Hamonike’s gaze was fixed sharply above her, to a cliff where three other Soraame Clan apprentices were crouched.

  “Come on! We all got up here just fine, hurry up!” The loudest of the three, yes loudest, was the first adjective she thought to assign to Kitoge, shouted down at where she stood balanced on a long, water slick, winding tree branch. Loud, and alongside that, infernal, bossy and frankly VERY irritating. Only three moon phases older and she acted like she was the best apprentice to ever grace this clan.

  And she made it clear at every given opportunity she hated Hamonike’s guts. For the record, she was equally as unfond of Kitoge.

  “I can hear you over the rain Kitoge, ninjas are supposed to be quiet!” She snapped back.

  “And I can hear you too! So stop yelling and start climbing already!”

  Oh she was going to climb alright, she thought with bubbling fury. She was going to climb up there and bite the other shadow hunter’s stupid ‘mightier and literally higher than you’ face right off of her. Just as soon as she found a way up this cliff. Finding level ground in the depths of the jungle the clan called its territory was about as easy as finding a spot that wasn’t absolutely drenched with the near constant rainfall the clan and its land was known for. Which, needless to say, was nearly impossible. Climbing the soggy, moss coated trees and the wet slippery cliffs was simply part of Soraame Clan life.

  And it would be far easier if she still had both her arms.

  A glance was cast to the tied up sleeve to her left, where the upper part of her arm was supposed to be. And then with a salty grunt she cast a look back at the cliff, spirits curse this cliff too high to make in a single leap, spirits cursing Kitoge for no doubt purposefully picking a cliff where there wasn’t any branches in this tree that reached up to it, if there was just somewhere she could get a good grip and somewhere to kick off she could jump up the rest of the way.

  Hamonike sucked in a breath, and before she could be mocked any further she launched herself off the branch, trying to dig her claws into the wet rock and catch some ledge with her feet. Pebbles broke away and tumbled into the pools and streams that ran through the massive roots and rocks, and with a sharp lurch of her heart she nearly joined the unfortunate rocks.Stupid- stupid face she thought hearing the sharp, taunting laugh because OF COURSE Kitoge saw how her eyes had practically gone as big as the lake in that moment. Grunting and hissing, and absolutely not at all scared of falling into the water below, she wiggled and inched her way up, until finally she was able to grasp the top of the cliff, and heave and roll up less than gracefully the rest of the way.

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  The rain ceased for a moment to hit her face, and she looked up to see Kitoge hovering over her.

  “Wow, and before we all died of old age too.” The other apprentice sneered a little.

  “Shut up,” Hamonike hissed, stumbling up to her feet and swiftly brushing away some moss and grit from her pale green clothes. Like all Soraame Clan ninjas her clothes are waterproofed with an outer layer of wax to stop them from getting too waterlogged and heavy. But it seldom relieves the weight of her annoyance. Annoyance, and frustration, did she think any of this was easy?

  “I don’t even know why our mentors let you come along. You should be back in the village, hanging up laundry. Then again, I’m sure you’d screw that up too.”

  Behind them their other two peers sighed and exchanged weary glances, one mumbling “here we go again” under their breath, and Hakonike would’ve hissed at them too if she wasn’t fully occupied with Kitoge.The hair on the back of her neck would be bristling if it wasn’t slicked against her skin.

  “I’m doing my best! Frankly I’d love to see you climb around with only one arm!” She snarled, orange fangs baring at the other apprentice as the water dripped off them to threaten that bite she wanted so badly to deliver. Kitoge, needless to say responds in kind, her dark purple eyes narrow, thin like the marching streaks in her hair.. They've always looked like the darkest shadows between the trees. Especially when she got angry, which when the two of them were together seemed to be always.

  “Your best doesn’t mean anything when you just screw up. Face it, you screw up everything. We should’ve been to the training grounds by now, but no! We have to keep stopping for you and your arm!”

  “I didn’t ask for this!” she thundered back.

  “Yes you did! You asked for it when you disobeyed orders and snuck out and got Arashidoro killed!”

  And there it was. The knife, the lightning strike, the splinter that broke the branch. Hamonike threw herself at Kitoge, the two apprentices entering a frenzy of snapping teeth, swiping claws and screeching. Hamonike felt a sharp jolt of pain in her shoulder as a strike hit it, for a moment her vision blurred sharply with pain, and when it cleared she could see Kitoge being pulled away from her by her mentor still hissing. Her own mentor’s concerned gaze came into focus.

  “Hamonike are you alright?”

  “She started it!” Hamonike spat, frankly grateful that the rain drops on her face made it hard to see the frustrated and pained tears. Or at least she hoped it would. .

  Kiriken’s eyes narrowed slightly in disapproval.

  “That’s not what I asked. Are you okay?” He asked again, crouching between her and the sight of Kitoge so that she’d be forced to look at his face, his light blue eyes and streaks to match. His voice as long as she had known it had always been sturdy. He never shouted, and was good at not letting himself be spoken over. He extended the offer to help her up, and like always she forced herself up by herself and turned away.

  “Leave me alone!” She shouted, taking off.

  Kiriken just gave a slow sigh, casting his clanmate a reassuring look.

  “I got her, we’ll catch up” and before Hamonike could get too far he swiftly hurried on after her.