[Minori Gin]

the sun rises

While Gin vastly preferred the open sea, many naval routes took the officers aboard up and down the cost. Defending merchant ships en route to allied nations was the most common of the jobs that kept the ship close to land. Lightning country had a large pirating presence, and in the choppy waters around Whirlpool country, when the boats were pressed between the fine waterways bisecting islands, they were not particularly afraid to strike.

The boat Gin was aboard had taken him south along the cost of Kaminari no Kuni, down to Hot-Springs country, the ever-peaceful nation that engaged in much trade with Kumogakure (and with every other nation of repute). It was odd, feeling how the air shifted, from the cool northern air, sharp and electric, around Lightning country, to the temperate, calm air, which smelled almost sweet, off the coast of Hot-Springs Country.

Their ship docked at port. The sailors would be here for the next day or so before bringing the merchants back home. That gave Gin a bit of time to relax and see the sights in the city. If Gin thought about it for long, he'd probably say that he felt out of place in a town like this, though Hot-Springs Country was also something like how he wanted the rest of the world to be. So peaceful. The people bustling in the marketplaces seemed very happy.

Gin found a place at a local inn, then made his way to a hot spring nearby. If this was what the country was known for, he should definitely pay a visit to one, right?

tagged: Ryuujin Shiina || word count: 222 || notes: x

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[Ryuujin Shiina]

In the city of fools, I was careful and cool but they tore me apart like a hurricane.

TAG - Minori Gin

NOTES -

Being this close to Kaminari no Kuni was both dangerous and made her blood boil.

Despite it having been a few years since she killed a man, fled the village and subsequently the country, officially being labled a nukenin, Shiina still felt the internal resentment that was present every time she even though about Kumo and Kaminari no Kuni. She knew that she hadn't let it go, and for reasons quite justified. Her father had died for unknown reasons, she herself framed for another, and how it all ended was possibly the worst outcome one would anticipate. Did she regret it/ Not really. The injustices of her village and country disgusted her, and to her, she had only rid the place of someone that would have poisoned the political framework further with his existence. She had done her village a favor, and they simply hadn't appreciated it. Now, she had dawwned another identity and another name, under the alias of Ran, a traveling geisha from a small shinobi nation. She hid her chakra signature, a thing she didn't enjoy doing given her personality.

But she was a nukenin, after all.

Shiina was never afraid of death, never afraid that people from her country or any allying nations could find her. From the second she was marked and officially in the BINGO book, she knew that it was the point of no return. However, she would still have to survive and live until the day she would eventually meet her end. With that mindset, she happened upon a geisha house, a school that was willing to teach her the arts of a performer, and she had since adopted the identity of Ran, having taken the name after her teacher. Her quick learning transferred from shinobi to geisha, quickly completing the necessary training to become a reputable geisha to represent the house.

The woman had been requested to perform at a party for some wealthy client, having heard of her skills far and wide. She had spent the night prior performing all night, a mixture of dancing, tea ceremony and singing. Now, as she left the inn to go back to another one that she was spending the night at, she grimaced, the sun's rays unforgiving as they shone down on her face. Shiina was tired, exhausted, and all she wanted to do was to go back to the welcoming arms of her bed. Dressed in a dark purple and gold ukata, she would make her way slowly down the road, her mind blank, as she heaved a small sigh.

MADE BY MIZO

[Minori Gin]

the sun rises

No one would call Gin's area of expertise observation. It's not like he was bad at it - every shinobi needed to be able to look out, especially on the sea, where advanced warning of attack really was the difference between life and death. Still, he didn't have the finer senses of some shinobi clans, and none of the chakra sensing abilities of a sensor. His power was all divined from the right of Hikari and his own body.

What he did have, though, was an eye for when someone was troubled. Perhaps it was all the church work and charity, but the exhausted lines of a tired person's body were well familiar to him. When he saw a young woman in dark purple and gold walking down the street, he was compelled to her - always compelled, to help those who might be going through a hard time.

"Good morning," he greets, gracefully moving to walk alongside her, comfortably falling into step with her as if he'd been walking with her all along. "Or is it afternoon? I lose track on the ships. I'm only visiting, but you're the first person I've seen in this city who looks stressed out," he joked, with a polite and friendly sort of concern. Maybe she was on her way to or from work? This was a vacation city, but that didn't mean everyone who lived within it was on break. For most visitors this place was just one of passing, transient, but it was easy to forget that there were people who would live their whole lives here.

tagged: Ryuujin Shiina || word count: - || notes: x

xxx

[Ryuujin Shiina]

In the city of fools, I was careful and cool but they tore me apart like a hurricane.

TAG - Minori Gin

NOTES -

To say that she was surprised when a man walked alongside her, following her stride, was an understatement.

She looked at the man wearily, unsure of his motivations. He seemed nice enough, although his approach was rather sudden, to say the least. "Do you talk to every woman like this?" Her voice was curt, as she was simply exhausted. Shiina didn't even have the energy to put on a face and personality. Instead, what Gin saw was almost the entire truth of who she really was. "Stressed out? Not entirely. I'm just tired..." her voice was a low whisper, as she continued to stare at the white-haired man beside her. The way he was keeping up with her made it seem like they had known each other for quite some time, and his friendly demeanor was somewhat off-putting as well. But, at the back of her mind, she was certain that it was simply because she was tired that every little detail of this interaction was bothering her.

"I'm looking for a hot spring." The statement was blunt and lacking of all emotion. If he looked closer, he would be able to see that despite keeping composure while being on the road, the woman was hanging onto what little consciousness she had. The performances took a toll on her body, coupled by an unknown illness that gnawed at her every now and again, there were times when even slight fatigue could drain her soul, it seemed. And as though on cue, the woman stopped abruptly, her eyes widened a fraction. The abruptness would perhaps confuse Gin, but upon close observation, he would begin to hear her strained breathing, as she inhaled sharply.

This was not going to be good...

MADE BY MIZO

[Minori Gin]

the sun rises

Did he talk to every woman like this? Not so specifically. "I talk to everyone like this. Except for my bosses, I suppose," he answered her, just as casual as anything else. Even then he still talked to his bosses like this sometimes. He had a playful demeanor and a certain sense of superiority, even over his superiors.

She confirmed that she wasn't stressed out, but, rather, tired. In Gin's mind the two often came together. How often was an individual pushed to the brink of exhaustion without some other factor influencing it? Perhaps some people just had trouble sleeping for no reason at all, though.

"I'm looking for a hot spring, too. We can go together if..." In the middle of his offer, Shiina's breathing suddenly picked up and her eyes went wide. Well, that didn't seem good. She must've been really, really tired.

"Are you going to faint? You should sit down," he suggested to her, reaching out his hands to hover about her with concern though not actually touching her, since he doubted she'd appreciate that from a stranger.

If he was able to and she accepted the aid, he would help her in finding somewhere to sit. If she went and knocked her head against the pavement, that would be a very quick and sad ending to their conversation!

tagged: Ryuujin Shiina || word count: - || notes: x

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