Starring:
Itami, Kichiro, Karakuri, Rika, Miyabi
Date: June 20th, 2010
Summary:
This scene kicks off the Suna participation of the Six Samurai plot. A young woman, the granddaughter of a legendary samurai is robbed. An important relic is stolen.
"A Relic is Stolen"
Sunagakure
Night had fallen over the Land of Wind. The stars shown brightly against the black cloth of the nights sky. An owl hooted in the night, its cry echoing through the trees. A soft breeze blew, and then, as if a forboding warning, nothing. It was silent, too silent. Seconds turned to minutes and minutes to an hour of little more than the faintest breath of wind that faintly whispers against your ear. Suddenly, the silence is shattered as a earpiercing scream vibrates over the terrain.
Itami supposes she should consider herself lucky for being a ninja at this point. The small path here is a little more easier for her to travel than the ordinary person, but even she worries about falling. It's only natural that she would feel that way. Although, the fear slowly wanes when she reaches the point where the path widens. A soft breath would be exhaled, much to her surprise. She didn't know she was holding it. At least it was a nice night and she couldn't get past how silent it was. A bit off setting, but not so much as a scream coming from nowhere. She'd hasten her step, a bit cautiously as she's recovering from walking on the narrow path so that she might look around to see where it came from or notice something.
Kichiro sits bolt upright. He blinks. His turn at guard duty had been boring every other time he took it, But tonight was not every other time. He bolts for the sound, finding Itami quickly. "Itami. I'm sure that wasn't you." He is, of course, not standing on the ground. he's standing on the wall. "Where did that come from?"'
Most of the shinobi of the land of wind would be familiar with this pass. It was a fairly common thoroughfare and the family home of the legendary samurai, Suchiko was not far from the area where Itami and Kichiro stood. The sound of the scream came from the direction of the old house.
Itami would discover what she assumes the source of scream came from, the sound of bird wings flapping and taking off catching her attention. Her eyes would linger in the air to watch them for only a few moments before she looks down to Kichiro who has addressed her. Shaking her head in reply, she says, "No, it wasn't me…but, I assume it came from that house there…" She pauses and looks around. "Nai-san was with you correct? I will take over the caravan and send you two to investigate. I'll send for him and you two can go together." She doesn't leave time for a reply as she goes to the caravan to retrieve Nai and send him to Kichiro.
Kichiro leaps away from the canyon wall, catching a hand on the ground to help flip himself back to an upright position, never missing a beat from all the acrobatics. "so.. which floor should I enter… first floor.. second.. attic." Of course all of this is before he gets a good look at the house himself. He finds a position to watch the house from and wait for karakuri.. Itami would be most upset if he entered alone…
Karakuri was actually there and not Nai. The little pale skinned white haired puppeteer always gets mistakened for Nai. He nods to Itami and begins to follow after Kichiro, and after a short time, he arrives to where Kichiro was waiting on him, pulling a scroll from his backpack. "So, you want to go in first and me be right behind you?" He asks curiously.
It was, actually a few hundred yards off the road to get to the old manor house. There was a small narrow foot trail that lead to it not far from where the caravan had stopped. Kichiro and Karakuri probably wouldn't notice much standing out at first. They may see shadows of movement around them and then hear the rustling of feet moving quickly on the tatami mats inside the house. "Oh no." a voice cried out, then, it would sound as if she fell and sobbing would fill the air.
Rika is following closely. For the most part just trying to keep the Genin safe as she hides inside the Ghostwind. Make them act like they're on their own, but at the same time, being there in case something particularly bad ends up in it. She's not sure what to expect herself. But that's even more reason to be curious about what the two genin may end up finding. And not finding for that matter.
Kichiro tilts his head, "which floor do we enter you think?" He takes the lead easily, running low on all fours. He doesn't run on the path, running beside it the whole way to the house. He pauses at the house exterior and places his hand on it. He concentrates, sending a subtle chakra pulse through the material, seeing as far as he can into it from the echoed response of the pulse.
Karakuri moves along the otherside of the path and when they arrives to the house, he waits for the member to do his ground sensing thing and when he hears sobbing, he looks to Kichiro and gestures if he is done yet. He keeps his scroll ready.
Kichiro's tremor sense would reveal that there is one person in the house. On the first floor near the center of the house. Off in the distance, he may sense the hooves of horses as they gallop away through the woods. Inside the house, the sound of sobbing continues for a moment or two. However, it soon stops and the rest of the sounds in the traditional style house are rather muffled as they are pretty soft. Footsteps are about the only thing that would be distinguishable, but those are rare after a just a few steps may have been made.
Kichiro hmms, "something big.. a horse.. other side of the house leaving. Only the woman inside. no Ambush." He moves to the door and knocks hard, "Miss. Miss. Are you alright? Whats wrong?"
Rika moves herself closer. Silence, and all the light bent by lenses of heated air and wind that surround her. The most subtle of the winds of the Nagahara, but that doesn't make it ineffective. She's near a window or wall, just listening to what is going on inside…
Karakuri nods and follows Kichiro, and waits beside the fellow Genin as he knocks on the door hard. He thought he heard something but just shakes it off, giving the area a look over once more before he knocks on the door also.
A young woman came to the door, sliding it open. She was dressed in a simple kimono and her long black hair was twisted up into a bun. She looked at the group of shinobi with a slightly puzzled look on her face. She then showed them some hospitality, allowing Kichiro to ask his questions. "I am unharmed, but I have just been robbed." She said, showing the group of shinobi to a formal household armoury type room where in the center set the armor of a samurai. The helm of the armor shined gold with a large wasp, however there were two large holes on the head of the wasp. "It may not seem like much to you, but the antennae of the wasp was stolen." She said, looking at them cautiously, wondering what they may have known of her grandfather and the unique talents he had.
