Just your friendly neighborhood monster

The day was warm and crisp as the light broke through the shades of Zevas' window. He had been laying in bed for a couple of hours, unable to sleep through the night as he listened to the wind blow through the village. Slowly emerging from his bed, Zevas swung his feet to the floor, standing up as he stretched. His skin almost glowed with radiance as it shown its paleness in the light. This wasnt because of the lack of sun he was getting, he could never seem to tan. Zevas walked to the kitchen looking for some food. There was a raw steak sitting in the fridge, slightly bloody. Zevas picked it up and swallowed it whole, a small drop of blood falling onto his skin. He looked at the drop for a moment before it sunk into his body, not wanting to waste the precious morsel. He quickly grabbed his clothes and donned them before setting out into the village, locking his door and closing it as he left his house.
Suna was as warm and as bright as ever, even though the day had just begun merchants had already opened their shops and salesmen were running the streets, dragging their carts behind them. Many unoccupied buildings had still littered the village, but were quickly filling as the population had begun to increase. Zevas could smell the blood, sweat, and tears that the civilians had put into their work to make this village their home. It was a nice feeling, that he wasnt the only one who had strived in a failing nation to come out the way things had. And yet, there were still many things to be done. Zevas continued to walk through the streets of Suna with has hands clasped behind his back, wondering what the day had in store for him.
He continued to walk through the village, smelling the smells of all the ramen and candy shops. The mixture wasnt satisfying but it wasnt displeasing at the same time either. The sun had now reached high in the sky, shining down on suna, leaving little shadow for someone to escape to and rest. This had, for some reason, given zevas the idea to go walk by the village gates, to see how the guard were doing at such an hour of the day. He turned down an alley way to take a short cut, passing by two cats that were...getting jiggy with it. The cat problem in suna was getting a little out of hand, he would have to put in a request to gather the strays and have them neutered. Zevas kept walking, standing straight in a most formal stance, one foot in front of the other. His clothing rustled slightly in the wind as he neared the village gates, the large crevice in the rock creating an air channel. He peered down it, looking out into the desert where many have lost their lives from being ill prepared. He walked over to the guard, nodding politely at them. Some of the guards nodded back while others only shuddered, hearing the stories about the demon that resided in and above their ranks. Both reactions created joy in Zevas, as he continued his rounds through the village.

Post Info:

A tall figure standing just over six feet tall emerged from a crevice on one side of the wall leading into and out of the village. The walls on either side formed a tunnel and at times such a thing can get quite windy. And admittedly very troublesome when it comes to traversing such an area. Horus's reasons for being in such a place, was a strange one. The man vagabond had only just returned from a mission out in the desert. But the wind blowing into the village made it troublesome for him to make it back without any issues. Horus at that point decided to slip into the cozy crevice in the wall. In there the vagabond of a Shinobi fell asleep for a little while. He was a little tired and deserved to be rested. A yawn came from Horus as the man stretched his hands high. A strong wind swept through the area rapidly. Forcing the Shinobi to raise his left arm, with his forearm protecting his eyes. His elbow formed into V shape as a result. The moment had passed and the wind wasn't so much now, it was bearable for the man.

His eyes soon glanced upward in time to catch a certain pale faced individual making his way towards the guards. Horus could tell that this individual didn't frequent the wall or guard tower a lot. Horus should know since he was constantly in and out of the village. His numerous mission required him to do so. Being the inquisitive individual that he is, the barefooted Shinobi watched the man (Zevas) for a moment longer. It was in that moment that Horus bore witness to something truly spectacular. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see a small but venomous sand snake closing in on his position. Amazingly though, a hawk was already swooping in on the snake's position without it even knowing. A smirk satisfied smirk appeared on the vagabond's face. Without a wasted moment, the snake was scoped up into the talons of the hawk. This all transpiring a mere six meters away from the vagabond's position. Horus himself had to duck as the hawk took flight once more.

Horus returned himself to a vertical position and surveyed his surroundings. Nothing was out of the ordinary yet. But beyond that he was feeling particularly hungry. He also felt a sudden urge to go forth and train a little bit too. Maybe practicing with his techniques that he has yet to master could be beneficial to him. The man with long brown hair walked off into the village. Horus was sporting a green Kimono, with strange decorations adorning his body. These decorations being bandages and tags. Horus appeared out of place, the kind of person that didn't truly belong to the village. He didn't attend the academy from a young age. He didn't go through any Chuunin exams or Jounin examinations. The vagabond was the anomaly among his peers, but it was nothing to be ashamed of. Horus' family is nothing more than a bunch of nomads, genuine wanderers traversing the lands of Sunagakure. That his why the barefooted man dressed the way that he often dressed. Also being barefooted raised a few eyebrows, but you could say he was one with nature. He seemed scruffy, and yet managed to strike a balance of well kept. His unique dress sense made him seem outlandish no doubt. But that was for those who did not know him. Horus even had a pair of tags on his face, but none were explosive. Neither were those on his body. The man had a brown rope tied around his waistline. This rope was used to hold his Kimono and trousers in place. His trousers being of a darker green, compared to his green and brown Kimono top. Bandages were also wrapped around his feet, accompanied by a pair of black socks like item of clothing. But his instep, toes and heels were still exposed.

