Darth Bambi
Junior Member
When their teacher said to show her what they could do Ren jumped to his feet with enthusiasm. Always happy for an excuse to demonstrate his talents he eagerly began to assume an appropriate stance, listening with half an ear as she continued talking. She wanted to see what he could do? Well, no one ever needed to ask him twice. Heck, sometimes they didn't need to ask at all.
The girl, Tenshi, spoke up, surprising Ren. He stopped to listen politely as she quietly and rather hesitantly talked. She was clearly just as uncomfortable with speaking about herself as he usually was, and he didn't want her to think that he didn't care. As she told them (or more correctly mumbled) about her desire to pursue more medical training he couldn't help but admire her hair. He had never seen anything like it. Long and silky and pure white, it seemed to ripple with subtle rainbow colors in the sunlight. It was stunning, and Ren had to wonder if it was natural or something he could copy for himself.
She finished and Ren gave her an encouraging smile. It was strange how alike they seemed to be in some ways, at least from what she had said so far. Neither of them was particularly interested in being ninja and both of them had other desires. Her's didn't necessarily preclude the ninja life like his did, but it was apparent that she could take it or leave it as long as she got to study medicine.
And their instructor... Ren wasn't sure what to make of her yet, but as he subtly studied her while Tenshi finished up she seemed curiously pleased. He knew that she had said that she had different goals for them from most of the teachers, but it did seem a little odd that she was so quick to accept that they were both very indifferent or even opposed to being ninja. It gave him some hope but he had to wonder just why she was so different from the rest.
That was something for another time. His muscles tensing, he took a second to focus and center himself, preparing to show what he could do, only to start slightly as Kumiko spoke again, posing the question "What is the one thing people tend to forget about when engaging in battles of any size?"
She looked up at her two student from where she was sitting on the green, the sun shining down on her. "I’ll give you a hint: it’s the one thing that ninjas learn is essential to their well being. Once we have that answered, we can finally begin our first lesson.”
Well, that threw Ren. Here he was all set to strut his stuff and she goes and changes tack without warning, posing a tactical question out of the blue. Or, was it tactical? Ren wasn't a genius by any means, but he was above average, and the question got his brain working as he mulled it over.
His demonstration forgotten for the moment he slowly sat back down to sit again and think carefully about his answer.
Eventually, uncertainly, Ren raised his hand, forgetting that he wasn't in class anymore. "I'm not sure, but... is it to ask if the harm caused will even be worth it?"
The girl, Tenshi, spoke up, surprising Ren. He stopped to listen politely as she quietly and rather hesitantly talked. She was clearly just as uncomfortable with speaking about herself as he usually was, and he didn't want her to think that he didn't care. As she told them (or more correctly mumbled) about her desire to pursue more medical training he couldn't help but admire her hair. He had never seen anything like it. Long and silky and pure white, it seemed to ripple with subtle rainbow colors in the sunlight. It was stunning, and Ren had to wonder if it was natural or something he could copy for himself.
She finished and Ren gave her an encouraging smile. It was strange how alike they seemed to be in some ways, at least from what she had said so far. Neither of them was particularly interested in being ninja and both of them had other desires. Her's didn't necessarily preclude the ninja life like his did, but it was apparent that she could take it or leave it as long as she got to study medicine.
And their instructor... Ren wasn't sure what to make of her yet, but as he subtly studied her while Tenshi finished up she seemed curiously pleased. He knew that she had said that she had different goals for them from most of the teachers, but it did seem a little odd that she was so quick to accept that they were both very indifferent or even opposed to being ninja. It gave him some hope but he had to wonder just why she was so different from the rest.
That was something for another time. His muscles tensing, he took a second to focus and center himself, preparing to show what he could do, only to start slightly as Kumiko spoke again, posing the question "What is the one thing people tend to forget about when engaging in battles of any size?"
She looked up at her two student from where she was sitting on the green, the sun shining down on her. "I’ll give you a hint: it’s the one thing that ninjas learn is essential to their well being. Once we have that answered, we can finally begin our first lesson.”
Well, that threw Ren. Here he was all set to strut his stuff and she goes and changes tack without warning, posing a tactical question out of the blue. Or, was it tactical? Ren wasn't a genius by any means, but he was above average, and the question got his brain working as he mulled it over.
His demonstration forgotten for the moment he slowly sat back down to sit again and think carefully about his answer.
Eventually, uncertainly, Ren raised his hand, forgetting that he wasn't in class anymore. "I'm not sure, but... is it to ask if the harm caused will even be worth it?"