Pacemaker [Training]

Age : 35 Posts : 1113

Training || Physical || Quick Speed:

Spoiler:

Although the alliance between the Rice Field country and the Shantakai collapsed, the criminal faction still retained some presence in the minor nation. It is thought that they exploited the people's distrust of the once great nations, manipulating them to feel sympathetic toward the group. A tentative agreement at best, the Shantakai have thus far stayed away from the villages and mainstays of Ta no Kuni, instead restricting themselves to harder-to-scout areas of the land, such as the renowned, dense forests or more undulating landscapes, closer to the border. It was here, amidst trees taller than most buildings and thick branches that obscured all but the most persistent of light sources, that a figure was travelling. She - for it was a woman - was running at breakneck pace across the forest floor. Apart from the bark and mulch that shot into the air as she passed, the woman left no trace, gave out no sound. She ducked and weaved between low-hanging branches, occasionally taking a stray twig across the cheek. It didn't seem to bother her at all. Not far from her, two male deer locked horns and the clattering noise echoed through the wood. The woman caught the distant sound and her head flicked left, in the direction it had come from. Her eyes were so intense one might have believed her gaze could truly pierce the surrounding darkness. After only a second or two, she straightened her gaze, seemingly deciding the noise was of no concern. What she hadn't considered was the fallen tree about three feet from her, lying right across her path and with no time to jump it. Thrusting an arm out she curled her body around the trunk as her toes skidded into it. Her palm pressed against the soft organic floor on the other side, she allowed the momentum to carry the rest of her body over the log in an arc, eventually coming to a slightly rough landing on the other side. Getting to her feet, she glared at the fallen giant and tutted.

Where the tree had once stood, dappled light was now making its way through the canopy. It partially illuminated the woman and her features. Though a long cloak, charcoal black and grey-white, covered her from neck to ankle, her face was clear in the scattered glow. Long, straight black hair and sallow skin gave her an altogether stern look. Her eyes of golden amber should have been warm and welcoming, yet they were almost the antithesis of it. Beneath her left eye, a long and jagged scar ran past her jaw and under her cloak. From just her poise it was clear, the item pouches merely contributed to the conclusion that the woman was a shinobi. Sure enough, she soon drew a pair of kunai in her right hand, letting them hang from her finger carelessly. Without warning, the kunoichi whipped her wrist forward and released the first of them. She stayed otherwise very still, watching as the blade buried itself in a distant tree trunk. A second after it did so, she moved too, darting forwards and releasing the second kunai as she went. The projectile soared ahead of her and a moment later, a clang of metal upon metal could be heard. The second kunai had clattered into the first, but because of the angle at which it had been thrown, it had changed direction rather than falling to the floor. Heading in a new direction, the second weapon soon started to dip in the air, much of its momentum lost in the collision. It seemed to hang in the air, descending no faster than a leaf might. About a foot away from the forest floor, a slender hand wrapped around the hilt and the kunai disappeared along with its owner. She was already out of sight, but at the feat of sheer pace the kunoichi was unable to hide a small smile.

Coming to an abrupt halt, her skidding feet left a trail of uprooted loam behind her. The damp floor was quiet, sure, but it did not offer the best of grip. Glancing down at the kunai in hand, the woman's brow furrowed quizzically. Drawing another kunai to compliment the one she'd just picked up, she began to walk back to the original, still buried in the bark. Twirling them with confidence around her fingers, the kunoichi eventually found her place and turned to face the target. Releasing one kunai and then another, she kicked off from the ground with a determined but muffled grunt. Her body was being put under more physical strain this time - she knew that the task was twice as hard now as before. Once again, she managed to scoop up a kunai before it touched the floor but this time, she came to a halt immediately and shot toward the opposite direction. The two blades she had thrown had been at different angles. The first had taken a similar route to its predecessor but the second... the kunoichi had left herself so much ground to cover. The second kunai had been angled so that it sped away in an entirely different direction and right now, it was mere inches from the moss-covered ground. Throwing herself forwards, the woman stretched out her right arm and swung her hand at the kunai. Her grip failed her however, and the steel blade was batted away. By happy accident, it struck her feet and she reacted quickly, flicking the item up into the air. Not bothering to raise herself, the kunoichi caught it whilst lying down. The grin on her face quickly soured when she caught sight of the cut on her hand, picked up when she knocked the kunai away a few moments ago. She clearly hadn't felt the injury, but her expression had already turned from exuberant to positively stormy. Ignoring the perforated skin, she yelled in frustration and dug the offending projectile into a rotting log beside her. The sodden wood splintered and collapsed under the pressure.

Breathing more heavily now - not from overexertion but frustration - the woman took a moment to calm herself down. Had anyone been watching the scene they would surely have concluded that the kunoichi was not of sound mind. This would have been a fairly accurate observation indeed. Wordlessly, she began to unbutton her cloak. Only the top two buttons were undone however, as she then reached inside and tore a small bit of cloth from her undergarments. The dark green fabric was tied around the hilt of a kunai which she proceeded to sink into the nearest tree trunk. Getting to her feet now, the woman strode off toward another tree, about fifteen metres away from the first. As she neared it, she tore another piece of cloth away, a white fabric this time. Affixing it to a kunai hilt, she pressed the blade into the bark of the tree she'd chosen and walked off in yet another direction. By the end of the bewildering sequence of actions, the kunoichi had marked four different trees, all about fifteen to twenty metres from each other, with different coloured fabrics. Finding a central spot, the woman took a short breath before disappearing in an instant. Her movements almost too fast to follow, she travelled from one tree to the next, in the same order she had tagged them. Each time the fabric fluttered with the rush of air she she approached but they were not otherwise touched. The kunoichi continued, building more and more speed as she went. Her gaze flitted to the path behind her and her jaw tightened. Clearly, whatever she was trying to achieve had not yet come about. Lowering her head, she raced on, faster and faster. Bark started to peel and flick from the trunks she passed, the gust of displaced wind actually dislodging weaker parts of the tree's armor. And then, quite suddenly, she came to a halt by the last tree in the sequence and plucked the fabric from the blade. Around her, three pale figures did the same at the other trees, although they seemed incapable of actually interacting with the fabric. Biting her lip until she drew blood, the woman's mouth twisted into a small grin as the afterimages faded from sight.

[Word Count = 1389/1200]