the could head to one of the bridges a few kilometers in either way or they could try and find their own way.. what they lacked was time, it wasn't clear how long Naoya would wait for them. The truth was, even without his brood scattered, each native arachnid of the region bowed to the oppressive chakra forcing them to allow him to see through their eyes and watch over the twins from afar.
Gorou would have brought the twins to where he was told, and although he was upset with them earlier it passed soon enough and he was just grateful that the twins were wise enough to not drink what they were offered. He walks up to Naoya with both of the twins in tow, and he offers Naoya a smile as he accepts the pelt and satchel. He bows to Naoya and straightens up before he looks down and pats the girls' head. "I'll be waiting at the inn nearby so that we can all head home together. You two be good now, and I love you." He leans down to kiss both of their heads after Kasai and Chiru nod their heads and give him hugs. Then he takes his prize to where he was going to wait on them to return, an inn that was nearby just as he said. Kasai and Chiru would attempt to hug Naoya too and beam up at him expectantly before they both start to follow after him eagerly. "What're we going to be learning today, Naoya-sensei?" Kasai asks him curiously before Chiru tacks on, "Yeah, how long are we going to be out here?" When they eventually come up to the river, they watch Naoya walk across the river in quiet awe before they blink in surprise when they are told to continue. "But we can't do what you can do!" Kasai says, just as Chiru looks down hesitantly at the water. Kasai paces for a moment or two before huffing out a sigh as she reaches out to hold Chiru's hand, "Maybe if we're together…" Chiru nods her head at Kasai and lets her fuse with her before they both attempt to dive in and try to swim against the currents as best as they can.
The twins would find that the water while somewhat calmed on the surface was powerful, rapidly moving but worst of all frigid. The water was running from far inland, from the upper lands and possibly even past the ice clan's training grounds. For a while they would manage but once in the center of the stream a under current would drag them low, submerging them. A ways down river the pair would hit something, something thin yet strong which they grasp onto and use it to resurface again.
In the background Naoya didn't simply watch but protected the twins from their own dangerous plan. Using a chitin bolt, he hurls a anchor point into the river and connected a thickly woven braid of silken webbing to it, linking the bolt to a tree. Not letting the pair see him directly, the Okumo would depart though on the trees leading away, a kunai carves directions to where to find the Okumo before continuing to move on.
The twins would be left on their own to climb from the rapid though if they lost this last life line they would likely be dragged almost a kilometer out to sea, possibly into fishing nets or into the belly of a large sharp.
The twin would flail underwater before latching onto the thin thing they can grasp, and use it to help gradually pull themselves back to the shore. Once they're there, they both unfuse and gasp in heavy croaking breaths on the shore as they try to cough up what water they accidentally swallowed down. After they properly catch their breath and get their hearts to stop beating out of their chest, they'd look around and would set on tracking down the kunai carvings that Naoya left behind. "The…water looked a lot calmer…below it…" Kasai pants aside to Chiru, who nods in agreement and looks behind them, "Y-yeah…if it wasn't for that, dunno how far we would've gotten pushed or when we woulda been able to get a breath air…"
Along the trail, Naoya wasn't far, he wouldn't be in clear sight but his hiding point was direct with an upwards carved notch. The Okumo was watching something, a large feline that was roughly five feet long, not even counting it's thick fail, covered in medium to short hair. The creature was bloodied from a kill as it steadily gorged itself for a time on an buck, the only things it had for horns were long numbs, heavily fuzzy and not even close to well grown. Looking back, if Naoya could hear the twin's approach he wouldn't scold them or chide them, but only bring a finger to his lips to shush them, trying to make sure they too didn't disturb creature a short distance away from them.
As the twins run, they keep looking until they find the notch that leads them to Naoya's hiding place. They are about to open their mouths to say something, but close them soon enough when they were given the silent cue to hush. They squeeze in beside of Naoya to get a better look at whatever it is that he's watching and their eyes grow wide at the sight of the big cat eating the deer. Kasai and Chiru crouch further, just in case the creature might be able to look up and spot them, before Chiru whispers very quietly to Naoya, "What kind of animal is that?" Kasai then whispers at the same quiet pitch, "It's big…I bet that it's one of those panthers I heard about or something like that…is it a panther, Naoya-sensei?"
Moving his hand over as if to knock them for questioning anything, Naoya instead simply taps their lips lips lightly once each. Moving a hand into their own, placing into each a chitin bolt shaped like a short sword. 'Prey.. Kill it, this is why you're here.' Speaking in a low tone, Naoya turns his head to the side, looking back at the creature, from how it was moving, it was likely near full or at least content. It wouldn't be long before the creature would begin to drag off it's own prey, heading away from the river and heading north along the way towards a mostly abandoned village, a secluded location.
