It was raining lightly out, and it was quite dim outside today, due to the light grey clouds covering the sky. Kinaga was sitting in front of a single grave, which was made out of black marble stone. He'd placed white roses on the grave already. The name on the grave was Shisu Akayame. He doubted that anyone besides Rumiko and Serenity knew about Shisu.... Kinaga's eyes and face were blank as he stared at the grave.

What Kinaga never got over....was that Shisu had moved on as soon as she'd died....She didn't stay to see whether or not their child had lived, she didn't stay to even say goodbye.... Kinaga was so enveloped in these thoughts that he didn't even notice that there was someone walking up to him.

Kaoru had finished her tour of the Death Valley and the thing closest to it had been the Graveyard. She found his starnge to visit there, but maybe she'd find something of interest. Kami sat on her head quietly watching everything that was going on as if something would come out of nowhere. When he thought it safe he flew off. Kaoru shrugged and blinked as she saw a guy standing near a grave. She didn't want to interrupt him sos he started away from the site whistling for Kami to return.

Kinaga looked over his shoulder, snapped out of his trance when he heard the whislte. He recognized who it was from the truce-gone-bad not too long ago. He got up slowly. "Hey there Kaoru," he said, his voice echoing strangly through the silent graveyard.

Kaoru froze in her spot when Kinaga called her name. So stupid, she though toherself as Kami landed on her shoulder. She then turned to face the guy and saw it was Kinaga from that day. "Um, I'm sorry for interrupting," she said. "I...I was just leaving," she said quickly.

Kinaga smiled and walked towards her with a shrug. "Don't worry about it, I wasn't staying much longer anyways." Well that was a downright lie. If someone wouldn't have come along, he would've stayed out there all day. Probably would've caught pneumonia too. "How've you been?"

Kaoru tried to smile, but it was failing miserably. "Um, I've been fine," she said. "I just finished exploring the Death," she said rolling her eyes because the word exploring made her sound like child. She then said. "Um, how've you been?"

Kinaga shrugged. "As well as I could be, I guess," he said with a small smile. He was terrific at keeping a smile on at all times. Perhaps what made him so popular with many of the villagers...(*winkwink* lmao, jk!) "So, find anything interesting in the Death Valley?" he said, starting to walk towards the exit of the graveyard. He needed to get away from that place as soon as possible.

(lmao)

Kaoru shook her head slightly. "Not really," she said. "I guess I'm not really attached to a village with a name like that. Though I did meet the acquantince of a very kind person by the name of Kazuya Auren," she said. "I plan on heading to the Magma next. Maybe I'll find something there.

Kinaga gave a small laugh. "I know what you mean." Kinaga gave a light smile as Kaoru mentioned that she'd made (in blunter terms) a new friend. "I'm pretty sure that's the name of the new Kage there." Kinaga's smile faded for a second as she mentioned that she was heading to the Magma next. As always, when someone said magma, the first name to pop into his head was Roxl. The smile didn't stay gone for long though. "The magma's a very nice place. But you might want to dress warmly, I hear it's gotten much colder than normal lately," he said with a smile.

Kaoru finally had a smile. "I was trying to avoid anywhere that's awfully cold," she said. "Guess I'll make a detour and go to the Storm or Stealth instead. I've heard that both of them are beautiful villages to visit," she said. She then thought about what Kinaga said about Kazuya. He must have become Kage after I left, she thought. Kudos to him.

Kinaga gave a small smile. "I'm sure that the Magma will be back to it's warm weather in no time." Then he nodded. "Yeah, both of them are really beautiful. If you'd like, I could show you around the Storm. I'm the current Kage."

Kaoru felt stupid when she was told he was the Kage. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said. "It's an honor to meet you," she said. Kami who was on her shoulder gave a small sneeze then took off into the sky and disappeared. Kaoru looked up at him glad to have something to distract her. He'd gotten her into this mess, and now he was helping her out of it. "Um, that'd be nice," she said to Kinaga.

Kinaga sighed and put his head in one of his hands as he walked. Looking back at Kaoru he gave a small smile. "Please, don't." He hated people being so formal around him. That's why most of the time he didn't tell people. His gaze followed the white dragon for a moment before bringing his gaze back to Kaoru. "Anyways, where're you from?"

(oh I'm gonna love this outcome.)

Kaoru wondered what he meant by please don't then guessed he was talking about the Kage thing. She then followed him as he began to walk. "I'm from far away," she said. "I'm from the Crested."

(MEAN)

Kinaga stopped walking and looked at Kaoru, the smile gone from his face. What were the odds...? "The Crested, huh..? How...how're things over there? Are the villagers okay..?" Kinaga was at a loss for words. The last time he'd been to the crested valley was with Rumiko.

(I'm just gettin started. hahahahahhah. JK.)

Kaoru nearly bumped into Kinaga as he stopped. Thankfully she had quick reflexes. "Huh, um...yeah, everyone's okay," she said. She was a bit confused of why he cared in the first place. "Um, do you know someone there or something," she asked.

(MEEAAANNN)

This had to be the one subject that Kinaga couldn't bring himself to smile or make some kind of joke about. Kinaga looked down. "Yeah, I knew someone who lived there. But it was a long time ago," he said with a shrug as he started walking again. He kept his eyes on the ground.

Kaoru looked at Kinaga. She guessed someone very important and dear to him must have once lived there. Kaoru looked towards the graveyard. She couldn't read it from this distance and she was wise not to egg a person on about their past because she hated for someone to do the same when she mentioned her adoption. Which was very rare. Instead she just followed him on "I'm sorry," she said.

Kinaga looked at her and gave a small smile. He always tried not to let it bother him, and tried moving onto a different subject as soon as he could. "Don't be." Looking back in fron of him, he asked "So, you come from a big family?"

Kaoru looked at him a second before saying, "Not really. My family doesn't live together like most Clans, we're divided. But we get together every so often," she said. She wondered if he had any family, but from the way he was after the Crested thing she doubted it.

Kinaga gave a small smile. "That must be nice. Hey, Kaoru, what exactly do you expect to find by travelling around?" Everyone had a reason to travel, whether it's out in the open or not.

Kaoru nearly stopped walking at the question but pulled it off to make it seem like she was looking for Kami. Why was she traveling anyway. Was it just because she was bored, or deep down she was looking for her real parents though she'd said she didn't care much for who they were. She looked at Kinaga. "Um, I'm just looking for something of interest," she said.

Kinaga looked at her with a small smile. "Isn't there enough interesting stuff in the Crested Valley for you?" He gave a small laugh and looked back in front of him. "I'm just kiddin."

Kaoru smiled. "I know," she said. "It's very interesting, but I have to save some spots for my later year," she said with a small laugh. Talking to Kinaga was getting easier.

Kinaga smiled. "Yeah, that's a good idea." Kinaga stopped a minute and looked up at the sky. Thunder started to crash loudly as they neared the storm valley. It looked like it was going to start pouring any minute. He looked back at Kaoru. "Unless we want to get drenched we should hurry to the Storm and get inside somewhere," he said with a smile.