Starring:
Arika (emitter), Hiroto, Akina, Malik
Date: January 21, 2016
Summary:
An outlying village that is controlled by bandits is also being threatened by an active volcano. Sunagakure forces are sent to rescue the innocents.
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Bandits and Lava and Worms, Oh my!"
Land of Wind
Sunagakure was often up against the strangest of things. From giant plants that want to smash you to giant scorpions that want to smash you. The terrain is treacherous. But sometimes it isn't nature that threatens it and the desert's inhabitants. Sometimes it's bandits! Well, the issue is that these bandits are largely accepted by these townspeople, and they even run the joint. Which means shinobi are generally seen as the enemy in this town! Oh no :( The other issue is that there is a volcano that is reportedly (according to this random earth user) about to blow!
This town is located just on top of this almost-volcano, and if they don't get out of there soon, they might die! Which is why Sunagakure sent a few shinobi to go and save the townsfolk. The crops and all that jazz that the village was able to thrive off would have to be abandoned. Hiroto was dubbed in charge, but they'd also have RANDOM NPC CHUUNIN #292 accompanying the group to make sure things go smoothly. Also, and this was written in bold in the mission statement: These townsfolk have bandits in their midst, and the bandits hate shinobi! Try not to reveal your identities!
Hiroto was carrying his bow and quiver still obviously, but anything that would say SHINOBI OF SUNAKAGURE…like his headband, would be removed. They were not far from the place now as they were heading into it. "Alright.. So what do you two think? Maybe Henge into some of the bandits and from there act like we have reports that the volcano was soon to explode? We aim to get the villagers and such out that way maybe? The bandits are not the main priority, but getting them out too should be something we think about." He frowned. He felt like they had just as much of a ruling in this as him even if placed in the leadership role.
The only thing that Malik was without was his headband. His new prototype bow was folded and secured in the small of his back, the quiver straped in it's usual spot and his hood is up and the mask firmly attached to his lower face. It made his expressions hard to read, but there was a coldness to his normally playful green eyes that spoke towards his current mood. When asked for an opinon on how to proceed, he doesn't respond. For now, he just stands with his arms crossed over his chest as he looks towards the volcano.
Considering the type of mission it is, and the fact that more likely than not she would have to go without a mask, Akina was henged since before the team initially met up in the village. Dressed in plain clothing, the winter air catches on her drab brown hair as they head for the village. Her eyes casually glancing around them with muted interest to disguise the fact that she was constantly scanning for the unseen. "Unless they actually see lava, I think the villagers might be skeptical of the volcano erupting." Akina murmurs. Even her voice taking a different pitch.
Hiroto frowns and nods. "Yeah… Everyone go ahead and henge to make yourself look like some random bandit… We could change if we think we need to when we get closer and see them. Either way we should move closer…. before it is too late that is. Either of you have any skills in genjutsu?" He would then look to the chuunin. "What about you? I figure if we could make it look like the volcano has already erupted and was just moving slow it might be easier than trying to talk them into leaving. Otherwise….talking." He sighed and started heading off into the direction of the village… he also already henged into what most bandits tend to look like.
Malik forms the handseals and henges into someone with his same height and build, with shoulder length black hair, blue eyes and a bandana that hangs around his neck. He stares at the Chuunin for a moment before he comments, "We really don't need you." He also didn't understand why everyone was so quick to just mind rob people instead of getting them to see the situation on their own. Without another word, he moves for the village, moving easily through the terrain.
Akina softly shakes her mud brown head. "No genjutsu." she murmurs without pulling her attention away from the road ahead of them. "But something that size, making it look like the volcano has already erupted, I can only imagine how difficult that must be to pull off." For a moment or so she ponders. "Maybe we can convince people to leave if it was an earthquake instead."
Hiroto walked forward and he looked similiar to Hiroto honestly. Though he looked like a smaller thinner man. He didn't have any bandana on him, and overall his face had nothing covering it(different face obviously though) his hair was a brownish color and when looking at his face you would see a scar on his chin. His clothes were mostly just normal clothes with some small bits of armor covering some areas. "Yeah…an earthquake can cause a volcano eruption. We can say just in case they should evacuate and wait to see if it erupts. But the thing is…it could make it happen quicker. I doubt genjutsu from any of us would be strong enough for that anyways, but worth asking. Alright… we should get inside and start talking to people." And he walked inside to do just that. He looked around right away and had his eyes on the volcano. His thoughts on what would be the best thing to do to get people to leave. Surely being bandits they would be questioned upon entering unless they thought we were one of theres.
