Second meeting of the Valkyries

Deep underground Taichi paced along the corridors of his underground hideout far into the depths of the Wildlife reserve. Lately there had been so much on his mind, and he was unsure on just how he was going to move next. He knew that the Chuunin Exams were coming to an end, and soon after he was sure that he was going to be asked to leave the village. This hideout was very convenient as having to take all five of his Valkyries on the road would get to be quite the headache for him and for the girls as well.

He had been trying to think about just what he was going to do next, but he was continuing to come up empty when he tried to think of a plan. This was when he heard the shuffling of footsteps on the other end of the corridor. He activated his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan and he snapped his eyes and attention to the approaching individual, to which Gondul shot her hands up to the same height of her shoulders as if she was surrendering. The hallways were slightly lit with torches so he was able to see the hands go up, and then a few moments later he was able to see who it was that the hands belonged to.

He deactivated his eyes and he rubbed them, as if he was trying to rub the sleepiness out of them. He raised his hands, showing his palms as if he was telling her that he meant her no harm. "I apologize Gondul, I did not know it was you." Gondul simply chuckled and walked up to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You need to get some sleep, master Taichi. You continue to pace these corridors through the night and you will continue to be so paranoid." 

Taichi knew that this was the case, but he just couldn't help it. "Thank you, Gondul. I do know that I shouldn't be so paranoid, and some sleep would certainly be beneficial. But there are so many things going on and I'm just trying to figure out what I am going to do with you should this village not take too kindly to us staying after the Chuunin Exams. This place is our home, and I am none too sure they are going to wish to extend our stay after my reasoning for sanctuary."

Gondul stood there next to him, with sympathetic eyes and a comforting demeanor, nodding her head gently as Taichi spoke on his issues. "I think what you need to do is stop worrying about what will happen, and be happy with what is happening right now. They aren't kicking us out right now, and you have been working hard to show that you are worthy of being a part of their ranks. Who knows, they may just bring you into the office of the Hogokage and ask you personally." Taichi laughed at the thought, that was exactly what it was that he was hoping for, but he couldn't help but to feel as though they would never let an outsider truly join their ranks. 

He motioned for Gondul to follow him, to which she nodded her head and hooked her arm around his as they began to walk down the corridor to the main meeting room. "To tell you the truth, Gondul. That is exactly what I am hopeful for. When I was by myself it was much easier to be on the roads. I could drink myself into a stupor and pass out on the side of the road and there wasn't any issue. But now I have you and your sisters to look after, and that isn't something I want for you guys. I want you all to have a life of consistency and stability, something that I didn't have." They both sat down at two of the chairs that surrounded the table to continue their conversation, when he was interrupted by the sounds of footsteps approaching from the long hallway that connected all of the Valkyries rooms to the main meeting room.

Taichi's body tensed up and he began to channel his chakra into his eyes when he felt a gentle, yet firm pressure on his shoulder. Gondul simply smiled and with a reassuring nod of her head Taichi relented his aggressiveness and simply looked to see who it was walking into the meeting room to meet with them. To his delight it was all of the Valkyries, all wearing the same concerned look that Gondul had. All of the Valkyries sat down at the table, surrounding Taichi and they all began to look at him. "We have all been concerned about you, master Taichi. Truly. We are not timid little children that can't handle the world outside of these walls. I know we have only been alive for a matter of weeks, but with you with us we are sure we can handle whatever it is that life throws at us." Hildr spoke with a firm, yet gentle approach.

"Truly, master Taichi you don't need to worry about us so much. You have made us to be strong, and have granted us immense powers with these eyes of ours. You need to trust in your creation and just calm down. Should we end up being thrown out of the village, we will adapt and overcome whatever it is that happens." Sigurd spoke in a similar fashion. 

Taichi began to tear up a little. He felt a rush of emotions that he had never felt before. It was a feeling of immense pride, and tremendous joy. He smiled and rubbed his eyes lightly with his hands. He looked at each of his what felt like children that surrounded the table, and he thanked them all for their words of encouragement. "Thank you.... Thank you for everything you have already given me. I cannot speak on how proud I am of you all. I never imagined that you all would give me so much in such a short amount of time of being together." He stood up slowly and he placed a hand on both Gondul's and Hildr's shoulder. "I've never been to sure what love felt like. But I certainly know that in my heart, I love each and every one of you. I am going to go to bed now. Thank you all for meeting me in this room, you have truly done well and earned my love, even when you didn't need to. Good night girls." Taichi walked away from the table and each of his Valkyries said good night to Taichi before they began speaking amongst themselves. 

Most of their conversation was basic level, as they were still trying to become proficient at surface level conversation. But it wasn't until Hildr sat at the head of the table when the conversation began to shift to a more serious one. "Listen up, girls. There is a chance that we will get thrown out on our asses and if that happens, we will have no idea of just what to do because we have only been alive within the confines of this village. Starting today we are going to work on our combat, we are going to work on this every single day until we become able to handle ourselves. Master Taichi should not have to worry this much about us, and we will make sure that he doesn't have a reason to. What do you girls think?" 

All of the girls nodded and spoke in agreement to Hildr's notion. They all began to bring up thoughts and ideas of just what they could do to start practicing their combat. Gondul thought in silence as the other women began to think and bring up ideas. She simply placed her hands on the table and spoke a single word, "Hunting." The other girls were confused, and they began to ask just how that would help. Gondul smiled and she began to explain her thoughts. "If we started hunting in a group, we could practice stalking and spying on targets. That's exactly what we have been created for, and that would be the best way for us to begin our training and that would be the best way for us to truly get better in the skills we will need. So what do you girls think?"

The women nodded in agreement and Hildr spoke in response, getting an idea of how big of groups they wanted to hunt in. They could just hunt in one large group, which would prove the hardest to be able to perform successfully. But that was exactly what they were going to do. They had the ability to speak to each other telepathically, which they practiced often after hours after they had all gone to sleep so they wouldn't keep Taichi awake with their conversations. This ability was going to prove to be quite the benefit in their stalkings, and they were all very excited to begin their work. They all adjourned the meeting at the table and they all returned to their rooms, excited for the work they were going to begin in the morning.

As the Valkyries retired to their rooms, Taichi listened to their footsteps as they passed by his room to get to their own. Still teary eyes as he thought of just how he was feeling when it came to his Valkyries. He did his best to go to sleep, but there was even more on his heart and on his mind. Finally it was the last words that he heard before falling asleep was Gondul poking her head through the door leading to his own room. Her soft, sweet voice echoed through his room. "Good night, master Taichi. I love you too and you are doing a good job." 

WC: 1644
EXIT

+1638 towards Chakra Nullification (Completed) (Previous Progress)
Ditching remaining WC