Innocence of the Sand [Open]

Giggles announced the happy child's arrival even before she came out from behind the nearby shrubbery. Ahead of her, flapping its colorful wings gracefully, was a butterfly that was about a foot higher than her current reach even if she were to attempt to jump. However, that was by no means enough of a reason to have Misaki giving up. If anything she was that much more interested. She had no intentions of harming the delicate creature of course, she didn't wish to rip off its wings or anything like that, she simply wished to catch it so that she could get a closer look at it and study it. Still, that didn't mean she couldn't have some fun in the process.

Just as Misaki was getting closer she found herself snagged on a nearby bush; or rather her light purple dust cloak was: it matched the tunic styled top that went almost to her knees and pants she wore beneath. With the butterfly suddenly forgotten she tugged on her cloak, attempting to free herself from the shrubbery which held her only to find herself still stuck. "Lemme go!"

She tugged several more times, brows furrowing suddenly in frustration as her hood fell backward. Sighing, and realizing that tugging on it wasn't getting her anywhere she carefully slipped her jacket off and then walked over to the offending plant. She began to lift the cloak up carefully on various areas, checking to see what all it was caught on. Realizing what the issue was she was able to shift her cloak around until fully freeing it from the plant. She took the time to hold the jacket up with her left hand while using her right to brush any dirt off of it. Satisfied she would slip it back on while looking around for the colorful creation.

"Oh bother, it got away..."

WC: 315

"Did you expect to capture it, Sister?" He was standing in the shade, his nose buried in a scroll he'd brought up from the library down below. It was written in some obscure script that to an outsider looked like strange glyphs and pictographs, but to his eyes was perfectly legible. It was a bedtime story, sort of; if he was to translate it to a more current vernacular it would be that. The original story was an epic poem of the old masters, written by his ancestors in the distant past, one that the truth of had been forgotten about to the outsiders generations past beyond count. This was a copy of the last surviving original copy; a common theme among his family, they had so many copies of ancient, one of a kind texts and records; it was a wonderful playground to one like him.

He knew most of this epic by heart, at this point, but this was a less... abridged version; there where variant copies for the younger children, but this was the full, original work transcribed beautifully by an ancestor six generations prior; it wasn't a recent copy, but it was well taken care of and in perfect shape. He was challenging himself with this; the unedited version was at a much higher level of proficiency with the language it was written in, as well as a higher level of conceptual intellectualism that he was only at the cusp of reaching. Much was above his head, still; but he needed to know all he could, and he could sit with his father and grandfather and uncles and cousins and discuss the points he needed help with; it was bonding and it was fun and that was his family. He loved it, all of it; he was a scholar at heart and being born into the gypsies was the best possible start for a child like him.

"Why not visit with the foxes, Sister? They will play with you, and you may pet them all you desire."

WC: 345

Hone had actually slipped away from his brother and father, his curiosity about this new place getting the better of him. It wasn't very common for him to really leave the side of his brother and father considering that he was rather shy in the presence of others. And, he knew that they probably wouldn't be too happy with him for slipping away ahead of them, but he was curious, and  his curiosity sometimes got the better of him and led him to exploring on his own. After all, this place didn't really seem to have many people. Anyway, there were places to hide if he needed to until he could get back to his little family that had developed. They'd been wandering around for some time now, and Sagi had taken he and Zeisei traveling, but he'd never really been to the desert before that he could remember and it was strange to him.

He found himself wandering for a while, even watching a butterfly as it flew past him. The same butterfly that a little girl had been following a moment before, not that he knew this. He blinked and let it's colors intrigue him, and he began to follow after it much like the little girl had done only moments before. Soft laughs escaped him as it changed directions, leading him in the direction of the two other children who were talking to each other. Enthralled by the butterfly, he only paused when they sounded very close, freezing for a moment before ducking into a bush and looking around through it's leaves who see who they were. He stared out at the pair and hoping that they hadn't really seen him although he had gotten quite close before having the realization that there were two people ahead of him.

WC: 310

Misaki knew that her chances to catch the butterfly now were slim to none which was a bit sad really because she hadn't had the chance to look at it in more detail. It had been brightly colored after all, and beautiful to look at from a distance. Oh well, she was sure that another one would end up fluttering by soon enough, or that something as equally colorful or distracting would appear.

