Wherever I May Roam [P]

Dari's Angel

Age : 25
Posts : 1767

Subject: Wherever I May Roam [P] Sat 27 Jul 2013, 11:37 pm

An evening plagued with the curse of capricious downfall, it would seem; the landscape around Saitou was murky and colourless, the grass around him seemingly grey, mud coating the path he treaded upon. His traversal had been one that stretched over a long duration, and his legs had begun to grow weary. A place to stay the night, that was his aim; somewhere warm and comfortable, perhaps that inn that he could see, over yonder hill. The youth's joints groaned at the prospect of walking such a distance, but he had no alternative. His boots were nigh on ruined, mud splattered to almost knee height at certain points. All thought of his previous destination, his unknown uncle's home village, had simply been banished from with forth his mind, replaced with the thought of pub food and a nice, warm bed in the inn. The landscape around him screamed despair. Normally, when in Konohagakure, or anywhere closer to home, he could always see a clump of natural life offering hope to those around it, or a gathering of cottages, perhaps a lake with families and youths enjoying it. Here, the area was so much more barren. Perhaps it was the weather, and the lighting. He could see very far at all in the darkness, just the lights radiating from the pub; and one could not blame people for being stuck inside considering the weather. But Saitou did wonder if such a country got as much sun as his hometown. Whilst never having been a lover of the heat, he certainly missed the radiating ball of heat in the sky, showering the people who dared bask in its candescent glory. There was something about the sun that brought out liveliness in people; perhaps he had come to the wrong part of the Lightning Country, but everything here looked like it'd been dead for years. However, Saitou knew he could not afford to drink much at the inn he was seeking, if at all; not only would he need an early start, he could not risk letting anything slip. Even the wrong few words here and there could allow him to be discovered, which would be disastrous. The youth was fearful and cautious of the locals, for he had heard tales and rumours of their brutality and ruthlessness. Neither of which he would like to be on the wrong end of, and, as the world of Shinobi was in some form of diplomatic crisis, with wars being bandied about, he had a particularly strong reason to not want to be discovered as a member of a foreign military. His belly began to rumble at the thought of the food source drawing nearer and nearer; from any distance, one could easily assume the nature of this establishment. The picnic tables scattered outside, the multi-stories and the general size of the building to accommodate guests and the fact that the pot bellied man could often be seen coming in or out. Drawing nearer, the youth began to smile slightly, able to smell some form of meat. Wanting to avoid the potential deluge of torrential rain that the clouds in the heavens seemed to signal, Saitou hurried on inside. The inside of the inn contrasted greatly to the outside. On one side of the room, a brickwork fireplace sat, people stationed around its warmth as it spewed out light and heat, which everyone in the room lapped up. It was a large place, but not empty by any means; a large crowd had come, music was being played by a band of three in a corner, and those whom had congregated here seemed rowdy and loud but joyful and pleasantly so. These were the kind of people Saitou'd have expected in his home town. Certainly, for such a bleak landscape, these villagers were a happy kind. There was a light source almost everywhere, and nobody seemed to take notice of him as he entered, shaking rain droplets off his large black button coat. He walked towards the bar, running a hand across the smooth, wooden surface, before smiling at the barmaid. She wordlessly withdrew a flagon from below the counter, filling it with ale from a barrel. Whilst Saitou had intended to avoid the drink, the temptation was too much. Oh go on then, he thought. Just the one, why not? He would have preferred to take a more solitary seat by the corner, with no people nearby, but such a placement was not available, and so he settled for a stool between an empty seat and a slender, blonde haired man. Knowing it'd be stupid of him, he did not bother with any obviously inconspicuous moves, like donning his hood. Such things would only award him with stares for his oddity, something he was keen to avoid. Saitou could feel the cold silver of his flute digging into his ribs, on the inside of his shirt, and he was reminded of the occasion in which he had joined musicians on the stage in a pub, playing his instrument. He was always up for a quick melody, but now was a time he could not afford to do such a thing. Sipping passed the froth of his drink, Saitou shared the occasional word with the bartender, holding a light conversation in between his serving of the numerous customers. A haggard but happy looking man, he was certainly ok to talk to. Perhaps he shouldn't have been so wary of the locals. They certainly seemed sociable enough, and he could almost imagine himself coming here every now and then for the pure sake of enjoyment, not for a personal family mission. One could observe that Saitou only knew what he knew of this country by what they were renowned for, like all the other of the main shinobi bearing countries, their military. And after all, weren't all such organisations going to have their share of bad stories about them? Konohagakure, his home village, had probably killed thousands of shinobi, possibly the odd civilian here and there, for that was life when one lived life in war. However, this scene did not seem like that from one of a country heavily involved in battle or warfare; nay, it seemed a jolly affair, and that it was. Never could you judge a country by its military, nor its landscape, for he knew now that if you did, then many places would seem brutal and shit. These people seemed cheerful and welcoming, much like those back at home. Saitou smirked, thinking of how he sounded like a wise man already; even though he'd only been in the Lightning Country for an evening, and a dismal one at that, he felt the urge to travel more. Realising how warped his opinion of this place was made him want to see every country. To be able to judge every area properly and gauge wether it was as bad as people said or not; Konohagakure, he felt, was an exemption to don't judge by landscape. Beautiful rolling hills and natural, peaceful forests, adorned with lakes and always showering in the sun. What was not to love? But then again, he supposed, perhaps some saw a rugged beauty in the mountains. His gaze was lost in his drink, mind occupied with his thoughts but ears always listening, cautious for approaching footsteps that sounded too heavy or fast, or to note the swinging creek of the door. Spoiler:

