music in the woods

The morning sun had just began to creep into the corners of Hideyoshi's up stairs bedroom. The birds in the woods right behind his house were already singing their morning songs and the air was cool from the cracked window letting in the morning breeze as if it was coxing him to wake up. Hideyoshi laid there listening to the natural music the bids created for awhile before rubbing his eyes to open. He peeked one eye to see the early sunrise in all its annoying beauty, partly happy to be awake early enough to see such a beautiful sight but still bothered by the fact he was up so early in general. After the hectic of the festival the whole village seemed rather down, and he felt very conflicted and confused. Hideyoshi knew something horrifying must have happened, however he had no place to ask anything or anyone about the night. He was nothing more than an outsider looking in on a picture he shouldn’t have even seen. He could feel the sadness weighing heavy on the whole village though and it greatly bothered him but he couldn’t figure out why it did, he had no attachment to any of these people, but he was left with this feeling of missing out, something that escaped him and he would never know.

Hideyoshi sat up slowly and looked to his stand by the bed, the first thing he saw was his violin leaning against the corner. He smiled inwardly as he reached for it, Hideyoshi can play just about any instrument but he has practiced the violin the longest and put the most work into it since he was young. It was the first gift he ever got from his mother and he loves it. The wood was a rare and beautiful deep red and had gold filigree around the edges, the stings were also gold and well taken care of, only being replaced a few times. He held it up and danced his fingers over the strings humming the notes as he fingered them without actually playing being considerate of his sleeping father downstairs.

Hideyoshi placed it on the bed and got up, instantly regretting the act as the cool air hit his bare skin. He walked quickly to the shower and began getting ready for the day. After he washed he got dressed in his usual everyday wear, he began brushing out his hair while looking at his violin and then out the window to the neighbors house.

"hmm, I'm a little to close, they could probably hear if I played in my room." Hideyoshi though to himself looking back to his musical tool.

Hideyoshi walked back to his bed and began waxing the strings of the bow. He began humming a song he had actually only every heard once before. He had been practicing, desperately trying to figured out how to play it by ear, with only the little bit he got to hear locked in his memory. It was maybe the saddest song he had ever heard, it brought this bittersweet ache to his heart as it hit his ears when he heard it and has been trying to replicate the song ever since. He was pretty sure he had figured it out last time and he felt the urge to play this morning with the heaviness in the air.

Without bothering to pull back his hair Hideyoshi got up after the bow was ready, picked up his violin and walked down stairs . Tiptoeing past his dads closed door he made his way to the kitchen to write his dad a note.

"Old man,
I'm heading out, ill be back around lunch.
Yoshi."

Hideyoshi slipped on his shoes before leaving out the back door. He wondered around the block a little to see if anyone else was awake yet. After a few minutes of not seeing anyone he sighed in relief, not that he wanted to be anti-social but everything was so tense he had been avoiding going out the past few days. Turning back around he started into the woods. There was a very small path not far from his house, very possibly just an animal path really but it was significant enough that it at least gave him something to follow. He walked carefully, watching where he put his feet making sure not to slip. After walking in about thirty minutes or so he came to a stream, and on the other side was a beautiful clearing with wild flowers blooming all around. The trees only letting in small rays of light as if the leaves were playing peek-a-boo with the rising sun. The area looked like he wasn’t the only one who has came to this place, there were several paths leading to this open clearing besides his.

Hideyoshi took off his shoes leaving them on the edge of the water and crossed the stream on a few rocks that had been placed in the water to make a bridge landing him safely on the other side into the clearing. He stood barefoot in the soft grass before bringing up his violin and closing his eyes. He breathed in deeply and brought the bow to meet the strings and began to drag it across pouring out the smooth sounds into the air. He began playing the song as best he could remember, matching the tones by ear carefully. He rocked and spun slowly in time with the song, his long hair swaying behind him delicately as the wind blew though the trees.

Hideyoshi played until he was sure he had finally figured it out, very pleased with himself he set his violin down softly and laid down on his back in the grass and closed his eyes. It had taken him several hours by now probably and his fingers were sore from the rough strings and he wanted to take a break before going at it again. Hideyoshi had been working on this particular song for so long, months even. He wished he knew the name of it though, only hearing it once in a passing made it impossible to know for sure if he was playing it right let alone the name. One would think he would have heard at least somewhere else but only the one time was he lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time.

