Et ita Incipit.
Whoever said kissing in the rain was romantic was an idiot.

The feeling of cold, unyielding flesh slapping against one’s own wet skin was not sexy. Hands slipping off another’s soaked clothing and plunging back in only to grab handfuls of water was not a turn on. And the idea that if you shifted your lips to get a better angle it would be flooded by seemingly endless amounts of saliva that would even put her beast to shame, was not going to make her moan in pleasure. No, she was pretty sure it would make her drown.

So, even when her companion looked at her with those smouldering eyes that just made her knees weak, the woman put on a strong front and shook her head quickly – there was no way in hell that she was going to let him plant one on her. It didn’t seem to faze him though, as she felt, more than saw, that shit-eating grin of his settle on his tilted lips. Smirking at her, she noted him make his way towards her, his light steps barely registering against the earth as he walked. The raven knew that he allowed the quiet thump of his trek for her benefit, respecting the woman enough to let her know of his incoming approach at all times. It was one of the many aspects of her companion that she appreciated. The damn man went out of his way to be a gentleman.

Stepping in close, she shivered as his body heat slid over her chilled skin, seeping into her pores and warming her cold frame from the inside out. Still smirking, he pulled her to him, resting his scruffy chin on the top of her head in what could only be described as a romantic embrace. The woman rolled her eyes at his antics but leaned into his chest, closing her blank orbs for just a moment. The rain teemed off the couple’s shoulders, splattering against the dirt that they were standing in, creating a puddle of muck that she knew they would hate having to pull their boots through. But they continued to stand there together, not speaking, just sharing a moment of comfort. They hardly had these anymore, she noted mentally, enjoying the strength of his arms as he held her close. Katie’s introduction into their life was probably one of the most amazing things to happen to them, but it also was a near damn permanent cock block to their relationship.

The memory of meeting Katie was a good one though.

The young girl had been sitting outside of the hospital in Rice Country when she had come across her. Eyes red and puffy from crying - the raven remembered Koushi’s offhanded remark that that girl was not a pretty crier – she sat, staring off in the distance. Scoffing, the woman had reprimanded her companion’s heartlessness with a smack before moving forward to what the beast had later described to her, resembled a lobster humanoid. She had smiled slightly, resting her slim hand upon the shaking girl’s shoulders and offered her a question of status. The redhead had babbled a statement that resembled, “I’m going to fail my class so hard it should be deemed raped” before falling into near hysterics once again.

Needless to say, the older woman had spent the rest of her time coaxing the girl to calm the fuck down and breathe.

It was there that Kharon found her; sitting on the steps to the hospital patting the back of a sobbing fifteen year old girl who was failing at medical training. He had a raised a brow but said nothing, instead reaching forward and yanking the girl to her feet. She had stumbled and Khar had rolled his eyes in annoyance before steadying her, his voice rough as he asked where she lived.

She had stammered out an address that had him pulling her away in that direction without thought, leaving the raven staring at their retreating backs in shock. It took a moment, but she had gotten to her feet and chased after them, grumbling about man-handling men as she went. Kharon was never one to waste time and as he pulled the redhead along, she watched as his sandy head had leaned down to growl something into the teen’s ear. She had stared up at him in shock, but as they neared her home, the older woman remembered the look of awe that had slipped onto the girl’s face before she smiled weakly at Khar, silently thanking him. The man in question merely shrugged at the appreciation and turned to her instead, raising a brow.

Waiting.

Waiting for the details to the offer he knew she already made to the young woman before them.

“Let’s meet at six o’clock tomorrow morning, Katie.”

And so it began.

Et ita Incipit... Iterum.
“So… Are you feeling awkward, or is it just me?”
“Nope.”
“Kay. Cool.”

Hidden beneath a hovering tree, protected from the torrential downpour of rain, two figures silently witnessed the loving embrace of the couple before them. Soaked to the core, they stood, their bodies pressed tightly together as they shared their warm and comfort in the inclement weather. It was touching, the figure thought, her eyes crinkling at the corners, to see her mentor and partner vulnerable to the world, yet strong as they stayed united. Smiling softly, the growing woman leaned against the tree, the rough bark scraping against the exposed flesh of her elbow that peeked out from the tunic she was wearing. Unlike Persy and Kharon, the redhead had been smart enough to momentarily ditch their quest in favour of hiding in the trees when she felt the first initial drop of rain. Oh, she knew that it wasn’t going to actually kill her to get wet – she wasn’t from the west, afterall – but the idea of attempting to fix her rather unruly hair with no mirror around for miles was not a welcomed thought.

