ShopDreamUp AI ArtDreamUp
Deviation Actions
Literature Text
A fork in the road.
“…oh, great…” Giri said with disdain. “Just what we need right now.”
“Oh come on, Giri-chan!” Wakana said to her peer with an elbow nudge to her shoulder. “It’s only been a few yards! We’ll just take a side and keep walking!”
It was around midday and the sounds of the village conversing swirled around the Forbidden Forest, with a quickly growing mass of people gathering near the center. The forest was still an eerily dark place, despite the clear sun shining above the shinobi beneath the canopy. In the center of the forest, a fork in the road. Three of the prospective Chunin stood before the split, all wearing different masks of expression.
Giri Warashi, an average-height girl with tanned skin and light hair, had her scarlet eyes squinted shut the slightest bit in apathy. She had been cheerful up until this moment, but now standing before this split in the road started to fill her with ire.
Wakana Sasaki, with a similar build to Giri and locks of deep teal, bore a smile from ear to ear. The idea of becoming a Chunin, becoming a leader within the village, excited her. It didn’t matter what was in her way, she would walk five hundred miles and five hundred more to reach her goal.
Takashi Miyazaki, the sole male in the group with light blue hair and his usual spiffy attire, had remained silent up until this point. He had no emotion; he just stood like a statue with his hands in his pockets.
“I guess we have two choices here, guys…” Wakana said, prompting the three of them to look to their left and right.
To the left…a treacherous, cragged cliffside with overgrowth, fallen trees, and veins of a river coursing through.
To the right…a straight shot towards the other end of the forest. But the path itself was laden with a thick fog, and the path itself seemed stressful to even look at or think about.
“…both look kinda lame,” Takashi said with a grunt.
Wakana looked over at her teammate with an eyebrow raised. “Do you have any better ideas of where to go?” she asked.
“Straight down the middle?”
“…no, that’s cheating.”
“I highly doubt that there’s any form of ‘cheating’ on this type of test…”
“Well, not the cheating you’re thinking of. I just think it’s unfair to the others.”
“Then why don’t they just do the same thing?”
“Guys, we should probably keep moving…” Giri interrupted, shaking both of her teammates’ shoulders. “Let’s pick a side and be done with it.”
The left path; covered in vines and dead trees with rocks and churning riverbeds. One path that would surely put their bodies through their paces.
The right path; covered in fog and an aura of uneasiness that ate away at their hearts and minds. One path that would surely put their sanity to the test.
The hour of decision was upon them.
“…so we’re all thinkin’ fog, right?” Takashi interrupted everyone’s train of thought. “I’m thinkin’ fog.”
“Oi! Did you even think about it that much?” Wakana asked.
“Enough to want to stick with the foggy path…” Takashi replied.
Giri slowly nodded to herself. “Yeah…I think Takashi is right,” she added. “I’d prefer the straightforward path.”
Wakana shrugged. “Alright then, I guess…” she muttered. “Let’s go then.”
Nobody moved.
“Um…let’s go, then.”
Nothing.
“What?” Takashi gibed. “Do you all need to hold somebody’s hand to make the scary go away?”
Without another word, both Wakana and Giri pried Takashi’s hands out of his pockets and interlocked their fingers with his.
“…it was a joke, but whatever…” the Miyazaki hat enthusiast muttered.
All taking the first step as one unit, the three members of Squad E ventured forth into the fog. After a few steps, the fog began to fill in around them until the fork they once stood at was no longer visible.
“That was fast…” Giri muttered, noticing the air shift around them.
“Ugh…it’s everywhere, I can’t see anything…” Wakana said. “Lemme see if I can clear it away…”
The teal-haired kunoichi made a hand sign and reared an arm back, swiping it across the space in front of her. A gust of wind blew forth from her hand, slicing through the fog in front of the group.
“…I guess that worked,” Wakana said. “Giri, try to do something about the light to help us see. Takashi, watch our backs.”
