She Likes Art And History

The setting sun beamed over the forest’s horizon setting a warm, bright hue onto everything exposed to it. The edges of leaves, the ripples in small puddles from the recent storm from the night before, and the tips and strands of the young Dahlia’s orange red hair which made it look almost a blaze in fire. The young girl let out an exhale of strained breath as her amber eyes stared down the wide tree trunk in front of her.

A bead of sweat fell down her forehead to join several others along her freckled face. Her grip on her new Tanto tightened right before she darted forward. She leaped up planting on foot on the base of the tree then kicked off to plant another. This was the easy part that she could do on any tree, any time, any day.  But the next part? That’s where she always slipped up. She bent her knees as she mimed out kicking an imaginary head of the imaginary body she had just ran up.

All while kicking off with her other foot to attempt a backflip. She tried to split her focus while doing this to slash at the tree with her sheathed Tanto. The attack easily missed the trunk as she failed to launch herself off from the tree properly. Her body smashed into the slowly growing divot in the ground. Her head meanwhile smacked into the large roots of the tree. She rolled onto her side as she clenched her head followed by a gasp of pain.

Still nothing but failures, and no doubt several new brain cells killed. She wiped some small tears from her eyes after the momentary pain on her head had mostly subsided. She looked to the Tanto as she laid there in the dearth and grass. She had 2 years still before she could progress past Genin. She had been a Genin for nearly two years already and it felt like she barely had gotten anywhere from where she was when she first became a Genin.

Was 2 years truly going to be enough time to figure out how to find her path that would set her apart from the others, or get over the things that limited her every time she tried to take any real test? Could she really teach herself anything she needed to know all on her own? Yeah she knew how to learn new Ninjutsu and had a lot of book smarts, but that was all. And with her social issues… even if she got lucky to get a test out in the wilderness the moment others saw her freaking out so easily in a social situation they would never let her rank up due to the risk she would pose.

She bunched up her lips then scrunched up her nose in disgust. She’d just have to keep trying to improve on her own for now. There wasn’t a way she could see herself overcoming her other issues right now anyways. Maybe she could even work on learning some new jutsu too.  

“Bite back your doubts, and fight on. Right papa?” She whispered.

Dahlia slowly got to her feet to look to the sky.  She needed to head home.  She didn’t think her mother would be home so early from her trip with her uncles, but if they were her mother would get concerned that she wasn’t home yet despite not being on a mission. She slipped her Tanto away before she began to head back into the main walls of the village. She made her way up to the roofs to avoid large crowds or groups making their way home.

As she traveled she heard something odd in an Alley that she had passed over. She slowed to a stop as her head instinctively shot back towards the sound. She slowly made her way back over to the ledge of the roof. She slowly squinted one eye while widening the other eye. Her brows frowned as she looked over the edge of the roof upturning the outer corner of her brow that laid over her wide eye. Finally she bunched up and frowned her bottom lip as she saw what was making the sound.


OOC: Le thread as per talked about Xia

Post 1
110 / 110 Charka Points

Xia had a day off, which she didn’t quite know what to do with. She had been working so hard lately that the concept of ‘free time’ was foreign to the young Hyuga. She had eventually decided, after some insistence from her mother, that going outside and doing something artistic was a good idea. Her mother had also insisted that “If someone were to paint something, make sure it’s not anywhere that will get found too easily so that said person doesn’t get in trouble.” She then gave Xia a knowing wink and shooed her out the door with her satchel full of spray paints.

Xia had then wandered around the city looking for inspiration to do some painting. The last time she had been out painting had been in the Hyuga Clan District and she’d been caught fairly quickly and then punished for it. She had been mortified at the time, since her intention with her art was never to cause harm - she was genuinely trying to beautify the city she lived in. Before she’d gone too far, she’d picked up some snacks since she knew she wouldn’t eat otherwise. Heading to the marketplace she found a few rice cakes, a granola bar and a small box with crackers, meats and cheese. She also picked up a small bottle of water which she tucked into the pocket of her coveralls, making for an interesting look alongside the scattered paint stains on them.