By the time the Hawk had done its business with the snake. Horus found himself not too far away from the pale person that was mingling with the guards. The man was now facing Horus's position, and so the vagabond took a step forward. His hand reaching for a bottle containing sweet sake by his hips. An offering perhaps? The vagabond didn't mind meeting new people. Besides they will all need to get along regardless. The stranger to Horus was standing a good ten meters away and closing.

WC: 758

As Zevas was turning to head back toward the village he happened to notice a man coming through the crevice, walking slowly across the sand. Peering at him, Zevas noticed the tags littering the man's skin. He was curious as to who this was, as he did not remember seeing him around in the village, but that wouldnt be something that hard to miss. That village had been steadily growing in numbers so it was well thought that a few would pass him by without a second glance. The man walked closer, reaching for what looked like a small liquid vase at his belt. He wore an odd garb, but not somthing Zevas himself wasnt accustomed to. The sun was at his back, and thus in the man's face as he approached, but one could not mistake Zevas pale skin as glare from the sun. What this did in fact was allow Zevas to see the shadows of things going on behind him. Something odd had started to fly towards him as a back draw of wind pulled towards the crevice from the gusts outside. Zevas reached out and caught the object without looking directly at it as it flew past his head. Said object was a cute little umbrella, curious as it may be inside of suna. The umbrella would now have been a mere foot from the newcomer's face when it stopped, held still by Zevas' clutch. That would be the exact moment when something bumped into zevas from behind, not causing him to move, but rather the figure that knocked into him to fall back. Zevas spun the umbrella, closing it in the middle of the spin, and stuck it in the ground, the top of it sinking into the dirt.
First off was the man before him. "Hello, i see you're from Suna, are you returning from a mission?" Zevas made a slight bow with his right hand tucked at his waist. The red tassels of his jacket dangling and swaying slightly with the bow. As he stood back up he heard the boy behind him speak, not yet looking at him. He glanced over the man in front of him. "My name is Zevas, and who might you be?" He had noticed the man was barefoot and wondered if it was chakra protecting his feet or just the casual use that he is accustomed to. Zevas would not wait for a response as he kicked the umbrella, using his feet to grip the J shape of the handle, and quickly toss the umbrella to the boy. He would glance over his shoulder to look at the new comer, sizing him up. First impressions were important but sometimes they were faked to trick others. Once the man in front of him would respond he would then move his full attention to the boy.
Turning he looked down at the shinobi, taking in what he heard as a boy but looked like a girl. Sometimes suna had some oddities that didnt fit in with the rest of the world, but he was one of them as well so there was no harm done. "You might want to be more careful next time, there are creatures that lurk past these walls, that even one of my stature have hard times dealing with." Zevas picked a piece of dirt that hung to the boys hair out of it, crumbling it in between his fingers. The dirt would turn to sand as it fell to the ground. He stepped back from the two just a few steps so that they would now stand in a triangle shaped formation. He looked at the vast difference and almost completely odd styles of the two, not fitting in most of the world. This trio could probably start their own shinobi circus. Zevas chuckled silently at the thought before straightening himself and looking at the other two. "Again, my name is Zevas, Jounin of the sand. How are you both doing on this fine day?"

Spoiler:

The vagabond raised his right eyebrow after lifting his left hand to block. Horus decided to do this after noticing the loose umbrella heading his way. But the tool for keeping someone dry and cool was stopped in its tracks. The Shinobi smiled a little before remarking with a "whew, that was close". The vagabond smirked at the man, before peering beyond him to see another person arrive on the scene. Horus didnt want to make a fuss, but it was an awkward situation all the same. The girl or boy must have been in a hurry. The vagabond wasnt yet sure about what to say about this person. Further more he didnt want to make any assumptions. That in itself could prove to be disrespectful to whomever this person was. An introduction was given and a question was asked. But sufficient time wasnt given to Horus in order to give a response. His lips parted and his mind had already thought of words. He was not given the opportunity to say what was on his mind, but no matter. Horus knew he will be given another  chance to say what he wanted to. "Its Horus" the vagabond declared himself to be but the man  called Zevas moved onto addressing the youngster. Horus nod in agreement with what Zevas was saying about being careful. That was important since you could quite easily bump into the wrong person. "Hello I am Horus and I am also a Jounin. And man am I hungry right now. Hows everyone today?". The vagabond of a Shinobi asked now that he could actually see everyone. There was a triangle between them now. In some ways Horus was quite glad to meet some other people of Sunagakure. It wasnt every day that he comes up against other people. Horus was often shut off from others almost always busy carrying out missions. That coupled with his life style and the way people always viewed him. Most of the villagers avoided him and only a select few seem to care enough to even greet him. None of this seem to ever bother Horus because he wasnt ashamed of his nomadic community  and upbringing at all. Besides Horus possessed certain talents which made him extremely useful to the village. There was a certain old geezer who took great pleasure in utilizing the Vagabonds talents. This stemmed from merely cleaning the village. Catching wild and stray animals, killing wolvez and serpents. Then there was that massive scorpion and that foolsih bandit. The old geezer perhaps sees the vagabond as someone serving the village crom the shadows too. He was perfect for carrying out the dirty work and taking care of other things. Horus wasnt about to be a model Shinobi that the people of Sunagakure would.flock to. Thats not to say he doesnt have a few admirers out there. Especially in those brothels that he so ofte frequented. But one must not mistake him for some kind of a pervert at all.

