[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

It was a four day journey from shore to shore between Rice-Wine and Kaminari. Having had to act as bodyguard detail for the ship mostly had left little time during the normal daylight hours to train. So on the final day, Yakitsukeru had forced herself to wake up from the cargo-storage hammocks the two apprentices had made to stay in due to lack of room in the crew's quarters. Standing up and stretching she would look over at Mairasu as he slept. Was it fair for her to train without him? Probably, yes. It was safer in numbers, perhaps she could have been nicer then pulling him off the actual hammock and draging him by his jacket towards the stairs while still groggy. Silent until she reached the stairs she would turn with heavy bags illuminating her barely visible features, "We've been lazy enough outssside of patrol Mairasssu-kun. We train thisss morning until the crew ssstirsss for chow, and we can ressst on the shore." Yakitsukeru's tone was one of the rare moods she seemed to hold rather normally; one that was all business and left no room for interpretation of what she was wanting done. Mairasu would be dragged up to train by further force, or he could cooperate. She was in some weird way being nice by not excluding the leaf genin from her training session in the sage arts... it was just not one that would look well given the sudden waking grog. TAGGED | Here NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[Hiesin Mairusu]

TAKE ME TO VALHALLA WHERE MY BROTHERS WAIT FOR ME

A warm sunny day, endless plates of food served on a pristine beach and a soft summer breeze wafted through the area. This was a nice life and one that the boy never wanted to end. He had somehow managed to get decent sleep on the hammocks in the bottom of the ship during their travels and even adjusted to the side to side swaying as the boat passed over waves but a rather strong one had pulled pretty strongly at him... and kept pulling... and kept pulling. Something wasn't right. "Wh--Wha--What the hell?" Mairusu croaked out as his eyes wearily snapped open, darting around until they landed on a hand dragging him by the shoulder through the ship.

A familiar voice would soon begin to speak as the genin struggled to gain his footing on the rocking ship in addition to still being half sleep. Yaki. She had pulled him from his slumber to train in the wee hours of the morning and under any other circumstance he would have appreciated the girl for including him, but could it not have waited until after he woke up? Patting his face with both hands a few times to try and jolt himself awake there was little more than a subtle nod from the boy as he contemplated one last time about turning around and going back to bed, though that probably wouldn't end well for him. "Fine fine, but work on your bedside manner next time. I was having the best dream." Mairusu replied between yawns.

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WORDS ● Tateyama Yakitsukeru ● NOTES

deltra of gangnam style

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

Yaki would scowl at the boy rather openly from her position as she glanced back down to him. Having made it mostly up the crawl ladder to the surface of the ship and looking up at the early purple sky. The sun not peaking the horizon, but close to doing so. The early signs of its lifting out at sea clear. Stretching again she moved to the back of the ship deck and sat down, motioning for Mairasu to do the same. "I'm not your mother or wife Mairasssu-kun. If you want equality know I'd agree to train if you dragged me out of bed much the sssame asss I have you," Yakitsukeru would state for the boy as she steadied herself onto the deck of the ship. A deep inhale and exhale following as she looked to her companion and partner in training. Perhaps she would convince him one of these days... perhaps, "Lisssten. I think we are at a good point to dissscusss thisss, but I think we can reach the initial ssstagesss of sssage mode upon thisss trip. If we put our mindsss to it we will return back from thisss trip over the far eassstern continent as sssagesss in the initial imperfect ssstage of training. A boon I think we both can agree will benefit usss in future endeavors." Yaki would pause to look at the young man again, hopefully he would be seated. She would continue, "For that we need to train, and while I know both of usss can feel the energy we are not sssafely able to hold it in. I have a plan for usss to both reach that point, but I need your cooperation." TAGGED | Here NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

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[Hiesin Mairusu]

TAKE ME TO VALHALLA WHERE MY BROTHERS WAIT FOR ME

The girl was never one to accept a complaint or a even a joke at her expense causing a sigh to escape the boy as he followed Yaki up the ladder to the main deck of the ship. The sun hadn't even broke the horizon yet which, admittedly, did give the sky a really cool looking purple color but if even the sun was still sleeping then they could have managed a few more minutes in the hammock. Then again, once the rest of the sailors were up and about it'd probably be a lot tougher to find enough space and quiet to get any meaningful training done. "Yeah yeah I get it." The boy replied as he followed Yaki's instructions to take a seat.