It only took Xia an hour or so before she found the perfect spot. An alley that seemed mostly unused in a quieter part of the city, there was a stone wall that looked like it had been painted once many years and many storms ago. The aged paint was peeling and the bare stone was visible in large spots, so before she could begin painting she had to clean up the ragged edges of the space. Setting her bag down, Xia picked up a rough rock and scraped it against the old paint on the wall and watched with satisfaction as the paint flaked to the ground. When she had a relatively smooth canvas she would step back and examine the space, searching for the hidden art within it.

The woman’s blonde and black hair was tied up out of the way and her pale eyes surveyed the wall with interest. Noting a small flower struggling to grow in the shaded alley she got to work creating a garden of flowers to help the tiny flower flourish. Utilizing the whole of the wall, and no small amount of Academy Techs to help her scale the wall, she painted something like this. She’d spent the whole day working on it and as the sun set she stepped back and took a look at the art piece she had created. Satisfied with it she would begin picking up her paints, the metal of the bottles creating a tell tale clanking noise as she hastily shoved them in her satchel. She was now looking a little worse for wear and had long abandoned her jacket which left her arms exposed, the intricate tattoo that wove its way up her right arm from the wrist and beneath her clothing on her shoulder now plainly visible. As perceptive as the Hyuga were supposed to be, she was currently wrapped up in her thoughts and without her Byakugan active she wouldn’t see much beyond what most could.

When Dahlia doubled back to investigate the sound she slowly shifted to see the stunning art. It was something that she hadn’t expected to see in the village. Honestly it really touched her in a way she would have never expected from a random alley in a place that normally agitated her so easily. It gave her a sense of familiarity in its nature theme. A familiarity that eased her a bit. She slowly found herself relaxing her face the longer she stared.

The blue and black butterfly with its striking orange ripple. How it ascended from the flowers below and how from Dahlia’s angle guided the eyes to the yellow flowers. The flowers that were so expertly arranged as a focal point to guide the eyes towards the center of the piece that held several pollen balls accenting it. All with brighter colored flowers accenting the entire thing to keep everything lively, as well as making the entire piece pop and not feel too flat due to too much of one or two colors.

Her eyes slowly caught onto the bright pink flowers where her eyes then fell upon a single real flower trying to grow. She could feel her lips part a little in her mind’s attempt to agape her mouth in aw. This was art to the highest degree in Dahlia’s eyes. Her eyes; of which finally laid upon the creator’s similarly striking hair, then her tattoos. Was this some sort of art god? One that weaved art just as intricately as her skin did with its tattoos? She should really go home but… she was far too curious, and had some time.

She wouldn’t be bothering the girl or anything so following her to watch her would no doubt be totally fine and not at all stalkerish… Or at least Dahlia thought so. So the young girl would try to quietly follow the other as she’d walk around by rooftop to see where this art god would go, do, and possibly figure out who she was.


OOC: This Topic is now a flash back for Dahlia

Post 2

Xia was feeling rather accomplished, although she was pretty hungry so after collecting her paints and giving a final look to her painting she would exit the alleyway and make her way towards one of her favourite spots in Konoha. A small forgotten park near the edge of the Village was her little slice of heaven. It was partially overgrown since it was in an underused part of the city, but that was perfect for her. She came here often to just relax and be alone with her thoughts.

Setting her bag of paints down on the ground, Xia climbed onto a bench and sat cross legged. Pulling out her small bundle of snacks she began to chew thoughtfully on the rice crackers and meats as she enjoyed the relative solitude the park provided. Relative because it was still inside the Village, but for now at least there was no one she could see in the immediate area. So she sighed happily as she ate while she used the surrounding flowers and plants as inspiration for her imaginings of her next mural.

OOC - EXP claimed and this is now a Flashback for Xia

**Edit - Due to the player quitting the site, Xia will be exiting the topic.

Xia enjoyed the afternoon in the park and then headed home, relaxed and satisfied after a day of quiet painting.

[Exit Thread]