Dari's Angel

Age : 25
Posts : 1767

Subject: Re: Wherever I May Roam [P] Sat 03 Aug 2013, 9:29 pm

As the door protractedly swung open, a fresh gust of cold air howled through the room, the wind whistling and rattling the windows as rain drops pelted every surface they could find. Outside, the beginnings of thunder began to sound. A deep rumble in the belly of the world, lightning beginning to rip the thin paper of the sky. The heavens had opened up to allow this torrential deluge to descend upon this land in particular, it seemed; no wonder they call it the land of lightning, Saitou thought to himself. He could not help but view the weather as foreboding. The figure that had stood in the door closed it with a hand that supported paunchy fingers of ample proportions, sat atop hairy knuckles; with little hesitation, he headed towards the first free seat his eyes could find for him. Unfortunately for the youth, it happened to be the one next to him. He sighed inwardly, wondering how the evening could get much worse. A thought he would later come to regret. Saitou could not help but examine the large, imposing, bulky figure. He scrutinised and examined his every detail; the tattoos lining his arms and neck, the thickness of his coat as if it were being used to conceal something, how his hair was so close cropped, as if to prevent it getting in his way. The man seemed like a fighter. However, he had no symbols or anything that would actually signal to him belonging to a shinobi village. Saitou found him, his appearance and his general presence odd. He sat there, motionless, silent, not ordering a drink or any food, simply staring at the hard oak of the table he was stationed at. After a few minutes, the brute turned, looking at the purple haired youth with an intense, murderous gaze; his eyes were bloodshot, and he seemed somewhat enraged. "The fuck do you think you're looking at, kid? Saitou smirked a little, but quickly masked it with his hand. Normally, if someone like that spoke to him in such a manner, he would look them dead in the eye and produce some witty retort to rip away their dignity. Unfortunately, he was no longer in a place where he could attract attention to himself. Nor could he get into a fight with such a man, as he could no longer rely on the advantage of being able to utilise both ninjutsu and genjutsu. Were he a taijutsu user, he might get away with being able to use some subtle techniques. But that was not the case, so he would have to avoid conflict. "Nothing. Nothing at all." With a grunt, the brutish figure turned back to staring at the counter. Time passed as Saitou sat in an awkward silence, shelling out from his wallet to purchase himself a mini-roast meal. According to the chef, it consisted of some various chicken parts, alongside some potatoes and vegetables. Not quite gourmet cuisine, but delicious to someone who'd been living off so little as of late. When his platter arrived, he tucked in ravenously, chowing down with a feral hunger. The man stared ominously, his eyes widening, also somewhat animalistic in his need to feast upon the meat. It was hard to resist, a meal like this. Gravy slathered roast meat, the smell wafting upwards, besides assorted roasted goods. Noticing this odd behaviour, Saitou felt he should be the bigger man and share his food. Using his knife, he made a division on the plate, putting a chicken leg and wing alongside a couple of potatoes. He gestured toward the food with his cutlery, and the man looked taken aback. One could say he was rather bewildered by the peculiar notion of offering one's food to a stranger; indeed, it wasn't a particularly normal thing to do, but Saitou knew how it felt to be on the road, with such a small amount of energy in your belly. The man took the gesture well, ferociously tucking in to his portion, ripping meat straight from the bone with his fingers and teeth. He was done extremely quickly, and he nodded his appreciation to his food giver, before returning to his arduous task of, well, staring. Saitou wondered if perhaps he was a simpleton. Or maybe he was just suffering from the affects of something; there was always the possibility of him being drug addled or the like. But, despite his facade of brutality, he didn't seem like a murderous type. The insane or deluded, perhaps. And people like that could always do things they didn't really understand the gravity of, so they had to be regarded as dangerous. Despite this, Saitou did not see much of a threat in this man. He was perhaps unconventional and a bit abnormal, but he couldn't be too