The other two nodded, taking their places in the group. Giri formed a bright ball of light in her hand and joined Wakana’s side, and Takashi turned to the rear with a kunai at the ready. The three kept walking, steadily making their way to the other side of the path.
“I think I see the end…” Giri said, holding out her light.
Takashi snickered. “That was a little too easy…” he muttered, twirling the kunai around between his fingers.
Suddenly, the Miyazaki troll heard a bush rustle on his right. Making a instinctive choice to leap forward, Takashi held his beloved fedora to his head as he pushed his weight away from the vine that came rocketing out of the bush. Another vine shot out after him, which he sliced in half with an Earth chakra hardened chop. He spun around in place to turn the other way as he recovered, still holding his fedora with one hand as the other was pocketed soon after.
“My my, how rude of someone to do that…” he remarked. “That could’ve put someone in danger--”
Takashi looked up through his rectangular lenses, watching with the words robbed from his lips as he saw Giri and Wakana hanging haphazardly from a pair of vines. As the Miyazaki’s teammates wriggled around in shock at being captured, a group of masked men appeared behind the vines and slowly marched forward. Each one was clad in black, wearing a circular white mask with simple circular eyeholes. The one in the center, however, had crimson, slicked-back hair with matching stubble and wore a black masquerade-style mask over his eyes.
“How peculiar that you’d walk in on our affairs…” the crimson haired man said. “A shame, really.”
Takashi couldn’t help but laugh. “Um, excuse me?” he gibed. “I think I’m lost on this whole ordeal. Are you all some travelling circus?”
“Must be some sort of illusion…” the Miyazaki thought to himself. “That’s what we get for choosing this path. Oh well, mostly my fault anyway. May as well deal with this…”
“Oh, you must think you’re funny…” the crimson haired man said. “Also a shame. The lives of your friends are no laughing matter.”
“Pardon?”
“You get to pick one. Choose wisely.”
“…oh, great…” Giri said with disdain. “Just what we need right now.”
“Oh come on, Giri-chan!” Wakana said to her peer with an elbow nudge to her shoulder. “It’s only been a few yards! We’ll just take a side and keep walking!”
It was around midday and the sounds of the village conversing swirled around the Forbidden Forest, with a quickly growing mass of people gathering near the center. The forest was still an eerily dark place, despite the clear sun shining above the shinobi beneath the canopy. In the center of the forest, a fork in the road. Three of the prospective Chunin stood before the split, all wearing different masks of expression.
Giri Warashi, an average-height girl with tanned skin and light hair, had her scarlet eyes squinted shut the slightest bit in apathy. She had been cheerful up until this moment, but now standing before this split in the road started to fill her with ire.
Wakana Sasaki, with a similar build to Giri and locks of deep teal, bore a smile from ear to ear. The idea of becoming a Chunin, becoming a leader within the village, excited her. It didn’t matter what was in her way, she would walk five hundred miles and five hundred more to reach her goal.
Takashi Miyazaki, the sole male in the group with light blue hair and his usual spiffy attire, had remained silent up until this point. He had no emotion; he just stood like a statue with his hands in his pockets.
“I guess we have two choices here, guys…” Wakana said, prompting the three of them to look to their left and right.
To the left…a treacherous, cragged cliffside with overgrowth, fallen trees, and veins of a river coursing through.
To the right…a straight shot towards the other end of the forest. But the path itself was laden with a thick fog, and the path itself seemed stressful to even look at or think about.
“…both look kinda lame,” Takashi said with a grunt.
Wakana looked over at her teammate with an eyebrow raised. “Do you have any better ideas of where to go?” she asked.
“Straight down the middle?”
“…no, that’s cheating.”
“I highly doubt that there’s any form of ‘cheating’ on this type of test…”
“Well, not the cheating you’re thinking of. I just think it’s unfair to the others.”
“Then why don’t they just do the same thing?”
“Guys, we should probably keep moving…” Giri interrupted, shaking both of her teammates’ shoulders. “Let’s pick a side and be done with it.”
The left path; covered in vines and dead trees with rocks and churning riverbeds. One path that would surely put their bodies through their paces.