Upon hearing her brother speak she would turn her gaze onto him, spotting him standing in the shade with a scroll. She nodded in response to his question. "I hoped to, Brother. So that I could get a closer look at it. I've never seen a butterfly those colors before, it was beautiful."

Misaki thought about going to see the foxes as her brother had suggested, but before she could think up a response something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye; it was another child who looked to be around the same age as her and her brother. It was someone she had never seen before. However, she didn't get to see him for long before he was ducking behind a bush and hiding. The odd behavior caused her to cock her head to the left a bit in a very curious manner. The butterfly was in view once more, fluttering around as if it didn't have a single care in the world, but her attention remained for now on the bush. "Brother, there is someone hiding in that bush.", she would say softly.

As Misaki waited for a reply from her twin she found herself torn between what she wanted to do: part of her wanted to go investigate the bush and see exactly why the individual was hiding while the other part of her was a bit weary due to the behavior and was telling her to keep her distance. As it was she remained standing exactly where she had been over-thinking the situation far too much.

WC: 655

"It would seem as if there is, then." He was glancing up over the top lip of the scroll, golden eyes shining honey in the sunlight, whips of his silver hair escaping from under the hood of his head piece in the gentle breeze. He never went outside without being fully bundled; a common tactics in the desert to fight off the heat and sun, thick overlayers that hung loosely allowed for airflow while repelling the heat, and while he wasn't as much worried about the heat, he was worried about the sun. He was far paler than his sister, and the sun damaged him with significantly more ease. Staying covered was his best way to stay healthy, in the high desert sunlight.

"Do you wish to investigate?" He was very carefully closing the scroll, his place marked by a single length of cloth with was coated with a special resin that made it tacy when in contact with the special papyrus they used for their scrolls, without risking damage to the material. It would stick where placed, yes; but it came off without a fight, under the right hands. A shot burst of chakra always helped, too. He placed the scroll back into it's container, a large, wooden container in a classical design, covered in texts and information about what was stored within, combined with special seal locks and such that would keep the knowledge safe from outsiders and did not know what to do. His people lived to preserve and spread knowledge, this was true; but they had to do the former to accomplish the latter, and the former required them to be highly protective of their copies of ancient works; which fetched a massively high price on the black markets for collectors of the Sun Empire's remaining memorabilia and technology. Even a shattered shard of pottery covered in authentic Sun Empire glyphs was worth more than most could make in a decade, so they had to be extremely careful not to risk their knowledge being stolen and lost to time.

WC: 346

345+346 = 691

Hone found himself observing the pair of children from his place in the bush, the leaves only slightly obscuring his vision. It wasn't a very happy bush after all, so it probably wasn't providing the best coverage. It wasn't like the bushes in Hinowa that he had become accustomed to while they had been living there. This bush was sparse because of the mostly dry terrain around it. Hone hadn't really thought about that when he had decided to hide in it, considering that they could probably see him at least a little bit through the greenery. His brother Zeisei would probably laugh at him for doing what he was doing. He did miss the greenery of that place. Perhaps at some point he'd be able to ask their father to go back... but he knew that he needed time before then. They all did really, after what had happened with Sagi.

While he was looking at them as children like himself and potential friends, he was also sizing them up. If it came down to it would he be able to get away from them? Would they come after him? Would he be able to fight them or get to his father and brother if they did come after him? The other boy did look more stronger than the little girl, but he could be entirely wrong about that. Questions swirled in his head about the pair, and they wouldn't be answered until he actually interacted with them. He hunched his shoulders a bit from his place in the bush hoping that they wouldn't come over to him, though he knew that in the end they probably would. He was pretty sure that the girl caught his eyes before he hid himself.

Taking a deep breath, Hone waited for a few moments before it became evident that they had noticed him and he stood up from the bush, leaves and twigs sticking out of this hair, making him look quite comical. "U-uh... H-hello..." He mumbled softly as he looked at the pair, shifting from one foot to the other in case he needed to run away.

WC: 310 + 366 = 676

The bushes in this part of the world were not as thick nor as full as those located in other parts of the world: not that she had actually seen bushes with her own eyes in other parts of the world since she had never yet had the chance to leave the desert, but she had certainly read about them. The other villages were quite interesting and she looked forward to one day having the chance to actually go and explore them in person; for now though she would simply stick to her books. So, despite the fact that the young male child was hidden behind one of these shrubberies she could still see him; or at least small portions of him, especially where his clothing might have differed from the actual color of the greenery itself.