The song was being played in the back of what appeared to be a funeral for a young child, perhaps that’s why it always gave him such a sad feeling rather than the notes themselves. Hideyoshi felt rude at the time, listening in on such a private and mournful event, but at the time he was unable to pull himself from where he stood, listening to the song being played for that child. It sounded so light and peaceful but so inconsolable that it broke his heart in an instant. It was as it the song itself was holding everyone's hand willing them to smile in such a tragic moment, encouraging them to move on. That’s why he always wished to play it, no other song had ever compared to the powerful feeling he got from just hearing it.

After his breather Hideyoshi picked the small thing of wax for the hairs on the bow and began waxing before playing again. He smiled and hummed the song before standing and picking back up his violin, placing it in the crook of his neck and shoulder. He took in a deep breath as he did before and started dragging the bow once again. He picked up his tempo just a bit feeling more confident in the notes and waltzed around the clearing. He went in circles following the direction of the sweet breeze that reached him. The soft grass blowing, ticking his feet as he moved. His hair blew more wildly now as he moved faster and he knew it would need brushed out badly once he got home, but in the moment nothing like that mattered.  

word count: 1344

OOG: this is the song he is playing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRjhNt9YlGM

Off in another part of the woods, a much less melodic series of sounds were echoing out. Soft rhythmic thuds of an arrow impacting the side of the long since dead stump. In this different clearing, Seresana stood resolute in her determination to improve, to at least be able to make an attempt to do something next time one of her friends was in trouble. The sun shone down brightly on her form, clad as it was in her usual garb of the plain black pants and loose white shirt. The usual cloth ties around her pants legs, waist, stomach, and right arm were green, grey, with the one on her arm being her shinobi emblem. Her newest piece of attire was also draped about her small frame, the open purple vest with it's red leaf village insignia in the center of the back.

Seresana also wasn't alone this time as she practiced. Two sets of small black eyes watched her, one with wide curiosity as their owner nibbled on a cracker, while the other barely seemed interested at all and in fact seemed to be flipping back and forth between being awake or asleep. The two raccoons, Miku and Mina had accompanied Seresana on this little training trip and now sat off to the side as she repeatedly emptied her quiver into the heavily scored and long dead trunk. Though as Seresana emptied her quiver again and walked over to begin removing the arrows, Miku's ears suddenly stood erect as he heard a new sound.

This alien sounds to the young raccoon drew his attention and without a second thought, he'd turned about and scurried into the bushes behind where he'd been sitting in search of the sounds. Following the almost phantom melodies, Miku scrambled over tree roots, under bushes, and through thick patches of tall grass until he came to a new clearing a few minutes later. He finally beheld the source of the strange noise and scrambled closer to further inspect. Miku stopped just short of Hideyoshi's legs, only to rear up on his hind legs and reach out with his forward paws to paw at Hideyoshi's pant legs to garner the boy's attention. Then without warning, the young raccoon tried to jump up with it's hind paws to start climbing up Hideyoshi's pants leg, only for the tiny claws to find no purchase in the cloth, and the young raccoon slid back down to the ground with a soft thud.

Back in Seresana's clearing, the young ninja had just finished plucking the last of her arrows back out of the stump and was starting to walk back over to her shooting spot when she noticed that Miku was missing. "Mina! Where'd your brother go!" Seresana almost yelled at the other raccoon who opened one sleepy eye to regard Seresana for a moment before slowly shutting again. Seresana let out a sigh to the unhelpful pet as she slung her bow over her shoulders and ran over to scoop up Mina. "Miku! Where are you!" Seresana started calling out while looking around for signs of where Miku might have wandered off to.

Word Count: 525

Interrupted by the clawing at his leg, Hideyoshi ceased his song only to look down and see an adorable little raccoon. Hideyoshi's eyes grew and he froze looking at the tiny creature.

"oh my god…you are the cutest thing I've ever seen!!" Hideyoshi practically screamed as he put down his violin to pick up the little guy.

"what on earth is a super uber cutie doing out here all by him self, wheres your mommy?" Hideyoshi proceeded to baby talk the small raccoon while hugging it to him as tightly as he could without hurting it.

wood count: 96
total: 1440

Miku remained almost surprisingly docile while Hideyoshi picked him and and hugged him, showing that the raccoon was either supremely calm or just used to this kind of thing. But then the little creature's ears perked up and his tiny clawed paws began to push at Hideyoshi's face and hands. A few moments later and the noise that it'd heard could be heard by Hideyoshi as well.