bad, surely? As these thoughts went through Saitou's mind, the larger figure turned to stare at him, before grinning slightly; menacingly, he realised. Using his thick arms to his advantage, the man swathed in black grabbed the youth and threw him across the counter, before hopping over it himself. He shoved the bartender, sending him sprawling. The shinobi was somewhat dazed and stunned, and as he attempted to upright himself, he felt an arm secure itself around his neck, before hearing the sound of a blade being drawn. Cold steel was pressed against his throat. Somewhat startled, he realised he was being held hostage. So much for his impressions of this place improving; it only ever took one to spoil a great atmosphere. "Anyone comes in or out of here, I slit the kid's neck open and let him bleed on your floor. I want all the money from the till and anything you have upstairs. Any expensive jewellery, and one wallet from anyone, or there's gonna be damage. Have I made myself clear?" There was a sort of stunned silence in response, before people started to reach for their belongings. Saitou spotted some sneakily withdrawing money from their holders and slipping it into their pockets before handing over their wallets. Everyone was still somewhat shell shocked. The bandit had caught them all by surprise, and nobody wanted to see an innocent traveller die, so they complied and were co-operative. Saitou refused to struggle, he just sighed inwardly. Why always him? Of course, the bandit had a made a fatal error that could have catastrophic consequences for him. One should always take a weak hostage; instead, he'd gone for the strongest person in the room. Not that was aware of it yet, or that he could've been at any point before hand. Rolling his eyes, Saitou placed wiggled and wormed about, a lack lustre performance of his in which he portrayed a scared hostage, putting up a poor show of resistance. His adversary clamped harder around his throat with his beefy arm, and so he stopped. Satisfied with his rendition of a display of resistance, he stopped. He slowly made his way through a long line of handseals, all the while looking at the ceiling somewhat resignedly, almost comically. Placing both hands upon the thighs of his captor, he channeled a small stream of his inner energies through his palms. The bandit was now completely paralysed, unable to move a muscle in his body, bar those in his face. He cursed again and again, his luck having finally ran out on him, abandoning him with a shitty hand and a poor draw. One that would be his demise. The arm that had secured Saitou so tightly with an iron firm grip was now rigid but manoeuvrable. Lifting it upwards against the owner's will, he eased out of the hold, before placing one hand on the back of his now former captor's neck. From there, he raised one hand upwards, and channeled more chakra into the body of his opponent; this would cause him an excruciating amount of pain. The bolt of electricity was pretty damn powerful and sent the muscles that the bandit had no control of into a spasm, as he collapsed on the floor, and he sustained some burns upon his skin around the neck area. Saitou certainly didn't envy him. With a small smirk, the youth athletically hopped over the counter, before draining his flagon of ale. The crowd that had occupied the pub were stunned into silence once more, all eyes resting on him; whilst this was not what he had wanted, he decided he would have to play the scene regardless. Having finished his drink, he stood tall, before delivering one final, stellar implementation of the evening's play. With a grin and a cheeky flourish, he rose his arms aloft slightly, before speaking, addressing the crowd. "And that, ladies and gentleman, is why you should never, be it the last thing you do, attempt to assault one of Kumogakure no Sato's finest Shinobi. Even if he is off duty, enjoying a pub dinner. And with that, I shall leave you; three cheers for the greatest country in the continent, Kaminari no Kuni!" Saitou ascended the staircase toward the bedrooms, dropping some coins he'd produced from his own wallet to pay for both the meal and the accommodation. However, the bartender and inn keeper refused to keep the money, handing it back to him and indicating that he should take such things for free, after his performance. With a small grin, the shinobi headed upstairs, intending to get an early night. He had a long trip ahead of him, every comfortable hour of sleep he could get would be highly valuable. Topic End. OOC:

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