Grimacing at the idea of Persy and her switching places, the teenager let out a quiet sigh before pressing her back against the tree and sliding down rather gracelessly. Although the sprung branches of the tree provided shelter from the rain, the earth was still damp beneath her butt and with the accompanying snicker of her companion as she landed, the redhead realized her mistake.

“Bloody hell,” she growled, her eyes narrowing in on her mentor’s counterpart, “Thanks for warning me, Koushi!” Scrambling to her feet ungracefully, since she was pretty sure she couldn’t move any other way, the teen twisted about to check her ass, a scowl twisting her rather pretty mouth into something ugly, “If I get a stain on these, I’m going to skin you alive and feed you to Kharon!”

Cackling, the beast merely shrugged off her threat, stomping his paws lightly on the ground as a display of his mirth. It was moments like these that the animal was glad the young girl was around. Katie was easily to fool, her gullible and naïve nature making it incredibly easy for him to fuck around with her. Her lack of observation skills or her occasional inability to connect two concepts together to get the relation as displayed by her sitting on the ground, essentially made his day. Persy provided the dog with the verbal sparring that sharpened his tongue and mind, while Kharon pushed him physically to better himself, but Katie – she and him could spend hours just chatting idly before one of them pranked the other. The young girl kept him young, he mused, watching her frowning figure from the corner of his eye, and as much as he joked about initially meeting her, he was glad that they did.

“Hey girlie, keep doing that and I’m pretty sure your face is going to get stuck like that.”

Lips pulling apart into a toothy grin, the shinobi dog smiled at her mercilessly, the shit-eating grin warning Katie of the ‘zinger’ Koushi was about to provide her with, “And no offense, doll, but you can’t afford it – although, now that I think about it, it’s probably an improvement.“

Letting out an indignant shriek, the redhead smacked at him, shoving the huge dog half-heartedly, before realizing she was scowling again and attempted to fix her face. Koushi was laughing from his position on the ground, his rumbling guffaws vibrating off the earth as he lay there. Sometimes, it was just too easy to get her going.

“Kat, you realize that if you just ignore ‘im, he’ll stop, eh?”

The stated woman looked up at Kharon, a frown still marring her lips as she responded; “It’s not so easy, you know!” Withholding a smile, the man attempted sympathy as he patted her gently on the shoulder, mentally let out a sigh at the two of them. No matter how often they griped and whined, he knew they enjoyed their little banter – all he asked was for them to cease complaining to him about it. Walking past Katie into the shelter of the trees, the raven smiled silently at Persephone, her form bent over as she murmured what he assumed to be threatening words into her counterpart’s ear. Her tone was soft, but he detected the quiet fondness for her beast, her fingers idly stroking his ears as she spoke. Before long, she withdrew from Koushi, her frame swaying gently as she transitioned into standing.

Approaching her silently, he wrapped a fluffy towel around her shoulders, squeezing them for a moment before heading towards the stock-pile of wood that the two idiots seemed thoughtful enough to gather before it had gotten too wet. Settling himself down for a quiet night, the man cracked his weeping spine and began to work, noting the slow gathering of his family as they surrounded him. Once he finished the fire pit, Kharon soundlessly got to his feet, heading to his next task, not watching as he heard the snap of fingers and the sudden eruption of crackling fire. Smiling inwardly, the man grabbed the food pouch and rationed out their meal, all the while listening to the scuffling of feet and what he could only assume was Katie’s bad singing.

“… You realized that dogs have an acute sense of hearing and you’re killing mine, right?”

He hears Persephone sigh.

And so it begins again.

Nocte.
Persephone let out a quiet sigh, the escaping carbon dioxide heating the cool night’s air and steaming before her. It was quiet now; she noted offhandedly, the simmering fire crackling beside her the only sound that filtered through the otherwise silent area. Occasionally, she would here the trickling of raindrops dripping down elegant branches and slipping into the cool earth, replenishing its surroundings, but other than that, the world was still. It was calming and unnerving to the blind shinobi; she enjoyed the quiet, the silence calming her hyper-sensitive hearing thus creating an easier environment to sleep, but similarly she felt like an additional sense was cut off from her, creating a vulnerability that she did not want to possess.

Grimacing, she rolled over, exposing her back to the simmering coals before settling her head gently on the ground, her ear pressed tightly to the moist surface. By resting the shell of her ear against the earth, the raven was able to pick up the slight vibrations of her companions, each respectively breathing deeply as they slept. Closing her eyes, Persy concentrated on their breathing, retreating into her own mind. Slowly, she matched her breathing with Katie’s, her intakes of breath the easiest to copy, and allowed her mind to drift to better things – and away from her fears of vulnerability. Pressed closer to the earth, she felt more grounded, literally and metaphysically, so she forced her tense body to relax, the straining muscles screaming. Continuing to regulate her breath and beating heart, the woman stretched her toes with each inhale, clenching them together as she exhaled until she slowly felt her body detangle itself.