Kichiro tilts his head, "the.. uhm.. were they gold or something?" History was NOT the Kemonoken's strong suit. He looks at the armor again. "why wouldn't they have just taken the whole armor.. or at least the whole helmet?… wouldn't that ruin their value?"
As the movements went further into the house, so too does Rika. One can never know what sort of traps might hide in a house like this. Or what sort of mystery. She's certainly impressed at seeing the armor when she peeks in. But she's not about to just stand in plain sight, ghostwind or no. Normal hiding on top of it only makes it more effective. So it is just a peek she takes.
"Unless their intent was to disgrace the armor." Karakuri says to Kichiro as they enter and looks to the armor. He hmms as he looks it over from the place where it is. "Forgive me for asking this, but are there anyone who would profit from doing this, not just monetarily, but also enemies who would disgrace your family?
The woman looked a little nervously at the shinobi, then moved to a stack of zabutan floor pillows that she set out on the floor of the armory before the statue. She offered them the opportunity to sit as she did as well. "My grandfather, was a legendary Samurai. This was his armor." She said calmly. "In his day, there were six samurai that the world now sees as legends. He was one of those six. It is said, the emperor bestowed on these six samurai, sacred relics, each having their own unique powers. My grandfather, had two simple golden antenna, that could redirect lightning." She said. "Someone must be after the relic. However, I really have no idea who would do such a thing." She added. The story itself, could probably go on and on for quite some time, but she kept it pretty simple at first anyway.
Kichiro looks to Karakuri, then back to the woman. "This.. could this relic be true? Thats a strong weapon to have.. we can't allow it to fall into an enemies hands." He pauses, "how fast can ahorse run?… think we can catch it?"
Now Rika is intrigued. This is hardly a minor issue with a relic like that. And it's the sort of thing the Shinobi world might find some use for at that. Though for the moment the two Genin seem to have the right train of thought, so still no jumping in and stealing the show or anything.
"Such a thing can be done, especially against those with lightning based jutsu." Karakuri says as he thinks, and walks to the armor and looks it over. "And the other relics, do you know what they are or only these?" He asks as he gestures to the holes. "And did your grandfather keep notes, a log something that listed names of those he aided?" He asks as he thinks.
"Only these antennae had the ability to do something like that. The rest of his armor, though handsomely made, is only valuable as being authentic samurai armor. Though the prestige of my grandfather would probably add to its value. Things, like those antennae, don't appear very often. As far as who may have known? The stories are legendary of his mystical powers, especially in samurai families. Kinda like, I'm sure, some of your shinobi ancestors have similar tales of awesome feats that get passed down generation to generation." She said. "It may be worthwhile, to research into the Legend of the Six Samurai. Perhaps, that would give you some clues. As far as catching someone on horseback, it is possible for skilled shinobi from what I've seen, but standing here talking to me, he's probably beyond your reach now."
Kichiro looks to Karakuri, then back again. (I assume theres a back door) "Too bad I don't know when to stop." He makes a run for the back door of the cottage. "If i find nothing, I'll be back…"He runs at breakneck speed through the back door to follow the horses tracks as quickly as he can run
Rika mentally notes this stuff, and looks between the two genin again, pondering the sort of things they are asking, and what to advise them on in the future. At least until Kichiro starts to run and try to follow. Then she rushes to intercept, following, though not expecting to find anything. And worried that the sort who would steal such a thing might be too much for a Genin… perhaps even her, given the sorts who probably investigate such things.
Karakuri nods. "I will research them and those tales of shinobi ancestors are mostly about clans. I thank you for your aid and I will try to regain your family's heirloom." He says with a bow. He didnt follow Kichiro out, figuring the other genin could handle the tracking better then him. He begins to move closer to the armor and look it over. "May I have permission to examine this? I wont remove it, just want to look it over. I am actually somewhat an expert on mechanical and armor design." He explains.
Kichiro would find the tracks and persue it for probably a good while, but the horse and rider are long gone. If he takes his time a little and searches for clues as he returns to the house, he may find some articles of interest. In fact, he or Rika may find on a briary bush the saddle skirt from the horse and rider. The skirt would have a unique emblem of a black wolf's head with on it.
The young woman nodded slightly to Karakuri. "I will ask you to not touch it, but you can look at it closely. The antennae were fairly easy to remove, just a twist and pull cause you could hold them in your hands to redirect the lightning. Or, that's how grandfather explained it. Mounted on the helm like that, it was more ornamentation than anything. I will be sending a messenger to my uncle to let him know what has happened and he'll want to examine it for clues himself. He may be a good person to meet with and examine it with him if he will let you."
Karakuri nods as he looks the helmet over without touching it. "Interesting. Your uncle is an armorsmith?" He asks as he stands on his tiptoes and looks about the armor without touching it. He gets a notebook out and writes down a few things. Golden/green eyes watch the suit of armor before turning to the woman.
Kichiro pursues for some time but finally gives up. he looks around and uses a kunai to flag the grouns.. in the day, a tracker could follow the hoofprints from there. He makes his way back slowly, but small bits of scraps may be beyond his pervue.
As the pursuit goes on, and Rika notices the Saddle skirt, she holds up her hand. "We won't be catching them." She says, "But we've got this now." She starts to examine it. "I'm not familiar with the device. But I'm sure someone in Sunagakure will have an idea." That's part of the benefit of being from the nation of information. "Don't worry about that. The wind will cover the tracks any time. This is the desert." She says honestly.
The young woman nodded to Karakuri, "My uncle is actually a bladesmith, but he knows armor pretty well too." She said. "Anyway, thanks for all your help. I'll let you know what my uncle finds out and would appreciate you keeping me in the loop too." She said calmly.