Malik's academy teacher taught him one thing. When going undercover into an unknown area, act like you own the place. So that's what he does. He walks towards the village like he belongs there, moving with confidence. Unless he's stopped, he's going to go towards where the villagers are, but he's not going to be the one doing any of the talking. Cause he would just tell them that they're going to die if they don't move, and this was going to require someone with more tact than he has. A glance upwards would reveal that Sinbad is circling the sky high overhead. Which is nothing out of the ordinary…just a bird in flight for the most part.
"I'll make it small. Just enough to alarm but not enough to trigger the volcano early." Akina murmurs softer, keeping her voice low. When they enter the village, the plain girl disappears down a deserted alleyway and out of sight. Once alone she merges with the earth and moves through the ground like liquid, heading for it's center. Counting for several moments, she waits to a certain point until… she rumbles through the ground. Creating enough of a vibration to cause a stir.
"Hey, you! Why aren't you working?!" a gruff voice would call out. There was a man with a rather large axe on his back, and he looked rough but well put together in terms of clothing. There was nothing shabby about him. "You know that we all have to help in the fields around this time," the man would tell the disguised version of Malik before moving to nudge him towards where there looked to be a lot of plants.
As Akina started to work, there were those tremors happening. Some of the people ignored them completely, though, while a few just noted them and went along their business. Apparently they were used to the smaller tremors occurring. The friendly villagers would wave as they passed some of the guarding bandits while a few other children would run around playing tag. Young ones, of course. Not older ones that were also working in the fields. Only 30% of the townsfolk were still in town, but most of them were children. Everyone else was a bit scattered in the fields because everyone was working to get in their huge crops!
Hiroto frowned and walked over to join Malik. He was a thinner and smaller version of Malik. His clothes seemed..rather plain with some armor hidden in some places. He stepped up besides Malik and looked up at the large man. "We were working. Suddenly we noticed something though. Seems that the volcano is preparing to erupt, and it seemed like it would be a powerful one. I could just feel the heat in the ground almost." He frowned and felt the little tremor. "See…..now imagine if that tremor gets worse… what do you think would happen. If you want me and him can get back to work, but you should at least get people to safety and check the volcano yourselfs. If it doesn't erupt by the end of the night or tommorow night I wouldn't even deny us deserving the loss of our heads for wasting a day or twos worth of harvesting.
Malik looks at the bandit and points towards the volcano. "It seems angry. The ground is way hot, and…" His body bucks when the tremor occurrs. "..it feels like it's about to blow. We should probably get out of here." The expression on his face is one of fear as he tugs the cloak closer to his body. "He's right. We'll keep working, but someone really should check that out."
The quake fades only slightly, a brief silence falling over the small village before it rumbling returns with greater strength. Actually making rocks and water visibly shake and ripple. The deeper quake lasts much longer, undoubtedly alarming more than a few villagers.
The guard would frown a bit, and he sighs. "Okay, fin- whoa!!" The bigger quake shook the earth. "Okay, fine. You two go tell the other guards what's happening. I'll start rounding up some of the villagers so we can get moving." The bandit wasn't too happy with all this, but after heading a whole village, you can't get away with not caring for the people! … At least for some. The bandit would dash off towards the fields to start telling some of his 'co-workers', and a lot of people would start making their way back to the village calmly, if not a bit slowly.
Hiroto frowned a bit and sighed before looking at Malik. "Alright. Split up. Tell some guards that you find that the volcano seems to be in a erupting sorta mood, and at the very least it would be good to leave for the day just in case. And obviously now we were told to round up other guards to tell them what is going on, so if they argue with us they go to him. We don't have time for people that want to argue." He moved out and made his way to find the nearest guards and started telling them what was going on. He spit out a sort of summary of everything he told the first dude.
Malik nods to Hiroto. "Alright." He jogs out to find as many guards as possible. If anyone watches him while he speaks, he points to the volcano and then points back to where everyone seems to be going to. "Seriously, we were told to head out. This thing is unstable. We need to pack up and get our people out of here." He even points out the guard who gave the order, just in case there was some confusion.
