Flashback: A Chance Encounter

(Now available in black and white!)

It was about midsummer, in the forest at the foot of the mountains surrounding the village known as the Village of Gears. The village was more advanced than any in the main valley's, even though the only trade routes ran through the mountains and was potentially hazardous. The mountains could be like a maze for those who did not know their way, and wild animals tended to get their meals from unwary travelers. And I don't mean they set up and had a picnic together.

Suki Gianna, at this point in time an 8 year old girl, was out and about in the forest with what looked like a handmade basket of thin pieces of wood, about halfway filled with berries. Around this time in the summer was when the raspberries were ripe and sweet, though you had to be careful to avoid thorns to pick them. And because of that, there were little scratches on the young girls' hands, but that didn't seem to damper her oh-so radiant spirit.

Her brown hair was back in a clumsy ponytail that the eight year old herself had put up. As it stood, she was looking for more berry bushes. Even though she'd done the same thing in the years prior, she never seemed to remember where the berry bushes were, so ended up wandering around for long periods of time. Well, at least until she had to return home to check in with her brother. But at this point, she'd only been out about ten minutes. She still had a good 50 minutes left before she had to return home. And heck if she was gonna waste that time!

(lol, really?)

Felix had just got from the Village of Shadows and was on his way to the Gears. He had a joint mission and so far it had gone over well. He'd managed to walk for hours, but now it was time to settle down for camp. Dropping his bag on the ground he looked around, getting some detail on where he was. It looked like an okay place as of now. It could last him through the night, since there were no towns nearby. Felix slid off his white jacket and let it fall to the earth. Training time. The silver haired immortal walked across to the other side and pulled several kunai. Turning around he ran up a tree and jumped to the other side, aiming half of the kunai at the tree in front of him and then turning to throw the other half at the other tree. He landed with ease and examined his targets.

"I can do better...." He said with a sigh. Felix went back over to his bag and sat down. He'd have to get some fire wood later on but that would mean a possibility of attracting wild animals. Leaning against his bag he pulled a kunai and tossed it up and down in the air while looking up through the trees to see the sun. "Village of Gears."

(haha, yes really)

Just as Suki managed to find a berry bush growing around a tree, she heard someone coming and hid behind a tree. She stayed silent, peaking around to see a silver haired guy sliding off his jacket. She kept only her eyes around the side of the tree to see. When the guy pulled kunai, she cringed, but stayed silent. Her eyes widened at what he did, a wide smile crawling across her face. How cool! It was only then that she saw his headband. Bandits and rogues didn't have headbands, he was a village ninja! A village ninja wouldn't attack her, right? Suki decided to take her chances. When he sat down, she swallowed once and stepped out from behind the tree, holding her basket in front of her a bit shyly. "E-excuse me?" she paused for him to look at her. "Um, that was really cool mister," she said with a smile.

Felix slightly turned his head to the left at the faint sound of movement. Then came the voice of a little girl and he turned completely. He gave her the once over and almost shook his head. What was a kid doing out here? She had no headband to signify that she was a ninja. He wanted to ask her what made her think she was safe around him. But instead he took the kinder approach. "Thank you." He'd keep things simple. He didn't need to be get attached to her or vice versa. He didn't have time to make friends. He had things to do, important things. Felix turned back around and resumed his position of starring up at the sky.

When a simple thank you was all she got, she didn't move, but her curiosity was more apparant. "What village are you from? I've never seen the mark on your headband before," she said with the same smile. Suddenly she realized that she must be bothering this man. Her smile faded a little bit and she started feeling a bit bad. That must have been why the only answer she got was a thank you. Some people were to polite to mention that others were bothering them. Her gaze dropped and she suddenly started fidgeting a bit nervously. "I..um...am I bothering you mister?" A pause. "C-cuz if I am, I'll leave," she said with a nod, her gaze slowly bringing itself back to the silver haired ninja.

Felix withheld his sigh. As badly as he wanted her to scram he didn't mind the company. "No, you're fine." He told her. "I'm from the Crested." He pointed to the east. "It's a very long way from here. Located in the Valley's." Felix had a soft spot for kids. He did his best not make them feel, smaller than they were. Children were innocent and curious. Easily warped by the parents and mentors to do the worst. He had turned out for the better, but now he just seemed distant. He hadn't forgotten what he'd been taught, he just slowly let it go. Immortality did that to a person. "What are you doing out here?"