Mairusu would listen as the girl theorized that by the end of this trip they'd both be able to achieve the first form of sage mode: initial imperfect. The boy's eyes widened at the thought of finally hitting a milestone in his journey and if there was any lingering tiredness in his system it was gone now. How had she even come up with that hypothesis? How would they reach the first step of sage mode without the tutelage of a proper Sage? For all he knew it was just going to be the two of them for the entirety of this trip and while he wouldn't speak for Yaki, Mairusu didn't know the first thing about harnessing the power of natural chakra. He could absorb it, sure, had actually gotten pretty decent at it but beyond that was a mystery. Still, after all these years if there was a chance he could hit that goal then it was worth the try.

"Wait we can do what now? Without a proper Sage to train us? I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested but... how?" Mairusu would ask, his interest completely piqued. She mentioned needing to work together, that made sense enough, but that was only the beginning. Excitement, anxiety and a host of other emotions swirled within the boy at the thought of finally having something to show for all the time he had put into this endeavor.

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WORDS ● Tateyama Yakitsukeru ● NOTES

deltra of gangnam style

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

"Thisss isss why you are ssstill ssstuck without progresss! Risssksss! Sssage mode training isss dangerousss regardlesss, and even with a partner and a fail sssafe you fear trying," Yakitsukeru would state for the boy in a fashion that was accusatory. It was to spark and spur some level of engagement from his heart that wasn't this boring anxiety that she needed him to discard. That wasn't in complete ignorance though, she definitely had already had him attentive. You couldn't meditate with an unsteady heart though, and getting the boy to grow a spine was surely to her benefit. "We are aboard the bessst training environment that we could asssk for in today'sss day and age for sssage training. The boat isss not ssstill at all, the water isss calm now, but it will never ssstop rocking. Balance and the ability to keep focused regardlesss of what isss around usss. We can do that in turnsss here. If we break the sssealsss on our backsss I'll replace them. If you want I can teach you how to make them asss well," Yaki would explain her plan right as the boat suddenly dipped forward. It was a slow and gentle descent, but one that threatened to throw them down to the front of the boat if they so much as twitched the wrong way. It was like nature was trying to prove a point for the girl, and for her it was a rather effective example of what she meant. Convenient. TAGGED | Here NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[Hiesin Mairusu]

TAKE ME TO VALHALLA WHERE MY BROTHERS WAIT FOR ME

He wasn't a fan of what Yaki was saying and definitely not in the way she had delivered it even though he was weirdly getting used to it, but the girl was right. If the boy was afraid of taking any kind of risks he would never reach his goal and even though the risks associated with sage training were literally life and death the genin couldn't be expect someone to be holding his hand every step of the way, and it wasn't like he was alone or anything; Yaki was mean but she had made clear on more than one occasion that it was in both of their best interests to push the other since --for all Mairusu knew-- they were the only benchmarks each other had when it came to this stuff.

"Yeah, can't really hope to master this stuff without a little risk, and there's no telling how long we'll be out here so I guess waiting around for sensei to show us isn't all that great an idea." Mairusu replied with a hum. To travel to virtually the other side of the world and come back home with no further knowledge or experience gained would be nothing short of a failure and it wasn't like there were expectations for either of them to come back having mastered sage mode, just able to harness the natural chakra they were getting adept at gathering into something physical. What that looked like exactly the genin had no idea but if all went well then they'd find out soon enough.

As the ship rocked forward it became clear that this training would be very different than anything the boy had done before on solid, unmoving ground; even the chirping birds and buzzing bees were nothing in comparison to the always moving ocean they were currently crossing and the boat that would always be at its whims. Would Mairusu turn to stone the moment he tried to gather chakra? Would he even be able to concentrate amidst the rocking and rolling? Trepidation and doubt began to creep their way in to his thoughts but a small shake of the head pushed them away, this was but another step in his journey and there was no room to back out now. "True true, if we can learn to focus here then we can meditate just about anywhere, and yeah I'd like being able to replace the seals on my own." He replied.

"Turns sound good, I'll let you take the first crack at it."