The longer, deeper quake last for a full moment or so before it begins to subside. This reprieve doesn't last too long, another rumble echoing the one just before. If that doesn't put a quicker step in everyone's pace, Akina doesn't know what would.
Well, Akina's idea worked… To a point. The group would suddenly start screaming and yelling, throwing out any semblance of order out the window as they charged through town to grab their kids. A few people might have gotten trampled in the process upon tripping… Ouch… everyone sorta dashed into their homes to grab their kids if they had them and some valuables if necessary before racing out the door. A few of the civilians would cower inside under tables. Some of the bandits were trying to knock on doors to make sure everyone was gone, but the process was still pretty slow -.-;
Hiroto spoke out now. "We don't have time for knocking… If we want these people safe we need to break into the homes and get them out. They need to know that a hidden closest in a house won't stop magma or lava from pouring in." He would himself try to help out anyone falling in the streets and stuff like that…he wished he could tell Akina to tone it down some, but honestly toning it down might make them think it is over so…ehh. Once everyone was out of the streets he would move to houses as well.
As far as Malik is concerned, they were warned, and most of them had started getting out. Mission accomplished. During the evacuation, he begins to walk back towards the edge of the village. He says as he passes by Hiroto. "They've been warned. If they're stupid enough to stay in their houses, then they deserve to die." Apparently, he was still in that sour mood of his. However, he does make his way away from the area, moving along with the rest of the crowd.
As the different townsfolk would flee and hide with some of them actually needing to be carried out of their homes, the ground would continue to rumble because of Akina's Jutsu. Sadly(?), the innocents were not the only ones to notice the tremors. Large sand worms felt the earth shake, and they were moving swiftly towards the source to investigate. Sensing a human, they would read back and attempt to attack Akina to see what happened!
Hiroto was frowning now. He didn't know if anymore were here and his bird(that has been up above this whole time as well)couldn't see inside houses. "Alright Malik. I think we let the others get anyone else out of houses…we need to get Akina and make sure the civies that are running are free." He walked down the street and was looking for the center of the quakes where Akina would be. He figured that she would feel him coming at least.
Malik nods as he moves to walk with Hiroto. "Agreed. Our job is pretty much done here. Not a bad plan to use henge, I'll admit that." Since they wanted to find Akina, Malik lifts his hand into the air while holding up two fingers, giving Sinbad the signal to conduct a search. As the falcon attempts to find the other member of their group, Malik states. "Perhaps not everyone will survive this, but the majority of them at least have common sense enough to leave."
RPCOMBAT: Malik defends against with a HAYATO-SENSES…36
[NPC System]: Sand Worms roll(s) Tackle vs. Akina from 20 to 40 and get(s) a 28. - Rolled by: Arika
[NPC System]: Sand Worms roll(s) Tackle vs. Akina from 20 to 40 and get(s) a 21. - Rolled by: Arika
RPCOMBAT: Akina defends against with a DODGE…22
RPCOMBAT: Akina defends against with a DODGE…32
RPCOMBAT: Akina took 200 damage.
Company wasn't expected. Sure, there are things that lived out in the desert, existing below the sand away from all eyes, though giant sand worms what one would normally anticipate. One caught Akina by the calf for a moment before she moved away, increasing her speed through the earth to avoid a second attack. The young woman then tries to emerge from the same spot in the ground that she had disappeared into, breaking through the surface in the alleyway where it's likely to be deserted. Calf bleeding, Akina exhales a longer breath and pushes herself to move. On the off chance the worms might be able to break through as well. Even with this thought the plain girl smirks a little bit darker to herself. Dinner.
The sand worms aren't happy about losing their prey! And her blood tasted so very good… So they started to move and squirm around town, this time actually attacking the homes and people that were trying to run away! Fortunately, the streets were empty. But some of the houses were not, and the shinobi down below could hear a few piercing screams from children and adults alike as they found their homes getting crushed!
Hiroto heard the screams as Tenshi spotted Akina. Tenshi flew down towards her and made a nose and then bird gesture for her to follow him as he lead her to Hiroto and Malik. Hiroto looked to Malik(and hopefully Akina too) "Alright. Try to be unseen by the hired hands when doing anything shinobi like, but if they see you and try to fight back… take them out. We have to save the villagers though." He ran off and when seeing the worms he would try to grab the villagers he could in such a way to barely avoid the worms.