"Miiiiikuuuuuu! Miiiiiiiikuuuuuuu! Where are you," called out a girlish sounding voice from somewhere deeper in the woods. While she wasn't there yet, Seresana's voice was getting closer as she searched, though whether this voice would prove familiar to Hideyoshi or not was a different question.

Word Count: 113
Total: 638

Hideyoshi heard the calling for the little raccoon, the voice sounded slightly familiar but he couldn’t place it for the life of him. He stood there briefly in silence listening trying to remember where he had heard the voice before.

With the little claws digging into his face Hideyoshi gave up trying to figure out whom the voice might be and gabbed the tiny hand of the creature to stop the claws from leaving a mark on his face and looked at it. "your mommy sounds like a real cutie" Hideyoshi smiled at the little guy, hugging him just a little longer.

Hideyoshi then placed the raccoon down on the ground and bopped it on the nose lightly "you shouldn’t run off and make her worry."

Hideyoshi stood up expecting the baby raccoon to take off as soon as he was put down. Turning his back to the voice he walked back to get his violin that still laid in the grass. "man, I want a cute little buddy like that" Hideyoshi thought to himself while picking up his musical tool.

word count: 183
total: 1623

The little raccoon looked back over his shoulder and up as Hideyoshi put him on the ground, as if silently asking, "why did you put me on the ground?" But then the call for him sounded out again, much closer this time, and the apparently named Miku looked back over in the direction of the call and began scampering over towards it. With a little hop, the small animal disappeared from sight into the underbrush.

A short ways away, Seresana continued the search for her lost raccoon. She was just about to call out for him again when he suddenly appeared right before her. "Oh! There you are Miku," Seresana announced happily as she bent down and picked him up. She hugged the little raccoon for minute before letting him climb further up her until he was resting on top of her head. "So where did you get off to, hmm?" She asked rhetorically, obviously not expecting an answer from him.

Word Count: 162
Total: 800

As soon as he heard the small animal leave though the brush Hideyoshi placed his violin back into the crock of his neck and slowly dragged the bow across the metal strings letting out a long beautiful sigh.

Hideyoshi took a deep breath as if sucking in the sound itself. He stood there for a moment before picking back up the song where he had left off. He closed his eyes and listened to the notes carefully, making sure to not mess up after he had just finally got it right.

word count: 91
total: 1714

Not far off from the two other trainee ninja, Shikamoa Sourufoji was collecting the banner for his training area for the day. He hopped slowly down the branches of the tree when he heard a sound that caught the young boys attention; a name being called? He couldn't tell much besides that the source of the noise was obviously human, he would investigate. Packing his side bag with the cloth he headed out to go find the other person calling out, or at least try and locate the source. His bare feet stepping softly on the cooled dirt as he walked in the directions of the calls, as the got louder the caller seemed to be calling out less. Before long there were no more calls, not wanting to give up out of his strong curiosity he continued walking in the same direction. As he scanned the area he saw beautiful blonde hair and his cheeks flushed a little, she was pretty. Approaching calmly, he decided to get their attention, "Excuse me miss, but were you looking for someone?"

Word Count: 179

Seresana jumped a little when the music started as she hadn't been expecting any true answer and when one showed up she was more than a little surprised. She looked over towards its source and began taking curious steps towards it when she heard the rustling of another that wasn't exactly where the music was coming from. Still a little on edge, Seresana crept forward and kept the noise she was making to a minimum so as to not alert either one. When she reached the clearing, she spied the two figures of Shikamoa and Hideyoshi but recognized neither one. As Shikamoa stepped forward to make their presence known, Seresana felt a strange sense of deja vu while stepping forward herself. "So is this where Miku got off to?" Seresana asked with a gesture to the young raccoon that was currently looking about from the top of her head.

Word Count: 150
Total: 950

Hideyoshi pivoted on his heels sending one of his signature smiles back towards the guy standing before him. However as nice and sweet as his smile was only for a split second did it hide the murderous intent growing inside.

"I sure as hell, hope you aren’t talking to me" Hideyoshi said while tilting his head slightly to the side still smiling and pointing to himself.

