Shrine [Q,S]

Reo walked away from Kiri after decimating an entire squadron of bandits. He was tired and sore, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to turn around. He needed to get to the Shrine of the Sanbi. The shrine was a legendary place in Kiri – evidently – that would help him gain more control of his water abilities. Reo had visited a similar place for wind chakra while he was in his hometown, Suna. Speaking of, Reo was thinking of going back there after he left Kiri. To visit before he left for the next country – which was thus far undecided.

[post 1: 100 words]

The problem was, he really was tired. He needed to figure out what he wanted to do before he went any further. So, the Genin sat on the ground to think. No, he could get healed when he went back to Suna. He wasn’t that badly hurt. For now, he would continue his path to the Shrine of the Sanbi. This was the reason he was still in Kiri so long after the chuunin exams, after-all.
 
So, Reo pushed himself upwards – groaning as he stretched his sore and bruised body. That hammer had done a number on the young monk. Still, he couldn’t help but feel hopeful. Hopeful and scared.

[post 2; 110 words]

He was hopeful because he felt he had grown a lot since the Chuunin exams already. Sadly, he was scared because he had just learned of a man who had hired an entire group of bandits to hunt him down. He knew very little information about the man besides a name and a hair color. Apollo of the Red Hair. This person…what did they want with the Ryu Caller and how did they even know Reo had it?
 
It didn’t seem good and Reo was nervous about what it could possibly mean. After-all, he had only discussed the Ryo Caller with a handful of people. The shopkeeper, the Hokage, the Kazekage, Fuu, and Shao. They should have been the only ones to know about it.
 
[post 3: 126 Words]

“No. There was one more person.” Reo said to himself as he walked down the prescribed path. Luckily, there was a sign pointing towards the shrine. Reo didn’t know if that meant it was a popular tourist location or if the local shinobi often needed a sign to make it there. Neither was particularly promising for Reo. On the one hand, it may be crowded. On the other, Reo may get lost on his way. “There was the bandit who had extorted the information from the shopkeeper at the Odd Tree Library.Could he have hired these people?”
 
Reo thought that idea was unlikely, but he was hesitant to rule anything out.

[Post 4: 111 Words]

He followed the path, which slowly turned from a dirt road to a deer trail as he moved along it. At one point, Reo had to duck to avoid some trees from hitting him on the head as he made his way towards the shrine. Eventually, he found the shrine laid out in front of him. It was an imposing structure that sunk into the ground in a pit a little bit ahead of him. The area around it was extremely muddy and the floor of the shrine itself was covered in water.
 
“Well, I’m in the right place.” Reo said as he bowed slightly towards the shrine. Proper respect is important.

[post 5: 112 Words]

Reo began to make his way forward. At first, he had difficulty making his way through the mud. It seemed to fight his every movement. That was until he remembered about the motion of water. Sometimes it was better to go with the flow than to fight it. As he did this, Reo realized something about the mud. There was a slight flow of water beneath it. That flow was causing the mud to churn slightly in a clockwise fashion. He had been making no progress because he was trying to go against the clockwise pattern. Reo took a step following the clockwise pattern which circled the mud pit.
 
[post 6: 109 Words]

It only took a few minutes of circling the pit before Reo found himself in front of the shrine door. He stepped gingerly onto the flooded steps. The concrete – or was that marble – steps held firmly. The water seemed to pick all the mud off Reo’s sandals as he stood there, carrying it back into the mud pit. It was almost as if the shrine itself was telling him to wipe his feet before stepping into the building.
 
Reo took another step in. The water picked up in pace, pushing against Reo. Unlike before, there was no going with the flow this time if he didn’t want to end up back in the mud pit.
 
[Post 7: 115 Words]

Reo struggled to hold his ground as the water tried to push him further and further back. It seemed the harder Reo pushed forward, the harder the water forced him backwards. Reo furrowed his brow as he struggled. A bead of sweat dripped down his head. There had to be a way past this, right?!
 
The water swept Reo’s feet out from beneath him and onto his butt. He splashed into the water and almost yelled out but managed to regain control of himself before doing so. He was a monk. He must have more self-control than that.
 
Reo began to stand up, but then he realized something. The water was no longer forcing him backwards since he wasn’t struggling.
 
[post 8: 120 words]

The water would match the force he moved forward with? Or was it something else? Reo put his hand on the wall and managed to force himself to his feet. He took a careful step forward. The water moved back with equal force, causing his foot to slide back into the position it had just been in moments before.
 
“What do I do now?” Reo muttered as he stared at the water. This was completely different than his time in the wind temple – which had consisted primarily of prayer. He had to come up with a solution, though, otherwise he would have wasted his time for nothing.
 
[post 9: 117 words]

Then, it hit Reo. The water was responding to his movements, but what if the water didn’t notice him moving inward? Would it respond to pressure solely from water the same way it was responding to his walking through the water. Reo held his hands out and concentrated. He wasn’t very good at water chakra, yet, but he knew it could be used to control water that existed in the world. He slowly moved the water around his feet, trying to make a clear walking path.
 
Reo took a step on his walking path. Then, he slowly adjusted where the water was moving around. It was slow, but steady progress through the temple. Before long, Reo found himself in the middle of the temple. He kneeled in the water and bowed his head in prayer.
 
[post 10: 135 words]
[QUEST COMPLETE: 20% Suiton]