Out of the corner of her eye she watched as her brother marked his place on the scroll he had been reading and then rolled it up before putting it back into a container that it would be more than safe in. Just as she was opening her mouth to respond to her twin, planning on saying that she did indeed think that investigating was needed, she saw the male coming out from behind the bush.

She took a moment to study the individual now that she could fully see him instead of just a glimpse of him and quickly noted the way he was fidgeting. Misaki took it as he was perhaps shy, though he also did look as if he might be ready to run away from the way he was shifting about. "Hello.", Misaki responded softly to the greeting. "I'm Misaki, and this is my brother Kohaku." Polite; she didn't want the kid to run away, Misaki liked the idea of a chance to make a new friend and didn't want to spoil that by coming off as rude or a bit of a bully. "What's your name?"

As she awaited a response she would glance with golden colored eyes to her twin, quietly wondering what he thought of this individual and his rather different first impression. This was definitely a first for Misaki: she had never had someone spy on her from the bushes before, attempting to hide or some such.

WC: 385 + 655 = 1,040

The young male moved to his feet, tucking the scroll container into a pocket hidden in his clothing, keeping it nice and safe from being lost; unless someone felt the need to attack him for it. Give the chances of a random child having anything valuable was low, he didn't think it would be necessary to place it back into the seal within his sleeve. He moved up toward his sister; slow and easy and non-confrontational, he was a very peaceful child naturally, and did not invite or instigate trouble. He offered the other child a bow of the head, respectful and a rather common gesture of greeting in the region. He would remain silent, his sister had asked the only question he had in mind, and he didn't feel a need to add more, he didn't wish to overwhelm the boy that was about to bolt, if he was reading his fidgeting correctly.

WC: 160

160 + 691 = 851

700/700 END Base - D3
151/600 REA Base - D3
000/700 CHA Base - D3

Hiding had probably been a silly idea, but he had indeed done so. Lifting one hand to ruffle his dark hair to get the twigs and such out of it, Hone listened to the girl's introduction of herself and her brother. They seemed nice enough, and he managed to give them a small smile, although the way things seemed sometimes differed from the way that things actually were. He'd learned this the tough way in his nine years of life.  He did hunch his shoulders a little bit when he was asked what his name was though.

Unlike his father who had completely changed his name when they had left Hinowagakure, Hone had kept his first name, only changing his last so that he wouldn't be linked back to Sagi. It made him sad to no longer have the man's last name, but it was for the best, and he did have other things that Sagi had left him, anyway. Like his ears and the horn that was dead center on his forehead. He had those features, and his life because of Sagi, and because of that the man would forever last in his heart, even if others had deemed him as evil. "My name is Toru, Hone..."   He replied in his gentle tone, giving the last name that his little family had taken on. After all, giving one's name was polite, even if it wasn't completely true.

"Sorry for hiding..." He added after a moment, ducking his head a little sheepishly. "It's um... my first time here. I'm visiting with my dad and brother..." He didn't mention how they'd both probably be miffed at him for running off. It was very possible that while Gekkō was off doing adult things, that he'd sent Zeisei to come looking for him. He wouldn't put it past them. It had kind of become something of a routine when they went to a new place. Meeting and actually talking to someone was new for Hone though, even if like usual, he'd tried to hide from them at first... but he hadn't wanted to seem rude since they'd noticed him.

WC: 676 + 371 = 1047

The boy introduced himself as Toru Hone and apologized for hiding. He added that this was his first time here, and that he was visiting with his dad and brother. It intrigued Misaki greatly that Hone came from a place outside of the desert. Oh, he hadn't been the first person she had seen who had come from elsewhere, but the fact that he looked to be around her and her twin's age? That was what made it interesting. They had yet the chance to travel, but hopefully that would change soon enough.

She smiled brightly, curiosity shining in her eyes. "Where are you from? I've never been outside of the desert before; though I've read lots of books and stuff about other places." Oh, she knew she shouldn't pry into a strangers personal business, child or otherwise, but she simply couldn't help herself. While she didn't exactly have her twin's strong thirst for knowledge she still had one all the same and she was curious to hear about where ever it was this person had come from.

Almost absently she remembered he had mentioned a brother and father. "Is the rest of your family nearby, too?" She glanced over to the bush he had been poorly hiding in as she asked, almost half expecting to see a full grown adult that she assumed would look like Hone and another individual of similar looks hiding there.

Word Count: 238 + 1,040 = 1,278