Just as Hideyoshi said that he heard another person come into the clearing. He turned to see a small dark haired girl and it only took a moment for him to recognize her. "great, the alley shrimp from the festival" Hideyoshi sighed inwardly to himself. "You were talking to her weren't you?" Hideyoshi asked with a vain pooping out on his forhead but still smiling his pretty yet pissed off smile trying not to explode like last time, all while pointing to the girl but still facing the guy.

word count: 158
total: 1872

"Eeehhhh... No I was talking to the lady in front of me right now." Shikamoa said bluntly, his dead fish like eyes looking bored and relaxed, oblivious to Hideyoshi's true gender just as much as he was the apparent anger that the blonde boy was giving off. As Seresana stepped forward Shikamoa noticed that she was a ninja already, probably the one the academy deemed a genius for improving and graduating so quickly from her position as an Academy Student. She was too short to be that much older, if at all, he knew it was best to be polite with her. Looking between the two he began to speak again, "I don't know who Miku is sorry. I can help search for them though, what do they look like and what are they?" He finished and finally took note of the raccoon on her head, "Nevermind the description."

word count: 329

"Oh, thanks but I don't need help finding him, this is Miku," Seresana said with a point up to the raccoon who was excitedly and curiously looking about from his perch atop Seresanaa's head. "And this little one is Mina," she added with a gesture towards the other raccoon who looked to be quite contently relaxing in the crook of Seresana's right arm. As she introduced each of the raccoon, she smiled warmly to them. "I was just asking if this was where Miku here ran off t-," Seresana's sentence trailed off as she looked back up and noticed the violin Hideyoshi was carrying. Her curious expression shifted to one of disbelief and then begrudging disbelief as her eyes shifted up to Miku who seemed to be almost exclusively looking at Hideyoshi. "Where you the one playing that sad song a moment ago?" Seresana asked as her eyes lowered back to Hideyoshi and her left arm rose to point at the violin.

Word Count: 163
Total: 1,113

Hideyoshi looked at the guy still slightly annoyed but just let out a sigh looking down. He then looked back up at the guy, and bluntly stated "I ain't a lady, don’t call me that again…got it." he shook his head, "how many people have mistaken me in this town already" he thought, mentally counting all his encounters so far.

Hideyoshi then turned his attention to the girl who had questioned him on his song. "yea, I was just practicing a bit." Hideyoshi shifted his weight on his feet looking at his violin in his hands. "You don’t have to look so disappointed though kid, if you didn’t like the song you didn’t have to come over here." Hideyoshi reached behind him with the hand that held the bow and scratched his head avoiding eye contact.

"and uh…you’re one of the girls from the alley right…. about back there…. I kind of… lost my cool…. Although that’s no excuse for yelling at a girl." Hideyoshi mumbled out still avoiding eye contact, a blush of embarrassment spreading across his face. He wasn’t particularly good at admitting he was wrong, but just thinking of how exploded back there was humiliating and knew he needed to properly apologize.

Hideyoshi straightened up, still slightly red and looked at the girl who obviously wasn’t to happy to see him in the eyes "I'm truly sorry for exploding and yelling at you, I shouldn’t have acted that way especially to a little girl." Hideyoshi then quickly brought his hands up together with a short bow, "please forgive me!"

word count: 260
total: 2132

Shikamoa gave the self-proclaimed "boy" a highly skeptical look, but decided to not sit here and push them over the edge, he got that enough from his sisters. Staying silent Shikamoa let out a small almost inaudible chuckle, both of these people had bows, though they were different kinds of bows. Listening to the two speak, nodding when Seresana replied to him saying he would help look for a tanuki that was apparently already found. Remembering that he didn't know these people he figured he would introduce himself.
"Oh, sorry for interrupting, but now is probably the best time to introduce myself. I'm Shikamoa, Shikimoa Sourufoji." He said giving a curt and quick bow.

Word Count: 443

Seresana was smiling at the apology, there was also a bit of an angry twitch to her eye brow, but she was still smiling. "Well apology accepted, but could you lay off the little comments? I do happen to be a shinobi now," she said through slightly grit teeth in her strained expression. "And it's not that I disliked your song, I uh, just... wasn't sure why you were playing it?" Seresana added as an excuse for why she'd asked before with such a dreaded expression. Her expression had also shifted back to just a simple smile rather than the strained one.