Suki's smile returned when he said that it was okay, that she wasn't bothering him. Her smile turned into a confused expression at the mention of the village he was from. "I know a little about the valley's, but...I've never heard of a Crested village..." she said, her head tilted a little. Her smile widened a bit at his question and her eyes seemed to sparkle with liveliness. "I was pickin' berries! They're really sweet this time of year." She took a couple steps closer and held the basket out in front of her. She wasn't too far from where he was now. "Want some?"

"The crested just recently joined the Valley's. It was to help...." He couldn't say prevent the Akatsuki from attacking. No. "A better trade route." He looked up at the sky. "It's nice there I suppose." He'd rather be in the Stealth though. When she asked him about the berries he shrugged. "I suppose so." Felix didn't bother looking at the kid. He rubbed his hands through his hair. He needed sleep. He was kind of tired, to the point of no return. But it wasn't too late. Felix supposed he had time for this kid. Speaking of, where were her parents?

Suki's smiled brightened considerably when he said he supposed so. She walked over next to him and sat on her knees, putting the basket of berries between them and taking one herself. "What's your name mister? Mine's Suki," she said happily, glad to have someone to talk to as it seemed. She looked around at the mention of trade routes. "The trade routes around here are always busy, but people have to be careful here," she said with a nod. "Lotta dangerous stuff." Another nod. "I bet the trade routes in the Valley's are safe. I wanna go to see the Valley's someday," she said with a smile.

Felix looked at the little girl as she sat. As she introduced herself as Suki he sat up. His blue eyes momentarily focused on hers when she claimed that the trade routes were dangerous out here. Now he was even more curious about this girl's family. If it was dangerous around these parts why was she wondering around he to be killed without a moment of hesitation. He needed to be a bit more optimistic about things. Thinking the way he was now was not healthy. "I'm Felix." He paused. "Maybe someone in your family can take you to the Valley's. Lots of elements. And the Crested always has a very big festival during the full moon."

Suki blinked when his eyes met hers, and for a moment she realized just how cool his eyes actually looked. Not to mention the fact that he had silver hair. And he was from the Valley's! This guy was just way too cool! She smiled when he introduced himself as Felix. "Nice to meetcha," she said happily. She smiled and nodded when he said that maybe someone in her family could take her to the Valley's. "I hope so! My big brother's a ninja, he travels a lot, maybe he can take me with him sometime!" she giggled. When he mentioned about festivals during full moon's, she only seemed to get more excited. "Really?? They have festivals down in the village too, they're really cool, with lights and music n stuff," she said with a nod. "Ahhh, but I wanna go see one of the festivals in the Crested!" she said excitedly. She looked ready to jump up any minute. It wasn't every day she got to meet a stranger who was actually nice, and even rarer to meet one from the Valley's. In fact, this guy was the first from the Valley's that Suki had ever met!

Felix blinked when the kid looked overly excited. He wondered how much sugar those berries had in them and how many had she eaten before stumbling upon them. He didn't need some hyperactive kid bouncing all over the place. "He's a ninja huh, from the Gears?" He asked. Felix picked up a berry and popped it into his mouth. Yes, they were sweet. Felix didn't really eat sweets, but he had his moments. Specifically cake. Felix eyes lit up at the thought. If he ever decided to quit being a ninja, he'd go around eating cake for the rest of his life. Seeing which ones were the best. That would be the life. "You should get him to take you. I'd recommend the Stealth, Snow, and Crested. Although the Storm, Death, and Magma are interesting as well. "

Suki pulled her knees from under her and plopped back onto the ground cross legged with a big smile on her face. When he asked if her brother was from the Gears, though, Suki's excitement visibly died down a little. "U-um, no. He works by himself...um, he...he takes on special missions," she finally said with a nod. "I hearda the Snow Valley, its sposed to be cold all year long," she said with a smile, her excitement from before seemingly gone for the moment. "And the Magma's sposed to be the opposite," she said with another nod. What she really wanted to see was the Crested, where Felix was from.

Felix went from curious to suspicious. Special missions his ass, something wasn't right. Had her brother gone rogue? Felix mentally hit himself. He needed to stop over thinking everything. The kid was just a kid and maybe she didn't know everything. Felix focused on the questions. "Yes, it snows all year. I don't see how they handle it, but I suppose some people just like the Snow. The Magma's too hot for my liking." Felix shrugged.

Suki was visibly relieved when he didn't ask anything else about her brother. The small girl turned her attention to what he was saying about the villages. "I don't like the snow either. Sometimes, sometimes when I'm playing in the winter, big clumps of snow fall from the trees. It's scary," she said with a nod. And it's not easy to hide when it's snowing... she thought silently. She picked out another berry from the basket and ate it, her peppiness returning a bit. "I wanna see the Crested, where you're from," she told him with a smile. "I bet it's really cool, like you!" she giggled.

