[Honō Kojirou]

”Wait for it…”

The wooden bridge was silent, the only source of sounds coming from the running waters below. Near the bridge at Izumizaki, a village and checkpoint on one’s way to Hirata here in the Land of Fields, were construction workers ranging between young bachelors to middle-aged experts, while a lone young male in a dazzling, crimson haori stood on the bridge itself. The others watched him with eyes widened intently, waiting for the beast hiding underneath the waters to reveal itself. Kojirou stood ready, his hand lifting up the sheath strapped to his hip, prepared to draw his sharp katana at any moment…

*Splash!*

A leviathan creature of aquatic origins leapt out from one side of the bridge and arced over its entirety, the scaly monstrosity blocking out the sun for the briefest moment. The shinobi had already leapt into action, drawing his blade to finish the job-

…

…

"Pretty convenient, that sword of yours,” one of the workers commented about Kojirou’s achievement while they were all on their way to the village of Hirata. The young swordsman was enjoying a crispy, fishy treat charred well for consumption, a testament of his attunement with the nature of the Land of Fields. "So it can just burn up like that at any point? How do you even deal with such a dangerous weapon?”

"It’s my chakra, actually… uh… like, say, a chisel that you guys use,” Kojirou tried to explain the mechanics of chakra-conductive weaponry, "On its own, you can carve on many things with a chisel… but if you use a torch to heat it up, you can carve on harder surfaces. Kinda the same way with these swords.”

"So your chakra… is like fire, huh?”

"Can’t put it better myself,” Kojirou laughed at how oddly accurate that statement was. He was happy to know that Lava Release in smaller doses didn’t melt his swords anymore – didn’t want to replicate that experience again – but it also meant that he’d have to do some work on the blade once they reached Hirata…

And that, they did. After all was settled and the workers began looking over their suggestions for how the trade station should be built – where should each booth and building be located, where should the public restrooms be, what roads were necessary to dig out etc. – Kojirou took to cleaning his katana with some sponges and hay pencils Kizumi-sama had shown him back when she visited the Land of Fields. She did make it clear that good hygiene extended beyond his own body, a necessity among swordsmen.

He had simply found a human-sized boulder to sit atop, granting him the ability to look over the grasses and towards the distant bamboo fields meeting trees where the border to the Land of Fire was located. That way, he could also keep an eye out for trouble… but things had been going so smooth up until now. As long as his partners from the Land of Lightning showed up in time.

Murahira Hana

[Murahira Hana]

Hana Murahira Do your best until you know better once you know better, then do better

in life, honor - in death, glory Hana has always been the punctual type. Time wasted is travesty, and she was not the type to waste time. So, showing up when scheduled was just the way she operated. However, when traveling over great distances with a bunch of non-shinobi carrying and carting equipment and supplies, delays were to be expected. As much as it bothered Hana, there wasn't anything she could do about it. Despite that, the group was making good time and was planning to arrive when they were expected to. That was until one of the carts had an issue and needed to be repaired. Hana had spent a good hour or so doing whatever she had to in order to get things moving and then spent another hour waiting anxiously for the group to get on the move again. Fortunately, she hadn't run into any actual trouble. Bandits were common in the area, as were other dangers, and despite that she had only had to scare off one small group of thugs that didn't know any better. But eventually they were back on the trail and making good time.  And eventually, they arrived at their destination. As she approached, she spotted a rather brightly dressed young man on a boulder. For some reason, he seemed familiar, but couldn't quite put a finger on why, so she approached him. As he appeared armed, she figured he was the shinobi counterpart standing - or sitting - guard. "Hello, we have arrived to help with the project."

TITLE: A Grassy Respite (Pt.2) TAGS: Honō Kojirou WORDS: 248 Words [2/15 Posts]

[Honō Kojirou]

Ah, that must’ve been them… and the first person sticking out from the rest was a rarity in these lands. Her snow-white hair revealed a pair of protruding, vixen ears akin to those of a wolf… or a fox. No, more like a coyote- something along that. She must’ve been the shinobi among the workers – a fair tenko in the flesh, like the legends. He hadn’t taken his mother seriously when she told stories of other clans out in the world with animal-like traits. It sent a wave or shiver across Kojirou’s arms and legs, one that came from witnessing something miraculous.

With the buzz of folk in the distant center of Hirata, Hana was now in the eastern part of the Land of Fields – bamboo forests, short vegetation, and grasslands as far as the eye could see. A unique image from what the Land of Lightning possessed. "Greetings. Honō Kojirou,” he would exchange the greeting while sliding down from the boulder, "So now that we’re all here, let’s-"

"Already on it!” one of the workers ensured them, having revealed that they were already beginning to delegate their building materials. It was as if they had already planned beforehand, but to think that they were able to cooperate with each other in an instant was praiseworthy. And yet, Kojirou just stood here with the fox-eared, wolf-tailed girl now... and had a strange question.