She looked to the boy who'd introduced himself and while he looked around her age, she couldn't quite remember if she'd seen him back at the academy. Though for that matter she couldn't recall ever seeing the blonde haired boy at the academy either. Still, there was no need to be rude to either of them. "Seresana Hatasuko, and I've already introduced these two," she added with a gesture to Miku and Mina. She turned somewhat expectantly towards Hideyoshi, waiting for him to introduce himself but she also addressed them both. "So are you two new to town?"

Word Count: 200
Total: 1,313

Hideyoshi straightening back up from his bow, and blossomed into his usual beaming happy self glad that he was forgiven. Looking towards Shikamoa and Seresana he smiled his sweet endearing smile and introduced himself. "I'm Hideyoshi Hitachiin, nice to meet you. I don’t know about him but yea I'm new to town, just got here a few days ago."

Hideyoshi walked over towards the girl and smiled down at her. He bent his knees in order to become eye level with her "I'm sorry in advance tiny but no can do, I don’t care what you are, you could be the Hokage for all I care…doesn’t make you any less tiny." he lifted up the raccoon on her head and ruffled her hair a little before placing him back down. "but don’t worry, you're cute that way." Hideyoshi smiled at her gently, and so beautifully that he sparkled.

He then stood back up and lifted his violin into place. "and I guess I just felt like it, I have been working on that song for awhile now, and this morning….the air seemed kind of heavy and it put me in the mood" Hideyoshi said as he dragged the bow across the strings again, looking at the girl in the eyes without adverting his stare "did you like it?" then looked back to Shikamoa "what about you huh, did you like my song" he said then stuck his tongue out and winked to the guy, flowers practically blooming around him. Hideyoshi couldn’t help himself as his true, happy-go-flirty nature seeped out of him flooding the area with his charisma.

word count: 268
total: 2400

"Eh?" Shikamoa dragged his voice monotonously. He didn't remember really hearing any music, just the soft distant calls of a girl, that he now had confirmed was the small shinobi before him. Looking at the other boy with a blank, lazy stare he shrugged, " I didn't hear any music, just Hatasuko-Chan calling out. Otherwise I came out here to practice with my soul shape." He stated the last bit as if the oddly named bloodline ability was the common knowledge of all those present. Leaning back against one of the large oaks he watched the other two quietly, feeling uneasy by this situation, these two were to chummy despite being strangers. This sort of unease, however, was at least not as bad as his sister's cooking... that kind of unease was more of flat out fear of death by bento.

Word Count: 583

Seresana was raging at Hideyoshi's reply, she even half raised, half cocked a fight in her rising anger, as the man stepped up to pick up her raccoon and ruffle her hair. She was just about to punch him when he called her cute which drew a blush and diffused the punch before it could be thrown. That had made two or three times that Seresana had been absolutely flustered by this endlessly frustrating boy, and it continued to baffle her to no end. Still she hadn't heard the music clearly either, a fact that was reinforced by the quizzical expression that fell onto her face as he drew his different kind of bow across a set of strings. "I think I'd like to hear what you've managed so far though, it sounded nice if a little sad," Seresana added slightly hesitantly.

She then cast a glance over to the other new boy, this Shikamoa, but she wasn't sure at all of what to make of him or what a soul shape was supposed to be. "What's a soul shape?" Seresana asked with as much of her curiosity as she could spare.

Word Count: 192
Total: 1,505

The flowers that seemed to bloom around Hideyoshi instantly died at the lack of response to his cute gesture towards Shikamoa. Hideyoshi's face changing from a sweet smile to one of dejected indifference knowing that his advance was ineffective. However his confidence was restored by the blush and confusion on Seresana's face.

Hideyoshi smiled at her again, much softer this time and then looked down to his feet. "I think it is a very sad song, even though I couldn’t really say for sure…I'm honestly not sure I'm even playing it right, but ill play it for you." Hideyoshi then smiled at her again and he began his song. He carefully fingered the notes how he had memorized them. He rocked back and forth slightly to keep his tempo and his hair once again swayed across his back.

