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How the fuck had he managed this? "Poor idea Hota, poor fucking idea.." he mumbled to himself. In the pitch black made it nearly impossible to see, with the only light being a few hundred feet above him - he'd chosen to find himself deep in the jungle. That wasn't a particular issue because it was a very clear, very obvious route in and out of Takigakure no Sato. No, it was the fact that he'd chosen this spot and went into pitch black in order to better understand and learn his sight - or how he was trying to develop it beyond the ordinary abilities. Hotarubi could only do what was best for him, so he continued to do missions as a Genin, and he had to understand the way of the world without relying on other people in his life. Not Nageku, not his father, not his mother. This all just felt so... fucked up. So there he was: pitch black, trying to find his way out of a ravine. The best thing he could do was try to move along the inside - the winding narrow paths and the wider, gaping maw of the darkness that he tried to steer away from. A little stream going right the way through it.

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For the past few hours, Hotarubi had actually been training in the darkness. He could see a lot better now - could understand things beyond his normal perception. It wasn't the same as just generic eyesight, and he couldn't quantify it as a visual sound, but it was a mind map that he could make up in his mind. He could see the little scuttling creatures near him, or at least he thought they were scuttling creatures on the basis of their weight, sound and general movement. Bigger things moved more heavily: like Hotarubi himself. He had stayed in relative darkness for that time and got a good understanding but otherwise hadn't gone any further into the ravine. He had slipped his way down on his ass (which had left a mark!) but made it difficult to get back up again. Because, Hotarubi was more than double the average weight of a large grown man. The roots he grabbed on to would not even hold. The rock crumbled, and the earth cracked. Additionally, Hotarubi did not have the tree walking technique. Provided that had been learnt: he would have made his way long from this place now. But, the sun was going to come down and he didn't know where he was going, or how to get out, and he sure as hell believed nobody was going to help him.

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He stared at the precipice of darkness: the place he had trained. With a sigh, he started to move inward. He reflected on his father as he waded through the darkness. Of course there was nothing that could really hurt him, but he also didn't want to get himself trapped or cause an avalanche of any sort, because he would then likely die. But being a Shinobi, and having the training of the advanced jungle warfare that they had learned in the academy also brought a host of information that he would need to rely on. That same thought of survival brought him to his father in which he reflected on being told to 'get on with it' and make of his own life. He had been banished from coming home, so the next best course of action was to get on with life. But, he also needed to improve himself and become stronger. He also couldn't rely on Nageku, which then meant he needed to do these tips and training himself, which led him here. Inevitably, he knew he was here because of his father. Only, that wasn't true and he was lying to himself. He kept a light touch to his surroundings, and he could sort of see where he was. When he moved - he knew he was moving in a direction that was open enough.

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His first difficulty came to him early when he found a fork in his path. He had already navigated this, and while he knocked at the wall every once in a while, he was having a formidably easy time understanding where everything was on the way it spoke back to him. Now, it didn't speak to him in the way a person spoke to him, but his eyes were open and he didn't need them. He stared: making sense of where it was and what it meant. The sound of dripping water didn't help an it threw him off a little but that wasn't anything he couldn't deal with. Hotarubi did eventually come to understand in his own way the placement of a mind map. Visualising in the darkness: white lines where the crooks were. They were all smooth, but he hadn't done this often enough: out in large crowds, he got the quick and easy visualisation where they were. He hadn't yet understood the more important detail of one's face, for example. But that was something to develop. Right now, he needed to know that he didn't go forward in order to run into a rather sharp wall, and opted to go across the wall and into the left entrance. He could turn back if it didn't lead anywhere, right?

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Ten minutes turned to thirty minutes of movement, Hotarubi had gone a lot further and done more twists and turns than he would have liked. Each movement - direction, was taking longer and longer as he mentally mapped out where he had gone and which directions he had taken. It didn't help that there was the feeling of impending doom, like something large was watching him. Hotarubi shouted out to the world and nothing in particular. "You won't fucking win!" But thankfully, his perception did not yet pick up anything. Hotarubi had already once fought hand to hand with a large snake and choked it to death, so what issue was the same with a bear? Did Bears even come to this climate? Perhaps cougars. Maybe cougars. Ultimately, the sound of water was becoming more apparent. The sun had likely gone down by this point which meant that he might as well have contniued going on, but he was getting tired as well. That would make tomorrow even harder. So, he would lay himself down and rest on the floor for now. His mind was trying to stay away the what if thoughts, if he couldn't get out of this ravine. So much for a new home, he thought to himself before he fell asleep.