It was satisfying; this sudden release from tension, her limb limps resting easily against the ground. The wetness from the earth chilled the exposed skin of her arm, the appendage having slipped off her sleeping mat as she had relaxed. It was a welcomed feeling though, allowing her to continue to ground herself until she fell deeply into her mediation, her mind letting out a sigh of relief at the released tension. It wasn’t often that she was able to fully do this, and later, Persephone knew that she would tell herself to do it more often, but until then, the woman felt her lips part as she exhaled, and with that, she slipped off to sleep.

Mane.
The morning came seemingly slowly; the sun peeking over the cover of the trees, its bright rays beginning to warm the faces of the well-worn travellers. Like a feather upon one’s flesh, the slips of light pet the dozing party, coaxing their sleepy eyes open with soft, tickling caresses. A sigh of defeat whooshed out of a pouty mouth, the sound overpowered by the Rice Country’s morning song. All around them, the birds were singing, their soft chirps erupting into a chorus of music that was only accentuated by the soft breeze that urged the tall grass into song. It was pleasant, Persephone thought idly, her slim form rolling off of her mat onto the earthen floor. She lay there for a moment, blinking, before picking herself up and leaning forward, stretching. She heard the satisfying pops of her labour and with a final roll of her shoulders, the woman began her day.

Moving forward, she idly patted the head of Katie, the teenager pressing her rather pretty face into her mat in a final attempt to escape the sun’s rays. “Come on,” the medic murmured, flicking the girl’s cheek lightly, “We need to get a move on if we wish to get to Konohagakure anytime soon.”

Persy grinned as she heard a muttered curse and felt what she could only assume was Katie peeling herself off the ground. Continuing to smile, she let out a quick “good girl” before moving off to Kharon’s location, intent on figuring out their plans for the day. Out of all of them, the weapon user was the most adept with maps and directions, so Khar tended to plan out their days when they were travelling, having realized that Persy couldn’t tell the difference of up from down.

Behind her, Katie growled as she made her way over to the still sleeping frame of the hulking beast, “Get up, you waste of space!” Toeing him lightly in the ribs, the teen continued, “And if you don’t get off your lazy ass, I’m going to sit mine down on you!” Nudging him again when the animal didn’t respond, the medic-in-training let out an exasperating moan before plopping down on the sad excuse for an animal. ‘Serves him right,’ she thought, ignoring his indignant scuffles on the ground as she dead-weighted. Smiling rather satisfactorily, Katie stayed there for a few minutes, getting a sick glee from each distressed noise he made from beneath her. It wasn’t like she was heavy, but when one sits on another’s head and neck, it often becomes difficult to breathe and as Koushi was experiencing, it wasn’t fun either.

“Katie, I had hoped I wouldn’t have to give you the whole ‘Do onto others what you would want done to you’ speech.”

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Persephone shook her head at the suddenly frozen members on the floor. Glancing at her partner in bemusement, the raven could have sworn she felt the grin that was pulling at the corners of Kharon’s lips. Nudging him with an exposed elbow, she let out a laugh at his return shove before shaking her head and throwing her arms in the air in defeat, “Fine. You deal with them!”

Kharon simply continued to grin at her, noted the acquiescing teenager as she jumped away from the clawing Koushi. The beast lumbered dangerously close to the young girl, speaking something about disembowelling her before cuffing her over the head. In response she flicked his nose and at that point, Kharon redirected his attention at the map before him.

“It’s not going to take more than two days’ worth of travel to get there, Perse. If we cut through the Valley of the End, we could get there within a day and a half.”

Nodding, the woman smiled in excitement. The only time she had ever been in Konoha was when she was the Raikage for negotiations, so the concept of travelling there for leisure was a promising one. Konoha was well-known for its shinobi and she had high-hopes of finding strong medical ninja that she could introduce to her young apprentice. Persephone adored Katie, but she didn’t want to limit the young girl’s education because of their constant travelling. If she could find someone that had more connections with the surrounding villages that would greatly benefit the young lady, then Persy would ensure Katie her future, no matter the loss of her person would cause.

“Breakfast, then whenever you’re ready, Kharon.”

“Koushi. Katie. You’ve got fifteen minutes to get your shit together or we’re leaving yea’.”