Hideyoshi felt slightly awkward playing for the girl, even though he wouldn’t have admitted it. In efforts to hide any uneasy feelings about playing a song that he wasn’t sure, of he looked back to Shikamoa. "A soul shape? Sounds pretty cool." Hideyoshi said just simply looking at him this time, he gave up trying to charm the new guy.

word count: 196
total: 2596

Shikamoa noticed the dejected look, but didn't understand what caused it. Though the other boy quickly regained his composure, maybe it was the funny look on Seresana's face, maybe it was something else Shikamoa couldn't tell. As they spoke of a song he quietly listened to what they had to say, it was pretty amazing from the sound of it.
"You should play it for us sometime Hideyoshi-San." Shikamoa said with an excited voice that deceived the almost deadpan expression his eyes gave him. Listening to his current company continue to talk he grew confused as they replied to his mention of soul shapes if they had never seen one.
"Well they aren't all that special just the physical shape of a manifested soul. Son't you all have one as well?" He asked as if thinking such a thing was a commodity. Closing his eyes he started to twirl the air in his hand the faint sight of manifesting chakra appeared at his hand before a puff on smoke appeared around the three and was quickly dispersed. Revealing the freakishly long staff the unbandaged side on the ground. He looked at the two and twirled the huge staff idly in his hand , it was as if the movements were natural to him, "This is my soul shape right now, I only jut learned to summon mine so I have no idea what I'll end up with."

Word Count: 819

Seresana enjoyed the bit of song that Hideyoshi played, even as it tried to tug her memories back to the slightly darker times of recent times. But a set of small clawed paws on her head were enough to draw her mind back to the here and now. Miku had nearly slipped back off her head when she'd bobbed her head to the song and the little claws had tried to find enough purchase to pull their owner back up top. Once he was situated, Seresana turned her attention to Mina who'd apparently taken advantage of the lack of movement to doze off again. Seresana smiled sweetly down at the little raccoon before Shikamoa spoke up again.

When Shikamoa spoke up again though and asked about whether or not she had a soul shape, Seresana just shook her head from side to side as she had little idea of what he was talking about. When Shikamoa went ahead with a demonstration of what a soul shape was, Seresana was watching with very observant eyes as the chakra was gathered, focused, and shaped along with something else to make a weapon out of nothing. As he twirled it about effortlessly, Seresana looked towards her own weapon, the powerful custom bow she'd hand made. "Well if they just look like weapons, I guess mine would be a bow but I'm not sure if I'd be able to make one. I've never seen that kind of jutsu before," Seresana added as she continued to watch the act.

Word Count: 254
Total: 1,759

Hideyoshi quit playing his song and stared at the staff that just came out of thin air and looked at him confused. He placed his violin down carefully on the ground and stepped over it.

"Not that its not cool that you made a stick….but couldn’t you have, I dunno… made something cooler?" Hideyoshi questioned as he walked over to Shikamoa and inspected the staff. "if it was my sole shape, it would be something super cool and manly!!" Hideyoshi looked up and clenched his fists in a declaring motion. "yea! Something cool! Like a battle axe!! Or a cannon, a fucking cannon would be so cool AND manly!!"

Hideyoshi turned back to Seresana enthusiastically. "what do you think huh? I would for sure be something cool like that wouldn’t I?" Hideyoshi smiled happily while imagining himself as a sparkly gold cannon. He then walked over to her and picked up the raccoon from her head and kept talking to it "yea little buddy, I would be the coolest soul around!" as if he was addressing the raccoon the whole time leaving her standing there.

Hideyoshi continued to hold Miku and spin in a circle, he then brought the small animal up to his face. "and you little buddy, would be my super cute cannon ball of awesome destruction." Hideyoshi said as if talking to a baby.

word count: 228
total: 2824

"Flashy Hideyoshi-kun's soul shape would just as lame if not more so. Mine has yet to evolve once, I need more time for that to happen." Shikamoa said without the slightest note of anything in his voice despite the voice making it seem like a uninterested tease or a insult, though his wordings proved otherwise. As if it was second nature he stopped the twirling and straightened the pole outwards and under the small raccoon and quickly freeing him of Hideyoshi's grasp and carefully carrying the creature into his freehand.
Rooting his staff and letting it disappear into a puff of smoke he petted the small raccoon, his demeanor almost drowsy if the furry animal were to smell the soft morning forest scent that Shikamoa had permanently drenched himself in. Petting the 'coon right near their ears he gave a soft, charming smile to the little thing in his hand, his eyes smiling for once giving life to the dead fish eyes that normally fit the way his eyes looked.
"This one is Miku right? They're cute. Also, Flashy Yoshi-kun do you still believe m staff to be completely lame?" Shikamoa asked, his voice seemingly filled with a sudden shift from his boring, non-caring voice from earlier to something more along the lines of playful and cheer, his positive atmosphere, almost a downpour from its thickness. His irises became visible for a moment showing a slight tinge of jade green; however, as he set the 'coon down onto the ground his eyes became dead again and the positive atmosphere seemed to disappear from the air.