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WORDS ● Tateyama Yakitsukeru ● NOTES

deltra of gangnam style

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

Yaki would nod as she removed her Haori to just her simple dress, leaving her normally hiding shoulders and face to full exposure to the world. The tattoo partially showing from behind the shoulders. Had it not still been dark out it was likely she would have not exposed herself so readily to the open sea air for training. She wasn't exactly shy though, and while she would never reveal more of herself to Mairasu, he was already privvy to malformed skin and jaw. This was no new sight for the young man, and less so the motions she slipped into to focus herself. A long exhale would hear a reply from her though, "What do you find to be the essence of nature to the sea Dasssai? Is it the water or the creatures? What do we pull from upon the ocean waves?" Yaki would leave questions for him to ponder as she stilled her motions into a sitting position facing out towards the front of the boat. Her hands openly and naturally splaying in intertwining. She pondered these same questions as she felt out into the world. Calling upon the source of everything for the answer to her call and her question. Emptying her mind as she focused solely on the connection. The answer that came without words. A slow trickle of energy entering her. TAGGED | Here NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[Hiesin Mairusu]

TAKE ME TO VALHALLA WHERE MY BROTHERS WAIT FOR ME

As he waited for the girl to get... comfortable --for lack of a better term-- Mairusu thought about the venture they were about to embark on. Sure, the two had dabbled in bringing in natural chakra once before and it was a sensation like no other, but only insofar as to make the seal affixed to them activate; now however they were going to try and actually harness that energy to take that next step. Sure, the seals would still be there and there was no doubt in the boy's mind that they would be activated and reapplied multiple times through the training session but if they could get this part down then achieving sage mode was within their reach.

Then came a weird ass question, probably the weirdest thing he had ever heard from the girl. There were a couple moments of silence as Mairusu tried to figure out what Yaki meant and best he could tell she was hinting at the literal idea of drawing from the sea, but did they take from the water itself or the fish and stuff that lived in it? Well that was a mind bender. "Hmmm, that's a tough one. Water is natural, it's the foundation of life itself, but in most cases it just sustains actual life. You can't have marine life without water but if there's no marine life then the water is just... water. In that case I'd say we pull from both."

A poignant response that really had the gears turning and most importantly reiterated the concept of balance. Too much of one thing and too little of another would throw the scales off so it was important to draw from everything equally.

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WORDS ● Tateyama Yakitsukeru ● NOTES

deltra of gangnam style

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

Yakitsukeru did not pay much attention past her partner's words. She didn't have that sort of room for distraction, and it was obvious if one were to actually pay attenion and knew exactly what she was trying to do. Connection to the water, deep and greedy. A gluttonous vast mass of life and hunger. She was attempting harness it, a gentle caress of reaching out and prodding was pronounced with the waves oddly pulling back from her. Aggression seemed necessary so she pulled, slowly, but surely upon the waves. The ocean was always starving for more though, and like it, seeping her body with natural energy seemed nearly impossible to truly utilize. She was not learning this with the help of some teacher, she had an idiot just as clueless as she was reckless with her and the two had no idea how to handle this. A slowly breath as she began to reach deeper, deeper still, feeling the fish within the water, feeling what grew in the rot and trying to clear it. To take that natural source of energy and make it her own, she wasn't going to be able to. She had never pulled upon the world like this, but it felt better. Visually her body began to grow greener, scaled, sharper like a snakes. A large wave though, would send her into the air and slamming into the ground next to where Mairasu. The natural energy running its course and trying to overwhelm her. She hadn't taken in too much, but it was now taking her energy anyways. Being seeped into the seal on her back as she started to get covered in stone. "Shit. Help," Yaki would call to her fellow apprentice as she started to rip at the stone that was crawling up her legs to her waist. TAGGED | Here NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

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[Hiesin Mairusu]

TAKE ME TO VALHALLA WHERE MY BROTHERS WAIT FOR ME

There was no response to his answer so it was hard to tell if what the boy said was adequate or not though Mairusu had a hunch that Yaki would have called him stupid while saying he hadn't understood her question at all, and while there would be some truth to that --it was a weird question-- knowing that he was on the right track at least would have helped. Still, it was probably for the best that they didn't get into a philosophical discussion while trying to concentrate on harnessing natural energy. They were still newish to the concept and traveling across a ship that was at the mercy of the waves beneath it so being able to focus was paramount.