The twins watch Naoya's finger before pouting when it seems like he won't be answering their question. By the time it is answered, however, Kasai at least is smiling while Chiru looks a little worried by the thought. "Got it, you can count on us." Kasai whispers, attempting to lightly balance the side of her hand against her forehead in a quick salute. Chiru watches Kasai and mimics the gesture, before they both start to leave their hiding spot and work around to following the creature as it drags away the deer. "How are we going to do it?.." Chiru whispers quietly to Kasai, who thinks it over and eventually decides, "Just try to avoid its claws and teeth and try to slice it up…just one good cut and we'll have something to track it by if it runs away." Chiru nods her head, remembering that being mentioned in one of their lessons on survival from back at the academy. They do their best to talk the cat, trying to keep out of its sight.
The jaguar was distracted at the time though so the <stalking> attempt was left unnoticed for a while. It would be several moments before the buck was dropped an the feline's ears plaster against its head while snarling. Shifting its head rapidly, the feline sniffs at the air, chaotically, and in a panic. It was clear it knew of the presence of something else close by, it wasn't sure if it was one of the twins or Naoya which stayed a fair distance away, not having left his roosting spot. The feline on the other hand in an instant flares out its claws and jumps.. onto a tree, quickly making movement upwards, holding on with its forepaws and kicking off with its rearpaws until it found a branch to support itself on
The twins frown quietly to themselves when they see that the jaguar is on guard and they hum quietly in thought as they try to figure out how to approach it. They reach out and hold each other's hands before they fuse together and head for the tree that the jaguar is perched in. An extra arm emerges from the twin's form and two hands reach to their tool belt for kunai which they attempt to toss up at the jaguar. "If that doesn't get it, we'll just smoke it out." The two voices together decide, though the single figure still frowns and answers herself, "Are you sure? We don't really know much about fires, and we don't want it to spread to other places or get burned…"
Blood is spilled as the first blade cuts into the side of the large feline though quick movements save it from suffering further. Hopping from one branch to another, it was then that it would be clear the jaguar not only knew where they twins where but went on the offensive against the much smaller human. Leaping from the tree with both arms wide open, Kasai would watch as the pair of claws aim to not only sink into their joint body, but attempts to pin her under its weight. Unlike before there didn't appear to be many signs that Naoya was around to help them, then again there wasn't a sign that he was even still there.
The twins attempt to hop backwards to stay just out of the jaguar's reach, but they aren't quite able to roll out of the way by the time it's on top of them. The twin's eyes narrow and the sprouted third arm attempts to stab her fingers into one of its eyes, using her fingernails to try to scratch at it and try to hinder part of its vision. They do not hold back with the strike, and the twins' body attempts to kick the jaguar square in its gut as extra motivation to get off of them. In the meantime, their shared eyes do dart around seeking Naoya wherever he may be, and while they doubt that he'd leave them behind, they weren't able to see where he might be hiding himself. <Don't worry!> Kasai attempts to reassure Chiru in her thoughts, <Just a minor setback!>
When the pinned creature grew new arms, the Jaguar froze for a slight second but that's all that was needed to cost the creature it's left eye. Sounding out a wounded pained cry, the creature removed itself from the twins and shields the left side of its face, while one paw swats at it suddenly, but quickly it realized what was going on. Even the lower blow to its stomach was hardly recognized in comparison to the pain it was enduring. With the one good eye, the jaguar began to retreat, not lingering near the mutant, it began to run away quickly along the ground to try and escape. It wasn't heading into the village it had been dragging the kill, the jaguar was beginning to return to the river before leaving much farther upstream, planning to cross the middle of the river before it got close to the human settlements if it was allowed to flee
The twins hop back up onto their feet and try to make chase, "You aren't getting away!" They call out in their body, despite a brief frown and a mumble under her breath, "Even though you're a pretty cute animal and I wish we gotta go after something ugly like a warthog or something…" As they keep on its trail, they come to a stop at the river with a frown. They remembered what the currents were like underneath the surface and they weren't going to be strong enough to swim them easily. Still, there had to be another way to reach it. After they retrieve more kunai, they attempt to throw them to stab into the creature as it swims, before they run to try to keep pace with it as they try to find one of the bridges that would help them cross more easily. There was no doubt that they might lose some time, but it was a smarter solution than just diving right in.