The right path; covered in fog and an aura of uneasiness that ate away at their hearts and minds. One path that would surely put their sanity to the test.
The hour of decision was upon them.
“…so we’re all thinkin’ fog, right?” Takashi interrupted everyone’s train of thought. “I’m thinkin’ fog.”
“Oi! Did you even think about it that much?” Wakana asked.
“Enough to want to stick with the foggy path…” Takashi replied.
Giri slowly nodded to herself. “Yeah…I think Takashi is right,” she added. “I’d prefer the straightforward path.”
Wakana shrugged. “Alright then, I guess…” she muttered. “Let’s go then.”
Nobody moved.
“Um…let’s go, then.”
Nothing.
“What?” Takashi gibed. “Do you all need to hold somebody’s hand to make the scary go away?”
Without another word, both Wakana and Giri pried Takashi’s hands out of his pockets and interlocked their fingers with his.
“…it was a joke, but whatever…” the Miyazaki hat enthusiast muttered.
All taking the first step as one unit, the three members of Squad E ventured forth into the fog. After a few steps, the fog began to fill in around them until the fork they once stood at was no longer visible.
“That was fast…” Giri muttered, noticing the air shift around them.
“Ugh…it’s everywhere, I can’t see anything…” Wakana said. “Lemme see if I can clear it away…”
The teal-haired kunoichi made a hand sign and reared an arm back, swiping it across the space in front of her. A gust of wind blew forth from her hand, slicing through the fog in front of the group.
“…I guess that worked,” Wakana said. “Giri, try to do something about the light to help us see. Takashi, watch our backs.”
The other two nodded, taking their places in the group. Giri formed a bright ball of light in her hand and joined Wakana’s side, and Takashi turned to the rear with a kunai at the ready. The three kept walking, steadily making their way to the other side of the path.
“I think I see the end…” Giri said, holding out her light.
Takashi snickered. “That was a little too easy…” he muttered, twirling the kunai around between his fingers.
Suddenly, the Miyazaki troll heard a bush rustle on his right. Making a instinctive choice to leap forward, Takashi held his beloved fedora to his head as he pushed his weight away from the vine that came rocketing out of the bush. Another vine shot out after him, which he sliced in half with an Earth chakra hardened chop. He spun around in place to turn the other way as he recovered, still holding his fedora with one hand as the other was pocketed soon after.
“My my, how rude of someone to do that…” he remarked. “That could’ve put someone in danger--”
Takashi looked up through his rectangular lenses, watching with the words robbed from his lips as he saw Giri and Wakana hanging haphazardly from a pair of vines. As the Miyazaki’s teammates wriggled around in shock at being captured, a group of masked men appeared behind the vines and slowly marched forward. Each one was clad in black, wearing a circular white mask with simple circular eyeholes. The one in the center, however, had crimson, slicked-back hair with matching stubble and wore a black masquerade-style mask over his eyes.
“How peculiar that you’d walk in on our affairs…” the crimson haired man said. “A shame, really.”
Takashi couldn’t help but laugh. “Um, excuse me?” he gibed. “I think I’m lost on this whole ordeal. Are you all some travelling circus?”
“Must be some sort of illusion…” the Miyazaki thought to himself. “That’s what we get for choosing this path. Oh well, mostly my fault anyway. May as well deal with this…”
“Oh, you must think you’re funny…” the crimson haired man said. “Also a shame. The lives of your friends are no laughing matter.”
“Pardon?”
“You get to pick one. Choose wisely.”
Suggested Collections
Featured in Groups
Here's my part of the Test 2 collab. Takashi is taking the Chunin Exams, along with 
's Giri Warashi and 
's Wakana Sasaki. They're supposed to be making their way through the Forbidden Forest safely, but there's a fork in the road.
The prompt is Hour of Decision.
's Giri Warashi and 's Wakana Sasaki. They're supposed to be making their way through the Forbidden Forest safely, but there's a fork in the road. The prompt is Hour of Decision.
Comments0
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In