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[exit]

Zevas watched as the boy acted in disgust towards him, shying away and first then responding rudely about how Zevas told him to be careful. To his disdain the boy backed off as Zevas reached for the clump of dirt, causing it to fall anyway. Children these days did not understand the importance of respect. He felt as if the man named Horus was polite though, and waited to further address him. "You misunderstand me Ume, but never the less you have a nice afternoon." Zevas waited for the boy to part, watching him as he left. An uzumaki eh? Thought they were from the land of whirpools... Once the boy left their sight Zevas turned back around to face Horus, looking at the man. Horus had mentioned something of hunger, whch Zevas had a different type of appetite, and heard something grumbling in the silence. Zevas let a small smile cross his face as he tilted his head slightly. "Then how about we make way towards the market area? Heard a new ramen shop had opened up and its killing me not knowing what is on the menu."
Zevas stepped aside and would wave with his hand, gesturing for the man to go ahead of him. The sun was starting to drop and a large shadow had extended over the village, created by the earthen wall that surrounded them. Something was off in the air, and he felt as if it was going to be a cold night that night. As soon as Horus would move Zevas would walk next to him, doing his best to keep his stride. Not much could be talked about right now, as many things would be distracting from a good conversation until they got to the ramen shop. As they walked Zevas would raise a hand, aiming a farewell towards the guards at the gate. They were nice folk and had a dreadfully boring task, standing there all day until shift change. Zevas didnt know if he would be able to handle such a job.
As they would near the market district, Zevas could hear the busy town bustling as the night life started to kick up. Smells and sounds from all over wafted to his nose and ears. It was pleasant, being in the village, especially with someone of his ranking. Someone he could share all sorts of stories with, experiences and feelings towards the upcoming events soon to happen. It was a nice thought, but then Zevas realized that he would have to cut their meeting short. "It was nice to meet you Horus, but i just realized there are things i must prepare for." They would have just made it to the ramen shop. "So im asking for a rain check until next time." Zevas would extend his hand, whether or not Horus would shake it was up to the man. Either way Zevas would turn and continue on his journey. For there were many things he had set aside, and the time was nigh to condition himself for what lie ahead.

[exit]

Post Info:

The trio had engaged themselves in some exchange of words and actions that made one or two uncomfortable. Horus simply awaiting his turn to speak and to shed some light on the situation. He was however entertained by Zevas and the other who later revealed himself to be Ume Uzumaki. The vagabond relaxed his posture a little, waiting to see what would unfold between Zevas and Ume uzumaki. On this occasion the vagabond was not the aggressor, and if anything he was more hospitable compared to Ume. Horus however thought that Ume must have had his reasons for doing what he did. Horus also didn't want to make any assumptions about his fellow Jounin either. "Just watching these two interact makes me not socializing with others. Its much better to remain alone at times and not get involved with others. Food, I want something to eat now". The vagabond thought while his eyes glanced over at Ume for a moment and then back at Zevas. Horus also picked up on the mention of a council, and that was quite important. Horus also normally turned in his mission report to the old geezer. And said old timer was part of the village council. The significance of this being that there wasn't a Kazekage. A simply fact that at times leaves the village lacking in stability. There has also been whispers of the council putting together a select group of Shinobi. And these men and women or whatever they are, will be considered for the position of Kazekage. Horus had never really thought much about it, but he did notice something else of late. Quite a few Jounins and ever lower ranked Shinobi was working harder than ever. Although the vagabond might have misunderstood what they were trying to do. He put it down as the unlikeliest of things to work towards. Horus too was being urged to put himself out there by the old timer, but for what purpose he wasn't sure. Now though most things are beginning to make sense. The vagabond was almost lost in thought when he heard a proposition come his way from Zevas. "Ramen? Sounds good, let us go then". Horus replied while moving forward as Zevas kept pace with him. Off they went to the market area, but as soon as they got there. Zevas decided to cut the meeting short. Which was a little abrupt, but Horus was use to this sort of thing. "Alright, until we meet again, enjoy". Horus said as Zevas left the area, and so too did the vagabond. Since instead of eating on his own, he would much prefer to engage in some other activities. He could quite easily spend his time training or taking on another mission. No rest for the wicked as they often say. That and Horus was getting lazy, constantly avoiding his duties as a member of the nomads. He was suppose to be practicing his Jutsu more often than he currently is at this point. Horus had some time on his hands, and that is exactly what he wanted to go forth and do. This was important to him and it needed to be done. Neglecting the thing that could make him great was a grave mistake to say the least. It was saddening to Horus to even think it, but it was a real possibility.

TWC: 1823

[Exit]