The twins would find that while they made it to the other side rather swiftly with the detour, the jaguar wouldn't be near by. The blades that were hurled into the stream at the jaguar injured it furthern, not enough to kill, but more than enough to weaken. With that the creature slipped below the surface for some time, it wouldn't be until it was almost washed out to sea that it managed to drift into the shallows, gasping and laying spread out panting. It swallowed a lot of water while it was dragged along by the currents. Naoya chose this time to land on the ground behind the twins, patting the tops of their heads twice each. "Those who are great challenges to cut down, those that you have no reason to hate.. you kill them quickly, painlessly. It isn't your fault they die, it isn't your choice. Orders, are orders. The reason they died if because your commander wished them dead." Looking down at them, a light smile was on his lips as he whispers, 'You shouldn't feel guilty. The will of the commanders and the mission must be done for all of our sake. But this doesn't mean you needlessly must let some suffer. So, end the suffering. Free him from pain.'
Once Kasai and Chiru catch up with the jaguar, they choose to separate and look down to watch it quietly before they smile up at Naoya once they feel him petting their heads. They look back down at the creature as they listen to his lesson and they frown quietly to themselves. "Yeah, I remember you saying that before on the wall, I think…" Chiru mumbles quietly, before she smiles. "At least it got a full belly before it's time…that has to be nice. I'd want a full belly before I went if I got to choose…" Kasai nods her head and reaches out to squeeze Chiru's hand. "Yeah, me too…let's hurry up and make sure it doesn't have to suffer anymore." Chiru sighs before nodding her head and they both walk up to the jaguar. With a kunai in both of their hands, they set out to try to cut an artery in the jaguar's neck before it has time to try to snap at them or crawl away. "You fought really well, mister panther…or missus panther." Chiru tells it, before taking the opportunity to pet its fur once it's limp.
Walking after the pair, Naoya watches as the life drains out of the once predatory beast. Moving around them, Naoya soon kneels beside the creature and touched it faintly. Sending out a chakra pulse, he could tell that it was truly dead and without his hand in the matter. 'Hmm.. First kill.' Moving his left hand to the ground, Naoya begins to forge armor with that arm before peeling it off, shaping it into yet another blade much like the special ones he offered the girl a short while ago. "A good kill, a clean one in the end. I will expect clean kills from both of you as you advance but this time.. you don't need to watch, or help." Giving them a few seconds to turn away, Naoya begins to slice through the creature, removing the guts and letting them chum the waters save for a few key organs. Without the help of the brood, the process would take several minutes, but in the end the head was severed and the pelt removed in one whole piece.
The twins look down at the blood on their kunai and hands and try their best to shake off the excess as they listen to Naoya with a smile. "We'll try!" They say in unison, and they bob their heads before walking over to another part of the river so they can start to clean their tools and hands as best as they can in the river water. "So somebody wanted this cat gone?" Chiru asks Naoya in confusion, "How come? Was it hurting people?" Kasai looks over to get a peek at what Naoya is up to even though Chiru is avoiding looking at it at the sound of cutting and guts being tossed into the water. "Yeah, something that big might be able to hurt something…are they gonna want the fur or is it something that we're gonna keep?" Chiru sheepishly admits after that, "It was really soft, I bet it'd make a really nice blanket or something for when the cold started to come back…"
Leaving the meat in the field, Naoya stood with a partially bloodied pelt, the paws, tail and head were still largely all intact though. Moving over to the twins, he motions towards them before simply saying, "Unite as one. Not one but both of you earned this together, both will be rewarded as such." Waiting for the process to begin, Naoya would move the pelt around them before draping the pelt onto their shoulders, the front paws moving over their shoulders before. After touching the wrists of the pelt, he binds them with a small about of silk so it stays in place. "You keep what you kill. You take all from those you take the life of. All their belongings are now your own. Even their body if you so wish it. Do not waste by killing for simple pleasure, as for 'why' did they want it dead, it doesn't matter. They ordered it, it shall be done. Best to be the one to do it before another agrees and simply tortures them to death." With the pelt draped onto the twins, he places his hands onto their shoulders with a soft smile. "This, this is one of your final lessons before you -will- become a Genin, understand me Kasai, Chiru?" While the twins did wear the pelt, anyone else might have to hold back a chuckle as a third of a meter of pelt was bundled up on the ground behind the small girls.
