The purpose of Life is a Life of Purpose

[kumar]

Lenore stood on the intersecting branches of the trees, hands clutching the branches at shoulder height as she pitched her whole body forward, face in the wind and eyes closed. the brilliant sunlight streamed down through the leaves, lighting her face in intervals when the wind pushed the foliage aside long enough for the daylight to penetrate.

She took a deep breath, and exhaled loudly, the hum of pleasure sounding in her throat. For a few blessed hours she would be free of scrutiny as the little Nin that followed her, and the little feline that depended on her still, were off in their own directions.

She jumped, tucking her legs in and letting herself fall out of the tree, landing on the ground with a thud, bending her knees to absorb the impact. She stood from her crouch and walked over to the edge of the cliffs, looking down over the village of Konoha. This was technically as far as she would be allowed out of the village, if she chose to join the academy. Though she didn't really tend to go much further these days, it still gave her a trapped feeling.

She gazed down and off to one side, where a meadow filled with wildflowers seemed far more innocent than its past might indicate. before her eyes, her memory played out the movements of the skirmish in those fields that had resulted in the deaths of many, Kaliri's own brother included. She watched in her mind's eye as Kumori danced with his blades.

With a sudden start, she shook the memory clear. She didn't need to practice combat, right now. She was free. Could she not just enjoy it?

She began pacing her way back towards the village proper, down the path that would take her past the lake and training grounds on her languorous walk.

[Oki]

Oki stood up to her knees in the water of the lake, her eyes closed as she tried to concentrate. Her hands were extended before her, and she focused on the way her chakra ran down her arms to her hands, on the way it pulled at the water. It was quieter out here, and she had hoped that the relative seclusion would have helped her more than it had. The technique still wasn't doing what she wanted it to do.

Exhaling slowly, she began to form hand seals slowly, concentrating on each as it was formed and then focused her chakra down into the water. Obediently, it began to bubble and roil, rising up in front of her into an almost spherical mass. Oki concentrated harder, and two tendrils began to extend from the base, each taking on the appearance of the head and neck of a dragon. Sweat beaded on her brow, but Oki continued to feed her chakra into the mass in front of her as the heads reached skyward. It wasn't enough. It wasn't right yet...

With a hiss, she released the jutsu and opened her eyes as the water she had shaped splashed back down into the lake.

[kumar]

As Lenore made her way from the mountain top, she kept her habitual eye on the world around her. She gazed from left to right, taking in the changes in the scenery. here a tree she had recognized as a tiny sprout now a strong sapling, pressing up through the forest undergrowth to make a place for itself. There a rock she'd once sat on now split in half by some terrific force. Off in the distance, the lake she'd swam in now bubbling and growing as water rose in a giant bubble above the surface...

Wait.

She kept her eye on the proceedings as she ambled closer, watching until the water cleared, sinking back into the lake, and reveled a figure behind. Stepping lightly up onto a rock, she crouched, hands still in her pockets, and watched the other young woman at work, shaping and moulding the water. She watched carefully as she worked with her chakra, fascinated. She said nothing, only wathed, not wanting to break the other's concentration.

[Oki]

With a sigh of disgust, Oki turned and began to wade back to the shore where she had left her boots. She was tapped, and it was time she was headed back to the village proper, any way. She sat down, pulling her boots on and began to tighten and tie the laces.

[kumar]

Lenore decided to speak up from the rock. normally she would have rested, silent and observing, but her mood was still buoyant from the time she'd spent running, and her hair was still tousled from standing in the wind .nothing could be nearly threatening in the light of the sun, within the walls, against a girl who looked quite so exhausted.

"Well, now that's a fancy trick." Lenore called quietly enough not to be frightening, but loudly enough to be heard. "If you want to swim in the desert, I suppose."

[Oki]

Oki turned her head and studied the young woman who had addressed her. She didn't know this girl, had never seen her before in the village. Normally, Oki would have thought nothing of that fact, but recent events had left her more cautious, more suspicious.

"It still needs work," she called back. "But it's still useful on it's own."

[kumar]

Lenore grinned, her white teeth taking on deep contrast with her darker skin.

"For a water-balloon fight, I suppose you would have the upper hand." She walked out of her crouch, stepping down off the rock as she did so. Casually, with hands still in her pockets, she walked to the edge of the water, looking out over it. A moment she stood there, still as stone, before turning to Oki. She smiled, bowed at the waist and introduced herself.

"I'm sorry for startling you. My name is Lenore."

[Oki]

Oki nodded and acknowledgment of the name. "Itsuka Oki," she replied. "Are you new to Konoha, Lenore? I don't ever recall seeing you before."

[kumar]

Lenore gave another grin, looking out over the lake.

"Actually, I've only just returned. I've been away for a while. But then, I could have asked the same of you, as I don't recall seeing you before I left." She took her hands out from her pockets, crouching down a safe distance away from Oki, trying not to make the other nervous. She made herself small and nonthreatening, though the lounging, self-satisfied demeanor never diminished.

[Oki]

Oki smiled. "I could say the same thing. I just got back a few months ago after spending four years away from the village. I've lived here since I was three, but left when I was fourteen to attend to... other matters for a while. Now I've come home."

She remained sitting and calmly drew her knees up to her chest. She sat forward just enough that she could lightly drape her arms around her knees.

[kumar]

Lenore nodded. She picked at the grasses around her feet as she considered.

"Welcome back." She smiled. She looked out over the mountain, the fields surrounding the lake, and the trees in the distance. "There's few better places to be in all of the known world. In my opinion, at least."

[Oki]

"The same to you," Oki grinned before casting her gaze out over the calm surface of the lake. "It's certainly a lovely spot, somewhere quiet to get away from the busy pulse of the village. I don't find many people venture out here often."

[kumar]

Lenore chuckled. She pulled one hand out of her pocket, and pointed to a space on the banks where there was an extra piece missing from the shore. In a perfect circle, the grass and earth were torn away, as though burned back.

"See that place, there, where the shore doesn't follow the rest?" She said, letting her arm fall with a grin. "Kaliri... she moves earth, and quite well for one so young. She created another wall to trap water inside. Rachi used fire to heat it, and we, along with Kumori and I think Otomeken was here... we went swimming, alternating between the lake proper and the little tub she'd created. Well... all except Kaliri. She's afraid of water that comes up past her waist..." She trailed off, a smile lingering on her lips seeming wistful.

[Oki]

Oki smiled. "I remember Kumori. I haven't seen him in years! You know him? And Otomeken as well?"

[kumar]

Lenore wrinkled her nose at the thought of the redhead, but nodded. "Yeah, we all used to be. interconnected, I guess you could say. Kaliri was responsible for most of it." She grinned. "I blame her."