Twiceborn: A Tale of Two Friends

Chapter Four: Toddler Turmoil

"Tired," Tsuki mumbled, yawning all of a sudden. It was like a switch had been flicked, moving from energetic Tsuki to an I-want-to-sleep-now Tsuki. On the whole, it was slightly alarming, but Risa was Risa. She could deal with that. Besides, it was hardly surprising though, considering they'd been running around like mad a couple of hours previously. Her legs were aching a bit still from all of that. She couldn't start slacking on the whole getting-ready-for-shinobi-life training thingy she was doing. She needed to be ready. She had to be.

"And just a minute ago you were ready to run about screaming," she said, smiling as she plopped herself down on the grass next to her friend.

Arms tackled her around her midsection, a head burying itself into her stomach. "Risa's comfy," she muttered.

"Well I suppose we can rest here for a bit," Risa said, ruffling the silky white locks that she was not jealous of in the slightest. "Nap if you want. I'm gonna meditate."

Tsuki peered up at her, curious. "Medi-date?"

"Meditate," she corrected. "It helps with learning to control your chakra."

"Chakra?" Tsuki blinked.

"Um," Risa mumbled. How was she supposed to explain it to a child? She barely knew what it was anyway. "It's the stuff... err... you know... the stuff that ninja use to do stuff... like making things go boom." She mulled over what she'd said, wanting to bash her head against the wall. Silently, she prayed no one had overheard her rambling. It was embarrassing enough that Tsuki had heard.

"Oh, cool."

Risa blinked. She actually understood that?

'Kids are weird, Outer.'

True, true.

'You coming in?' Inner asked.

Risa nodded, quietly sinking into the meditative trance she'd only recently learnt to slump into. It took far too long, and the wind rustling around her as well as Tsuki's snores didn't particularly help. In fact, she was surprised nobody had come to fetch the two of them so they could head back.

Either way, she made it to Inner's domain without too much trouble.

"How goes Operation Fluffy?" she asked with a smirk, sitting in front of the low table in between them. Where it had come from Risa wasn't sure, but it was there to stay in her mindscape.

"He's been ignoring me."

"Aww shucks."

Inner rolled her eyes. "We've only known him for a day. I think we just need to show we're here to stay."

"Well, he's kinda stuck inside us, so he's the one who's here to stay," she said, shrugging. "He's our roommate now."

"I suppose you could look at it that way," Inner mumbled. "Either way, it'll probably take us a few years to get the idea of friendship through that thick skull."

"What to do in the meantime though?" she asked, hunching over the table, resting her head against the smooth wood.

"Train – just like you've been planning, idiot."

Risa sighed. "In what though?" She scowled, absently scratching at the wood. "I don't want to ever have to rely on Kyu's power," she said. "I won't use him like that. I don't want to... so I need to be strong enough on my own."

"Well... that's adorable..."

"Inner!" she hissed.

"Lemme pinch those cheeks of yours already," Inner demanded, grabbing her cheeks, stretching and squishing her face in ways Risa hadn't thought were possible.