Kasai and Chiru shake the excess water off of their arms and hands now and look back up at Naoya. At his request, they reach out to each other and start the process of joining their bodies together until a single person stands before him. They let the Jounin drape the pelt around them and look down at it in quiet admiration and pride before their attention is back up on Naoya to listen to him intently. The twin nods her head and starts to salute him, "Understood, Naoya-sensei!" Their voices chime together, before they nod their head in understanding. "Don't ask why too much and just get it done before someone worse does. Got it!" Naoya's next words do have them blinking in surprise before they ask him in confusion, "Really? We aren't gonna learn anything else? I thought…we weren't going to the arena until the fall season. Will we not have lessons then?" They reach up to gently nudge the head out of their face, the weight of it was slacking down on the small girl's frame.
"Lessons, training.. that will be for the body. You have accepted most lessons and teachings of the mind. There isn't much left to teach either of you as a 'student'." Flicking his wrist, a blade is forced from his sleeves and into his hand in a fleeting moment. "Teaching you new tactics, techniques, advancing old techniques to new states is something I do even now, but that isn't because I am a Jounin, but because I am a Shinobi." Moving a hand onto the head of the jaguar pelt, several dozen spiders slip from his arm and crawl forth, invading the pelt, making short work shredding the soft matter inside, filling it with webbing, leaving it lighter and significantly less bloody though they can do little for the blood soaking the twins already. "Tell me now, what lessons separate you and the Genin that you know of? As for the Arena.. that -isn't- a lesson, that is a showing to the village how well you internalized the lessons. Understand?"
The twins both bounce on their feet to test the lightness of the pelt now, seeming much more content with it. Kasai and Chiru's body nods its head in understanding and smiles up at Naoya, "So we're still going to learn with you, just…we don't have as much other stuff to learn as students. That makes sense…you really think we're almost ready to graduate?" They both consider the next question carefully, trying to figure out the right answers. "Well, now we know that a contract's a contract and instead of feeling guilty or bad about it and putting blame on ourselves, we should blame the person who wrote for the contract in the first place…and we know that even though finishing a mission is important, there's times where we should still give up and run away to keep from getting captured or killed…we know that whatever we kill's stuff belongs to us, and we should make their deaths painless if we know they deserve it…we know that we shouldn't kill just for fun…and um…we know that we should listen to people higher rank than us…we know that working together is always important and we're stronger together…" After the list, they both frown in consideration as if trying to figure out what they might have missed, eventually ndoding their head up at Naoya. "Understood, Naoya-sensei."
"Very good, very good.. now both of you are to collect firewood and bring it to me, along with stones. You keep what you kill.. that means you may eat what you kill. Tonight, you are allowed to have as much grilled steaks as you want or as much as you killed right now." Stepping back, a chuckle escapes Naoya as he walks away towards the some what messy kill site. Looking around the area, he also takes his time to clear the area but not by hand. Bringing his hands together, the twins would begin to watch as Naoya draws water from the river beside them to assault the ground, splashing most of the blood away but in its wake a dish like indent is left yet no water was left behind. "That should do nicely.. some stones to health the tinder breath while the logs dry would be helpful.." Talking lightly to himself, the young man begins to work as well, preparing the fireplace for them.
The twins separate once more, and Kasai and Chiru both nod their heads before they set off to collect the supplies Naoya requested. They couldn't deny that all that effort and chasing made them really hungry. It was decided amongst themselves that Kasai would gather the rocks, while Chiru got as much firewood as they could carry. Unable to really picture hacking away at any trees with only her kunai at her disposal, much of her firewood is stray branches, sticks, and potential logs that she could break up to salvage. Kasai's job was easier and as she wandered, she picked up any suitable sized rocks she found along the way. It might take a little while, but eventually they return with the wood and stones. "Got what you wanted, Naoya-sensei! Can we help with building the fire now?"
The hazard collections of pieces there and scraps there are formed into something neat and largely refined. The stones uplifted while caged the fire. The wood fueled and shaped the fire until that broke away and fell into the flames. Not using anything special, Naoya uses a spark shaft to spray a bundle of webbing and wood shavings with embers, leaving them to smoke lightly until a flame licks visibly. Using a small twig, he picks up the tinder bundle and places it into the heart of the fire, letting it be but in the mean time he began to show the girls how to shave a stick, using the bark fibers to make beds of tinder to start fires with. It would be a short while before the fire was large enough to use at which time Naoya cuts some meat from the carcass and moves it to the river, letting him wash it off, letting the blood get washed out and freeing it from any remaining organ tissue connecting it. Bringing the piece back, he slices it into strips, laying those strips onto the closer stones to cause them to cook loudly with hissing. Using sharpened sticks, he pierces the meat and rotated it slowly to one side, making sure it was well cooked while not minding embers and a light but of ash 'flavoring' it at times. "Once the second piece of cooked you two can try them at once." With that said, Naoya began to prepare a dozen pieces for the time being.