The genin would watch as his fellow apprentices' form would begin to take on that of a serpent: green scales appearing around her body that while larger than most snakes he had ever seen were spot on in every other way. Just when he was thinking that maybe this wouldn't be too difficult after all a large wave pushed against the ship tossing Yaki towards him and it took everything the boy had to not tumble over himself. The concentration had been lost and where there had been scales there was now stone creeping up the girls' form. "Uh oh." He muttered before going over to help pick the stone layer from her form. "That wasn't bad for a first attempt. If that wave hadn't of hit you might have got it in one go." Mairusu spoke. Perhaps it was a sign from nature to not be too greedy when taking from it, but chances were it was just happenstance.

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WORDS ● Tateyama Yakitsukeru ● NOTES

deltra of gangnam style

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

Yaki continued to rip the stone of her body with some honest difficulty that could be seen with her movements. Particularly as it reached over her torso and arms towards her head. It was easy enough to break, but it didn't mean it wasn't dangerous for her to have done it still. As it travelled over her arms she would lift her arms to break the shoulders, then the elbows. Taking a breath as her face was submerged in stone and darkness. Smashing her hands and head on the deck three times to crack all the stone before being able to peel it off. Mairasu's help pivotal in making it to where the girl did not suffer from the suffocating stone for long. Catching her breath on the deck she looked at the stone and sighed, "Not bad for ssstill barely not dying on board a ship trying to practice an art that be barely have any experience with? Certainly. Itsss like trying to pull from an empty well, like breathing without having the air around you it wasss odd to sssay the leassst." Yakitsukeru would sit up and look at the boy before her and clap, "It isss your turn now Mairasssu-Kun. The anssswer to the quessstion I asssked isss sssomething that you will learn sssoon after you ssstart. For once in a blue moon I agree that your anssswer wasss the correct one at leassst, though itsss a bit different in practice from fundamentalsss. Either way pleassse begin whenever." TAGGED | Here NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[Hiesin Mairusu]

TAKE ME TO VALHALLA WHERE MY BROTHERS WAIT FOR ME

"Well, yeah, I guess if you put it like that..." Perhaps he had been a bit too optimistic in his assessment and if something as natural as a wave rolling through the ocean was enough to knock Yaki's focus then the girl was further back than Mairusu thought. What did that mean for him? He had practiced meditating for what seemed like forever, had put in the work to stay focused while the world around him raged on and yet.. now he was feeling nervous. Like it wouldn't be enough and all that training was going to immediately be for naught.

He'd continue to help peel the stone from Yaki's form as it spread and even with seal could still see why this training was so dangerous. If one wasn't able to peel the stone away then there was still the very real chance they'd suffocate from being covered head to toe, and if they didn't have this seal then... yeah, he had experienced that fate once before. Now that his fellow apprentice had been freed from her stone cocoon it was now time for him to give it a go. The genin took a peek over the side of the ship to see if any large waves were coming and while none were here at the moment he knew that could change at any point and waiting for 'perfect' conditions was a fools errand. Nature was going to be itself every moment of every day and all he could do was learn to work in tandem with it.

"Here goes nothing." The boy spoke as he took his usual seated position: legs crossed, arms folded in at the knuckle and eyes closed. He focused his breathing just as he normally would and let the sounds around him flow through one ear and out of the other. The locale of the sea was new to him and the sloshing of the current against the hull of the ship was a sound he had heard only a couple times before. The creaking of the ship against the waves, the wind billowing through the sails, it was all so new to him. Still, regardless of sounds old and new focus was required and all that work on meditating was to help with channeling natural chakra no matter where he was or what was going on around him.

Slowly but surely he could feel his connection with nature begin to strengthen, the life around him coming into focus even though he couldn't 'see' them in the traditional sense; it was similar to the feeling he had gotten when working with Miho and the tiny snake in the park that day. Yaki, the crew, he could feel them all. On the outside there were changes as well, namely the skin around his arms and legs sectioning into shiny black scales while something seemed to be growing around his neck almost akin to the neck flap that a king cobra would show when threatened.

Mairusu did his best to ignore what he could feel but deep down he was giddy with excitement at the changes. He knew that the transformation was the first step to achieving more power and his mind began to race with the images of super powerful jutsu and the such. Unfortunately, the boy's fervor had become palpable and the balance required for taking from nature had been thrown off due in part to another sizable wave that rocked the ship. The rocking off the hull sent Mairusu tumbling backwards, his eyes flashing open to see not scale but stone beginning to grow over his legs. "Shitshitshitshit." The boy would begin to pound at the stone covering to break it loose and begin clawing away, he had seen what it had done to Yaki and was not eager to share in that experience.