Word count: 1084

Dust had been training not too far off, but it was unlikely that the others would hear her, as wood falling was pretty common in the forest, what with it being a forest. Forests had trees. Trees had wood. Who would have thought? She was busy working on her rudimentary punching bag made of moss around a tree, opting to do that for a while instead of continuing to try to break wood with her bare hands. She hadn't noticed what her hands were like, instead focusing on the training. So focused was she, in fact, that she could not hear the various voices, music, and other miscellaneous sounds. Well, she could hear them, but she did not actually process them, focused on her training. However, as she paused to take a few breaths, she heard the trailing end of some music. Shit!

Activating her clan given eyes, she could discern three humanoid figures after discounting the normal forest animals from her notice. Fuck, that was not good... but they were relatively close to the town. She started to approach their position, her eyes keeping her locked onto them to avoid getting lost. However, as she approached the clearing, she accidentally kicked a small piece of broken branch into the clearing. Sucking in her breath, she ducked behind a large tree.

As Hideyoshi spoke, Seresana looked at him kind of jokingly skeptically right up until he picked up Miku off her head. Then her expression became a little strained and worried, though not enough so that she said anything. Miku on the other hand seemed interested in the new set of hands that held him for all of 10 seconds. By the time the spinning started, the little creature was already trying to squirm out of Hideyoshi's grasp and just onto his arm instead. His second trip via the wooden pole however seemed to be much more enjoyable for the raccoon as it looked about rather excitedly while being transported. It was even a bit of a struggle to get him off the pole as the little raccoon didn't seem to want to let go. Still, a little shake would be all it took to dislodge the tiny claws from the wooden weapon. Seresana's expression however became a mix of worry and happiness because she knew the little raccoon would enjoy the height and everything, but she was still worried that he might fall. These were VERY young raccoons after all.

While Miku was in the crook of Shikamao's arm and being petted, the little raccoon would nothing but squirm, trying desperately to escape the petting despite seeming to simultaneously enjoy the petting. Down however seemed to not be the place he wanted to go, for as soon as he was on the ground, the little raccoon turned about and looked ready to jump back up onto Shikamao's leg with those tiny claws. Seresana let out a sigh of relief as Miku had been removed from the pole, she still hadn't been too worried since it'd been Miku who enjoyed high places and climbing, but still. "Yeah, that one is Miku, and this one here is Mina," Seresana repeated with a gesture to the raccoon that was almost asleep in the crook of her arm. While she was doing that, she missed the stick being kicked into the clearing. Miku however didn't, his tiny pointed head instantly turning to look at the stick as well as the tree Dust had hid behind. As the ever curious raccoon he was, Miku began to scamper over that way while Seresana continued to talk. Miku had managed to reach and pass the edge of the clearing. He immediately began sniffing about and eventually ended up at Dust's feet, though he was behind the tree with her and currently out of sight from the rest of the group. The little raccoon looked up at Dust curiously and then raised it's little paws before placing them onto Dust's leg. The tiny claws began to lightly scratch at the limp as he tried to find the purchase needed to climb up.

"So what do you mean by your weapon evolving Shikamao? You're going to change it's form? But how are you going to upgrade it if it's your soul? Wouldn't that hurt to hammer on pieces to your soul even manifested as that? And what if yo- one sec. Miku!" Seresana interrupted herself with the call for the missing raccoon. Said raccoon almost immediately ceased it's attempts to climb Dust as it's head whipped over towards Seresana's direction. A second call got the raccoon to start scampering towards the clearing again, enough so that Seresana now knew roughly where Miku was thanks to the noise he was making. Satisfied with rough location of Miku, Seresana went back to her questions for Shikamao. "But yeah, what if you accidentally broke it?"

Word Count: 592
Total: 2,351