Spring had arrived. The sky was blue, the grass was green and the sun was warm. The last traces of the snow had melted from the mountainside, freeing the plants to bud anew and bear fruit. In one sunlit clearing a tan, willowy figure busied itself with the task of stripping a bush of all its ripe berries. Jizouko licked the juice off her fingers with gusto as she reached with her other, relatively clean hand for another strawberry. She absently wiped at her mouth when a stray piece of her purple-streaked hair stuck in the red liquid dripping down her chin.

A sharp snap behind her ripped her attention away from her snack and turn around quickly, her now waist-length hair whipping about and getting into her wide eyes. She released a breath she didn't know she had been holding when she saw Makoto's familiar white hair peeking through the green leaves of the underbrush. She spared a small laugh as she turned back to the bush, during the winter the canine had made a game of sneaking up on her but now that the snow had finally melted he stuck out like a sore thumb.

"I know you're there Mako-kun," she hummed as she picked a bright red berry and popped it into her mouth. "Stop playing around already, we got things to do today!"

Makoto barked excitedly as he burst through the bushes, flushing a few birds out of the branches as he bounded across the clearing. Jizouko laughed as she held her hands out to catch his large front paws as he leapt to tackle her, staggering a bit under the sudden weight but remained standing. She wished for a moment that she shared in his excitement.


"So, you're going tonight?" the dragon asked, his words rumbling deep in his throat.

"It's as good a time as any," Jizouko reasoned as she adjusted the belt on her hips.

"Hm, I would wish you luck, but then that would doubt your training…"

"And therefore doubting my teacher," she quipped as she placed a gloved hand on the beast's scaled snout. "We can't have that, now can we?"

"No," he agreed, stretching back his lips to reveal a toothy smile.

"I'll be back for those answers you promised me," she said as she paused at the mouth of the cave.

The dragon only gave a low growl in response and she was off, jumping through the trees in search of her prey.


The breeze was still chilly as it blew through the trees under the starry sky, but Jizouko paid it no mind as she crouched on a high tree branch. She watched the dark gap in the mountainside for any movement, and her vigil paid off when she saw the glimmer of scales moving in the moonlight. A wicked grin spread across her face as she drew one of the short swords attached to her belt.

A milky white head slowly emerged from the cave and she pounced.

Her sandaled feet slid for a moment, but she gained a hold when she brought her sword down into the snake's head. It didn't pierce the skull, but rather stuck fast in the bone as red blood spurted out of the wound, coating the blade and her arm. She grunted as she tried to wrench her blade free, but only succeeded in making the wound larger and agitating the already thrashing reptile.

"Oh shi-!" was all she could manage before she was thrown off the snake's head and into a nearby boulder.

The snake turned to her hissing angrily and spat at her. She barely dodged the glob of acid; a few strands of her hair sizzled having been caught in the liquid. She didn't have time to stop and tend to her long hair as she spun on the balls of her feet and jumped again, her hands flying through signs at lightning speed. She crossed her arms in an "X" in front of her and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before snapping them open.

Fire Release: Cross Fire Technique!

She uncrossed her arms and from them came two waves of fire, hitting the snake directly on its snout and singeing its eyes. The reptile threw its head back hissing and writhing in pain, and revealing its soft belly. She unsheathed her other sword and slashed at the bare scales, spilling more blood onto her. The snake continued to thrash, trying to strike her with its tail. She barely jumped over the tail before it swept back, catching her across the stomach and sending her flying into the trees.

She groaned in pain as she carefully climbed out of the crater she had made in an ancient tree trunk, shaking the stars from her vision. She ran a hand through her long bangs and winced when her fingers trailed over a particularly deep gash in her scalp. She staggered a bit when she got to her feet and had to put a hand on the trunk to steady her violent swaying when a wave of nausea and pain hit her harder than she had hit the tree. She fought to keep on her feet and to keep the bile from rising in her throat.

"Note to self," she groaned as she forced herself to jump to the ground, "Never do that again."

She crumbled to the ground as the dust settled from her landing. She clutched her stomach as if that alone could keep the pain at bay, but she knew better. She slowly got to her feet with the aid of a tree trunk, one hand on her aching head and the other pressed firmly against rough bark. She concentrated on the sensation of the bark biting into her skin despite her gloves, a testament to how much weight she was pressing against the trunk.

Angry hissing rose over the ringing in her ears and she knew that her moment of respite was over.

The snake crashed through the underbrush leaving a trail of crimson behind. Jizouko took a deep breath and straightened up before another wave of nausea had her doubled over again. Shaking hands searched for support as she pressed her back against a thick trunk and clamped her eyes shut against the spinning that tormented her vision. The snake hissed and she felt droplets of its spittle hit her cheeks. Her eyes snapped open and her fingers fumbled through the hand signs that had become almost second nature to her.

Wind Release: Devastating Whirlwind!

The snake reared back again thrashing its head from side to side, breaking branches as the impacts reverberated around the clearing. Jizouko searched for her remaining sword and realized in alarm that she had lost it sometime during her flight through the air. Her hand quickly went for the next best thing and drew a kunai from her weapons' pouch.

She gave a fierce war cry as she leapt onto the reptile's belly, one hand hooking onto the severed flesh as she channeled chakra into her feet to keep them from sliding on the blood-slicked scales. She hacked wildly with her kunai, channeling chakra into the blade, sharpening it to a razor's edge. She was now covered in blood as she stabbed one final time into the snake's white scales before her fingers slipped from their hold and her chakra-coated feet lost their purchase amidst the rivers of blood flowing from the snake's wounds. She landed on her back with a grunt, stunned for what felt like an eternity as the beast thrashed above her, showering her with broken twigs and branches.

The snake gave one last hiss before going limp, falling to the ground with a terminal thud. With the last of her strength Jizouko drug herself over to the reptile's great head. Her finger stretched to wrap around the black leather of her sword's hilt. Darkness was beginning to press into the corners of her vision and she had to shake her head to keep it at bay as she tugged at her sword. The blade slid from the snake's head after a few hard tugs, but that took the last of her strength.

She couldn't hear the metal ringing against the stone as it fell from her grip over the blood pounding in her ears, she could only watch as the metal glittered in the starlight before her mind went blank and oblivion claimed her senses.