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WORDS ● Tateyama Yakitsukeru ● NOTES

deltra of gangnam style

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

And she was upon him in a flash, her short almost claw-like nails pressed in against his skin as the stone began to roll up and over his skin. Peeling it back with a deft pull of the arm before reaching to break more off as it raced up and over the boy. Peeling up more then down as she needed him breathing and able to shift his torso and back the most to escape himself from their prison. The vipress was insistant that she break away stone even if the actual prying was somewhat uncomfortable - it hadn't exactly been a cakewalk for her either. This was a show that they could gather the energy, but the two of them needed to not die in the meantime. The best way to assure they survived was simply to stay together, like two heads of the same serpent. As the stone crawled up and over the shoulders Yaki spoke quickly, "This might hurt a bit," she would state as she smashed her arms down on the stone covering his shoulders and neck. The stone travelling over Mairasu's head as it completed its circuit, though with their combined effort they would have easily unburied him from the rock that threatened to encase him had they never began to rip his body free as they had hers. As the process of shedding ended Yaki took a breath and released it. Learning with no true teacher beyond the genuine basics was incredibly dangerous and their seals were all that had kept them safe this time when they had unbalanced themselves. It was like they were missing something crucial for the process and Yakitsukeru did not know what that thing was. As she looked down at Mairasu from where she was crouched over him she examined his expression before speaking, "I'd call that a sssuccesssful sssesssion no? Letsss head back down and re-apply our sssealsss for the next time we practice while we cool off from thisss one. Asssuming you can handle that much?" TAGGED | Here NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

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[Hiesin Mairusu]

TAKE ME TO VALHALLA WHERE MY BROTHERS WAIT FOR ME

It was an odd feeling being forced to watch as a layer of stone crawled up one's skin and there not being a thing he could do about it. The seal made it so the stone could be pulled off instead of making the user turn completely into a statue but it did not stop the encroachment. Nevertheless Mairusu would work in tandem with his fellow sage apprentice to break apart and pull off the stone as it continued to rise above his torso and onwards to his head. It wasn't a pleasant experience in the least but oddly enough the fear of being encased shifted enough focus for the strong hits from Yaki to not hurt as much.

With his arms free the genin would first work to pull off the stone that covered his mouth so that he could still draw breath before getting to the remainder, being sure to shake his hair free of the smaller pieces. But they had done it. While his eyes had been closed for the entirety of his attempt Mairusu could feel the physical changes his body had gone through for those few fleeting moments. Scales, his tongue forking in two, and a level of excitement that along with the boat shifting all of a sudden threw off his concentration; it was something he'd definitely need to work on going forward as getting giddy every time he transformed wasn't going to help with his concentration.

Yaki would call their attempts a success even given the rocky endings and all things considered since they were going about this basically with only each other the progress made was admirable. Considerable, even. "Yep that sounds like a good idea. I think we would have had it, too, if not for the waves. I suppose that's why we need to practice more though, so stuff like that doesn't throw us off." The boy replied as he got back to his feet while continuing to dust himself off.

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WORDS ● Tateyama Yakitsukeru ● NOTES

deltra of gangnam style

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

Yakitsukeru had to agree as they finished actually pulling the stone off of her fellow teammate and deposited the stone over into the sea below. Mairasu's statement and assurance in their progress was for good reason and Yaki could see an end goal conclusion as well. She just needed to finish the last stretch that the two sage apprentices found themselves upon. The sea-faring journey would take them to the finish line though, that much Yaki was sure of if she could just get both of them there. Perhaps something of interest would happen to finalize that push into the realm of sages. "I mussst agreee with your sssentiment Mairasssu-Kun. I think thisss isss a larger conundrum that isss finally becoming a non-factor of trouble for usss. We sssimply need to progresss our training to a point of ssstabilization and thisss isss only the first of many of sssuch sssesssionsss at sssea," Yakitsukeru would state as she reached a hand over to help Mairasu back to his feet. He had trained and done his part diligently, there was no need to be that prickly at the moment. Heading back for the bunk of a room the two had been given Yaki began to pull out her supplies to reapply the seal to Mairasu and herself. This was the first of many such training sessions and she had made sure to bring the supplies as they were needed. Having taken more then enough for a few weeks travel, hopefully. TAGGED | Here NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