Kasai and Chiru both do what they can to help Naoya build the fire, and they pay attention to the lesson he has to show them. "Naoya-sensei, how come we don't eat the organs?" Chiru asks curiously, while they both plop down by the fire to wait patiently on the meat to cook. Kasai hums and looks up at the sky as she tries to remember something, "I think because they don't taste very good most of the time…and some of the organs might be bad for you depending on the animal." Chiru oh's softly in understanding, but still waits for Naoya to either elaborate on or confirm Kasai's theory. Kasai is the one who asks the next question of Naoya, "Have you ever eaten panther before, Naoya-sensei?"
"Some organs are better for medicine, the ones I tossed out are able to be eaten but is a hassle, if you don't prepare those just right you'll risk becoming fatally ill." As the meat continued to cook, Naoya moves his hand into a pouch, pulling out a few ground herbs that had been dried but others were still green even though they were minced well. Littering the meat, he gave them a fresh flavoring rather than plain. "I've eaten panther, horse, shark, boar, spider and even human.. Your sensei isn't picky with what he eats. Each meal tastes different, each one also eaten for different reasons." Nodding lightly, he uses a pair of sharpened twigs to stab the meat and offer the well cooked pieces of meat to the twins. "You will not eat like I do, you don't need to worry about that part."
Chiru nods her head at Naoya, liking the idea that they won't get sick eating what they have. Both of the twins listen to Naoya's list, before their eyes grow a little wider at the mention of human and spider. "Woahh, don't your spiders get mad knowing that you've eaten other spiders?" Chiru asks Naoya, sounding confused and Kasai tacks on, "What do people taste like?…" This makes them both scrunch their noses and shudder before they agree with Naoya, "Yeah, I don't think we could eat all of that stuff…maybe some of it though…guess it depends on what people want killed and if we gotta feed ourselves while we're on a mission." When the piece of meat is offered to them, they reach out and make sure that they're evenly divided before they both start to dig in and chew. "Huh, dhaven't had anything like this before…" Chiru says, afterwards complimenting Naoya, "But the herbs and spices are really good! Do you carry them with you everywhere?"
GAME: Save complete.
"As punishment for some trying a rebellion I consumed some of my own brood.. Wars are rare, though usually are settled -firmly-. They harken to their host as much as they change their host." At that comment of mutual change, Naoya smiles towards the twins, baring his fangs towards them with a smile. "At this point, if I could ever be free of them, I would likely die. I need them as much as they need me." Looking down at the herbs, he doesn't answer but bring his pack forward, slowly removing item by item. Laying out things for the twins, there were vials of.. something, some clear, some colored, pouch after pouch of herbs with no labels, some small boxes filled with folded paper holding powders. "Human taste similar to swine, though.. more domesticated than boar. Really depends on what they eat, but their chakra flavors them in other ways.. that is what made me hunger the most for the taste at times." Moving his hand over the pouches, Naoya picks them up and sniffs them lightly before returning it stating what was what, but only explains what they are as simply 'healing' 'poison' 'supplies' and not going into detail.
"They can fight with you too?.." Chiru asks, frowning to herself before she looks around for any nearby spiders. "That's sad…I hope they don't fight with you often…or fight with papa much…" Kasai watches as item after itetm is set out to prepare for the explanation, and when Naoya answers their other question they end up nodding their heads slowly. "That's…neat. It's weird thinking that we're like piggies…" Chiru nods her head in agreement with Kasai's words before they listen attentively to Naoya explain each supply. Their heads nod ocassionally and once they're finished eating, they both scoot over and rest their heads against Naoya as they rub their eyes. Chiru shares the pelt with Kasai to help her stay warm, and even tries to offer a paw over to Naoya too.
"Sensei's brood and 'Papa's' brood differ. Mine fight with me similar to how you and your sister fight. While I consume some, it is the same as punching one another." When the twins start to use him for a pillow, for once Naoya doesn't strike them. Moving his hands down, begins to pet the tops of their heads but lowly says, 'Do not get used to this. You are allowed because you did well today, so for now, rest easy. We'll be returning to the village once you two wake again. You will be presenting your father with what you killed, the two of you will be allowed to eat well for some time." Moving a hand out, one by one spiders would slip from his fingers, moving to the bags and binding them with silk, allowing him to tug the pouches one at a time to collect them and store them again without disturbing the twins.
