The Next Step [solo topic]

It had been a week since the chunin exams and I had returned home after my injuries from the final match healed up. I now sat on the back porch of my family house in the village and looked out over the trees surrounding the clearing that served as a backyard when I was a kid. The woods were rather quiet this afternoon. The sun was high in the sky though only the occasional chirp of a distant bird filled the air of an otherwise deserted forest. My aunt came outside and gave me a pat on the back as she sat down at my side. As usual she was the wise woman that would try to get me through this, my mother had her heart in the right place a lot though compared to my aunt, even if it was just her age speaking, she was far more helpful. "You did well child, despite your defeat you still made our clan's strength known once again to the entire world. You should feel no shame as your opponent was simply a different type of fighter than the others." I sighed, I had been told things similar to this all week but until now I simply didn't want to hear it as I felt no one else could understand my feelings besides the woman next to me. "I know auntie, but still I wanted to win so badly. Me not being able to beat someone on my own level just proves even more how useless I was when Hebi got caught."

She leaned over and scooped my head into her arms as a single tear rolled down my face as I fought to hold back the rest. She gently moved me so that my head laid in her lap while I was on my side, gently patting me as I calmed down. She continued to look forward into the trees as she spoke, her voice still having a hint of the kindness she was known for but mostly speaking volumes of seriousness. "That is something terrible that happened in your life, but as we all must in time you need to let it go and move on to better times. Your friend has come back to us unharmed and healthy so we should rejoice rather than mope about. You just need to look at things a different way and sometimes you'll find that a situation is better than you first thought." She turned my head a bit to look into the woods at an angle behind a group of trees to see a family of white tail deer grazing. "Try and feel better my dear."

With that she sat me up as I had been earlier and got to her feet, walking back inside the house and sliding the door closed behind her. I let out a sigh and nudged myself forward to fall off the porch and get to my feet. After a few moments of looking at the deer who gazed back at me before going about their meal I started to walk into the woods to clear my head as I had seen the men of my clan do many times before.

The woods were warm from the sun's rays but I felt a cold chill inside as I shuffled along. Being back in the village. or more specifically my home, I felt more at ease than I had since before the Elkwood attack but I was still tense and stressed. I came to a tall tree in the middle of another clearing far away from any houses and sat under it. The shade provided felt nice and as I started to breathe slowly my brain started to turn back on and I thought on the different things bouncing around in my life.

I had a rather meaningful defeat in the exams, a radical change in my personality that I wasn't sure I liked as shown from me attacking a member of my own village to gain an edge in a fight that never even happened. I kept thinking about things as I sat there and the hours passed by me until later afternoon was starting to give way to early evening. A noise came from above me and I looked up to see a brown bear cub stuck up high. I shook my head and walked up the bark of the tree with my chakra, holding my arms out when I got close enough to carry the baby. She hesitated at first but then leaped to me. I held her there for a moment, she wasn't a human member of the clan for sure but there was something different about this bear but I couldn't place it.

I walked back down to ground level and the cub, who had been oddly calm up until now, struggled a bit and got free of my hold to fall down to the soft grass and flip over to start walking away. I stood leaning against the bark of the tree as the little bear ran off into trees but as I went to sit back down I heard a short whine. Looking where the cub had run off I saw her standing there beckoning me to follow her. Having nothing better to do and trusting the creatures of this forest I shoved my hands into my pockets and started walking towards the cub who ran in between my legs before taking off into the trees again.

I cocked my head a bit at this, the cubs of the forest were often friendly with Kuma clan members but never to this extent on a first meeting which could only mean that this bear was either retarded or they had met some time before. Seeing as I would need to quicken my pace to keep up I took my hands from my pockets and took off at a light jog. When I caught up the cub increased her speed forcing me to follow suit. This continued until I was moving so fast that I would have broken some bones if I were to slam into a tree.

I started to get lost in the excitement of the chase as we ran over bridges and across gaping pits. It was the type of bliss that a child experiences when playing an especially fun game of tag with an old friend. I couldn't tell how long we ran for but eventually we stopped and I found myself in a part of the woods I had never been to before, far outside the borders of the village even with it's expansion to accommodate the refugees. I looked around for a moment and couldn't find the cub as I had been looking around while failing to get my bearings. Another little whine sounded as a little bear face popped out of a hollowed tree trunk.

I walked over and gave the little girl a pat on the head, I had needed this today and I wanted a way to show my thanks. "You sure did lighten my mood, is there anything I can do to pay you back for that?" Seeming to perfectly understand what I had said the little bear walked over to a pile of leaves and brushed them aside to reveal a small cave entrance, once more I was given the signal to follow and the cub disappeared inside.

Left alone outside I noticed how late it had gotten. The stars shone bright above as the moon looked down on the world with the watchful presence of a mother observing her children play. It really was getting cold now and I had no idea what part of the forest I was in so there was no simple turn around and go home option. Weighing the possible consequences I shrugged and moved towards the cave, entering as though it were my home always with the welcoming aura it gave off.

As I entered the cave I felt at ease, so much so that without realizing it I slowly took on the form of a bear cub and walked on the cold stone on all four paws. I caught site of the other cub darting around a corner after taking a curious look at me so I followed at a jogging pace. Upon turning the corner I was shocked at what I found. The cub was curled up in the lap of an adult bear sitting on a stone throne, clothed in elegant silk robes with a golden staff in it's right hand. I cautiously moved forward still in the form of a bear though it seemed I wasnt fooling the creature.

"Come child, I recognize you as one of my own in the blood of bears but your true form is that of two legs so you shall approach me as such." It seemed this bear was a male and rather old from the depth of his voice. I slowly turned back into a human and walked towards the old beast who welcomed me to his side. "Who are you?" The bear laughed a bit though made sure not to disturb the now sleeping cub in his lap. "I am the spirit of these woods and it was your kind heart that brought you to me. Well, it was my child that did that but your saving of her from the tree was the first step in this journey. I would like to repay you, ask me a question and I shall give you the answer."

I was shocked, many bed time stories of forest spirits existed in the village but I had never heard of someone actually meeting with one themselves. I then thought about his offer, any question will receive an answer and I had just one in mind. "Alright then, if you can answer anything then riddle me this. How can I become strong enough to defend those precious to me? My normal methods are proving to not be nearly enough even over long periods of time and Im willing to put in as long as necessary but I need to know how." The spirit looked me over seriously, perhaps based on its surprised expression it had been visited before and had grown accustomed to questions concerning things such as the location of treasures or who their true love was, I had no need for such things and it was evident to the spirit being. Lifting the cub up she awoke and crawled down him to scamper into another room, he steadied himself on his staff and signaled for me to follow as he walked towards a dark tunnel. I remained cautious but decided to go in case he really could answer my question.