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He awoke the next morning and immediately stood. Yawning, he stamped his foot into the floor, getting a look around him. Ah. Yes. There it was. It was so interesting from the first conversation he'd had with a woman all the way to putting it into practise, and it was really a testament to the Yamakira behavior that he wanted it, so he made it a reality. He gave it life; and that was something nobody could take away from him. Hotarubi was hungry - and he had... natural facilities to take care of as well. So he did that first: but then it meant moving on. As he eventually kept moving, the sound of water was growing louder and louder. In the early morning, or so he theorised (because he didn't actually know the time; just that he had slept for a while and was rested!) He came into a wider cavern from the winding twists, pushing himself through the tinier cracks worried that his weight, and pushing through where people shouldn't have gone meant that it could collapse on him. There was a fair amount of stress, but nothing that he couldn't deal with. If he wasn't strong enough, that was his fault.

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The wider cavern seemed to have water: and as he made his way around he could sense that it was a cavern bowl of darkness: there seemed to be a route for the water to go under, but that scared him. Few things scared Hotarubi, but he wasn't about to go down into a water source that he didn't know how long it stretched for: not in a human form, and not in a earthen form that he wasn't sure he could pull himself away from if he got caught into some sort of crevice. There were too many factors. He got close to the water: around it, where one side where rock and water met. He rapped at it, seeing if he could feel beyond it. He sat there - eyes closed, focusing. There was a bit further: he could feel it in the way it resonated back to him. But, he wasn't sure. And without being sure, he wasn't going to do it. So he turned back and went the opposite direction. It would be an hour before he returned and went to the right from the original forking, after getting lost: going through tiny cracks and crawling in breathing spaces. Feeling spiders and other creepy crawlies near him.

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"fUCK. FUCK!" he had finally found his spot: the opposite side. But, some five minutes walking through it yielded a dead end, and bones. Something had been here, but it wasn't there now. Did he chance going back outside and finding a way again? He had spent several hours trying to get out. There was the underwater site, but that would take another hour: and nobody was coming to help him. Upset, he stifled some rare emotions - the event of his father, the need to be better: all coalescing into what led him into being here. Sure, he would never have cried in front of anyone else, his shit brother or a close friend - he didn't need them. After some minutes of huffing and puffing, he went back to where he'd come from, back into the other side of the cave. Back to the dark area. But if he was going to get free: he would have to take the plunge. He stood there for a long time, focusing, sweat dripping from his head. 'I wear to Kami. Kami on a crisp, don't fail me now.' He went into the water; it was cold on his human skin. It was mossy: he was slipping. The water was moving in a direction though, which told him it was either death or life at this point. He would have to go back and forth: if his senses were lying to him, he would turn back around. He started going: knocking at the top of the roof of the cave from under the water after a round of breathing to hold his breath. He wasn't used to this, it made him so uncomfortable. But, it was worth it. As he rapped: was getting a clearer picture. There was something.

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As he sped up, his breath was not finite: he grasped out at a sharp rock: piercing through his skin as he held onto it for dear life. This water was not fast, but it was feeding into elsewhere: and up, into the earth - and back into earthen form. He laid against the cave's floor for some time, opening his eyes: to light. There was light. He came to a stand, not in vain of his journey. Hotarubi kept following the side of the cave with a light touch: the blackness was growing into grey, and the light grew brighter until it caused him to squint his eyes as the secondary sound of noise came to him: a wave of continuous falling. Water, he knew the sound. He pressed forward until he finally came to his view. He was in a cave entrance of sorts high up; waterfalls around him as he poked his head out, to a naturally forming mini-pond of sorts. The high strung canopies knitted together, and for a moment he could have sworn he was in Takigakure no Sato. And although he'd gone somewhere far away from Takigakure no Sato and the route he'd known, he was thankful there was a way out. Thankful that he had escaped the narrow dangers and definitely could put his non-sight to the test. He escaped out - jumping from his position into the water, crashing down with a mighty weight. Then, quickly into a human form so that he didn't turn into the equivalent of toilet paper in water. Grin plastered to his face. Even if he didn't know where he was right now he would be able to get to safety. He would have to take some time in understanding the relative direction he'd gone - some little circumnavigation wouldn't hurt too much. [end]