Was it... maybe a bit too much to ask? He felt oddly ashamed of himself, shown by a slight frown of sadness showing on his face as he kept glaring at her ears. Then, with a deep breath, he gathered enough courage to ask: "Your ears... they good for listening? Please, don’t tell me I’m being insensitive – I just met someone like you now for the first time... never seen anyone with those types of ears before. Like a wolf’s, or a white fox’s... does that mean they’re super sharp too?” In an act of genuine curiosity, he began twitching his own ears to try and feel his way to some sort of ‘amp’ of his hearing... but to no avail. He was no fox, he was no wolf, he was no Sensory-type and he was no Murahira. He was a swordsman.

[Murahira Hana]

Hana Murahira Do your best until you know better once you know better, then do better

in life, honor - in death, glory Hana paused and watched as the young man slid down the boulder and was about to reply to his greeting when he was cut off by one of the works. Hana laughed - a simple, short exhalation through her nose - and then grinned faintly. "I am Murahira Hana," she replied.  She looked over as the workers went about their business. They did seem to get along, almost as if they had always been working together. However, Hana assumed that, like Shinobi, they weren't so different from each other and perhaps that helped them integrate. Hana turned her attention back to Kojirou. Shinobi could also get along quite well as that sense of comradery created a type of immediate bond, but unlike these workers, shinobi were soldiers, and they were more prone to conflict - or at least aggressive competition. "My ears?" Hana seemed a bit surprised by his question, and even raised a hand to put fingers to one as if checking to see if it was still there. "I can hear well, as can many in my clan. We're not all equal in how well we can hear, but we all are better off than those from different clans." Hana didn't seem particularly concerned with it, nor bothered by his line of questioning. He wasn't the first to ask a Murahira about their features and he wouldn't be the last.  "Would you like to show me around? You were here first, so I assume you patrolled the area and got an idea for what sort of area we are looking over, yeah?"

TITLE: A Grassy Respite (Pt. 2) TAGS: Honō Kojirou WORDS: 261 Words [4/15 Posts]

[Honō Kojirou]

Murahina Hana.

That was a new name to remember, and a new clan to know about. As she explained, many in her clan had good hearing… wait… so they all had those type of ears?! Or, well, most had?! That was a huge advantage! It was like a Kekkei Genkai that directly altered their physiology… wait, Kojirou had read about the reality of such abilities. It was way back, though, but Kekkei Genkai were varied and numerous, spread all over the lands.

"So that’s… your Kekkei Genkai?” he asked with intrigue, knowing absolutely jack all about the Murahina’s ways or how wrong he really was, "I don’t have the best hearing, but…” He was planning to introduce her to his Yōton – y’know, just to even the field – but she desired to be shown around the place, and since this was Kojirou’s homeland (or around the very corner of), it was more than obvious that he’d have to be the guide for today.

"Sure! You just follow me – this town’s a beauty,” Kojirou suggested with a big thumbs-up before strolling off towards the nearby waters. Hirata was in an optimal position, nearby a branch of flowing, deep water that connected to a large river which could lead sailors towards towns such as Nokoribi, Ten’ei, Izumizaki, Ōtama, Hohei-chō, Daimyō no Kakato, Noraneko Bokujō, and also Kusagakure. Actually, if following the river further up north, then one could reach all the other towns and go as far as to the northern-most point where Kusa no Umi was located, right on the border to Bonchi no Kuni.

Perfect for sailing. Perfect for shipping. Perfect for business.

"This river here leads to a bigger one that can take you... pretty much anywhere around Nohara no Kuni,” he explained as he reached the wet, delta-like surface where the tall grasses began submerging themselves into deep freshwater. Kojirou had already begun walking on the water surface and making his way further into the river, but not too far away from the grass shore. "It’d be a nice spot for a trading center, for you’d just have to sail all the way and nothing more!” he jubilated with arms stretching out far and wide.

Once he made his way back to the grasses, he’d point over towards the thick woods to the east. "That’s a forest line that separates Nohara no Kuni from where you just came,” he quickly explained, "And the bamboo forests... are actually further to the east from here. Not many bamboos near Hirata, I’m afraid.” Bamboo forests reaching thousands of acre or less, more or less or around that number, was a staple of this land. Kusagakure, the Village Hidden in the Grasses, might as well have been called... Bamboogakure. Or something.

"... Hey, do all of your clan members have wolf traits? Or is it only very few, like a really rare Kekkei Genkai?” Maybe she’d be hella impressed if he showed her some Lava Release, but for now, Kojirou was most curious about this strange kunoichi and her gimmicks.