Cool? That was a first. Usually he got scary or mean. Not cool. Felix gave a small smirk. "Thanks for the compliment. I'm sure you'll like wherever you go." The whole snow thing being scary was rather odd. Who was scared of snow falling off trees when she had so casually approached him while he was with kunai in hand. Funny little child.

(lol, love that last line.)

Suki smiled at him when he smirked and said thanks. "It's true," she said with a nod. Why was he thanking her for something so silly? She was only telling the truth. "Hmhm, me too," she said with a smile. With her legs still crossed, she laid back and looked up at the sky. It was a nice summer day. After another moment, she sat up and looked at him. "How long have you been a ninja?" she suddenly asked. She was curious, he didn't look any older than her brother, and he was twenty three right now. (I just noticed the irony in this.)

(nice question....)

Felix looked at the child as she asked how long had he been a ninja. Felix was tempted to tell her the truth, but instead he took mercy on her tiny brain. Although she was probably smart, getting into the details of his age was not on the top of his list. "Since I was about six. So, about 17 years." Felix went back to looking up at the sky. "It's pretty rough, but I like the job. Mostly because of traveling and nothing's ever the same." It was true, Felix liked the job because he got to go everywhere. And though he wasn't a people person, he'd gotten into the job because of it. That was when he was mortal. He'd dreamed of guarding some High Priestess or some legendary war lord. And despite his age, he'd only escorted a High Priestess to her home once. It'd taken nearly a month to get there and the trip was no walk in the park, but it had been a great experience all the same.

(Haha, yeps.)

Suki wondered why he'd looked at her like that. It was only a question. Maybe he was one of those adults who didn't like telling their age. That thought disappeared when he told her how long. She looked down and took a few moments to count on her fingers. "So..." she looked back up at him with a smile. "You're twenty three then! That's the same age as my brother. I'm eight," she told him happily. "That's a long time to be a ninja for, you must be really strong then!" she chirped. It seemed that most, if not all of her shyness, from earlier had disappeared.

"Smart girl," he responded when she figured out his age. So she was eight. Okay, so maybe he thought her to be young. She seemed so shy and innocent earlier, but now it was apparent she wasn't very shy at all. Rather outgoing and curious. "I don't know about being strong. There are others with a lot more experience than I me. I'm fairly young." He said with a nod. 500 and something years old meant nothing to him. He was permanently 23, therefor he was young.

Suki giggled and blushed a bit when he called her smart, putting one hand on the back of her head in embarrassment. "Nahhh..." When he said that he didn't know about being strong, she smiled. "I don't know, you look pretty strong to me," she told him. She giggled again. "You're not young, you're old."

Felix smirked. Well, now he learned that she was not shy but cautious and rather outgoing and not in the least conceited and smart for her age. And in his opinion brave for being out here by herself despite the danger. And she was very careful on what she said because she knew something concerning her brother but Felix could not quite figure it out. Felix gave a shrug when she said he was pretty strong looking and then she called him old...Felix's eyebrow slowly raised. "I. Am. Not. Old." His blue eyes now hidden behind his silver hair. "Twenty three is not old." He turned his head away from her. "My grandmother is old."

(BAHAHAHAHA! HE JUST WENT SERENITY ON HER!!! OMG, OMFG! XD)

Suki smiled at his shrug, but at his reaction to her calling him old, she started outright laughing. "Yes you are! You're very old, twenty three is old!" she told him, laughing. Of course, she was a little girl. Anything over thirteen years old was old to her. And his reaction was funny to her. "Heehee, I forgot that old people don't like talking about their age," she giggled with a grin.

(lol, ikr!)

Felix frowned. "So you're brother is old as well?" He asked. He could use reverse psychology on her. It would be a walk in the park. Unless she was one of those kids with the mind set that nothing would change. He almost smiled at the thought, but all that came was a grin. "If I was old, or thought I was old, I wouldn't have told you my age. I would have lied." But you already did, a tiny voice in the back of his head told him. Felix shut the voice out. Immortality age was different.

Suki nodded at his question. "Yep! He tells me that he isn't old either, but you both are!" she giggled. Something told her that he'd just tried to trick her there, but that something was nothing more than the voice of her developing mind, only there to be ignored at her age. At his response, her smile widened. "Maybe you did, maybe you're really fifty, or a hundred, and you just don't want people to know," she laughed.