[NPC System]: Sand Worms roll(s) Smash vs. Villagers from 15 to 35 and get(s) a 29. - Rolled by: Arika
COMBAT: Hiroto attacks target 1 with INTERRUPT with a roll of: 36
RP: Hiroto transforms into TENSHI.
RPCOMBAT: Hiroto defends against with a INTUITIVE-DODGE…44
[NPC System]: Sand Worms roll(s) Smash vs. Villagers from 15 to 35 and get(s) a 18. - Rolled by: Arika
COMBAT: Malik attacks target 1 with INTERRUPT with a roll of: 35
RP: Malik transforms into SINBAD.
RPCOMBAT: Malik defends against with a ACROBATIC-DODGE…43
Malik hears Tenshi cry out and then Sinbad right after that. He runs along with Hiroto, sliding to a stop when they come upon Akina. "You okay?" He asks, noting her bleeding calf. He motions for her to follow. "Come on. Those sand worms must have been attracted by the quakes, we've got to protect the civilians until they get out." He nods to Hiroto. "Anyone gets in our way, we take them out. Agreed." Malik runs towards one of the houses as Sinbad swoops down and distracts the sand worm for a moment while he grabs the villager and dives with them out of it's path. Dropping his Henge, he reaches into the small of his back and pulls out his prototype bow. A flick of his wrist and the bow flips open. It has blades on the front and a string down the back, allowing him to use it either at range or in melee. He readies an arrow as he waits for the worms to attack again.
Akina snaps her eyes up at Tenshi as she spots him, mud brow eyes narrowing and without hesitation she's quick to follow him to Hiroto and Malik. Exhales small, short breaths, she nods quickly. "I will be. But nevermind that now." They have other matters to deal with now. If it isn't the volcano, it's the sandworms. Her gaze flits in the direction of the volcano. It's unlikely she could make a quake big enough to make it erupt and destroy the worms, so there's no use thinking on it. Hiroto and Malik run off, quick to move as well as she follows the sounds of the screaming. Without dropping the henge Akina starts to pull villagers from homes or rubble, getting them to their feet and run from the village before diving into another building.
Well, the sand worms keep losing their prey! :( Luckily, the town still has some slower targets. These sand worms try to go after the ones that aren't moving, smashing into buildings and trying to gobble up civilians. When Malik drops his Henge, the bandits who are helping civilians notice. "Oy! A Shinobi! We dun like you 'round here!" >:| They grumble and start trying to bash Malik's face in.
[NPC System]: Sand Worms roll(s) Tackle vs. Villagers from 15 to 35 and get(s) a 28. - Rolled by: Arika
[NPC System]: Sand Worms roll(s) Tackle vs. Villagers from 15 to 35 and get(s) a 26. - Rolled by: Arika
[NPC System]: Sand Worms roll(s) Tackle vs. Villagers from 15 to 35 and get(s) a 23. - Rolled by: Arika
[NPC System]: Sand Worms roll(s) Tackle vs. Villagers from 15 to 35 and get(s) a 18. - Rolled by: Arika
COMBAT: Hiroto attacks target 1 with INTERRUPT with a roll of: 45
COMBAT: Hiroto attacks target 1 with INTERRUPT with a roll of: 46
COMBAT: Hiroto attacks target 1 with INTERRUPT with a roll of: 35
COMBAT: Hiroto attacks target 1 with INTERRUPT with a roll of: 34
RPCOMBAT: Hiroto defends against with a INTUITIVE-DODGE…41
RPCOMBAT: Hiroto defends against with a INTUITIVE-DODGE…28
RPCOMBAT: Hiroto defends against with a INTUITIVE-DODGE…41
RPCOMBAT: Hiroto defends against with a INTUITIVE-DODGE…41
Hiroto frowned at Malik. Well he looked back to Akina who was still unhenged and back to Malik. "Akina…. act like a guard and go over there. Tell them you can handle Malik, and shoo them away to save civilians why you take on the shinobi. If they don't listen act like you can all fight togehter then and attack them when they go in to attack Malik the next time…. and then tell him to put the Henge back up before more people see." He shook his head a bit before going to save villagers from the sand worms. He had a knife that was coated in poison ready and planned to dodge in such a way to cut it just as it got to the villager.
COMBAT: Hiroto attacks target 1 with POISONED-SHARP with a roll of: 22
COMBAT: Hiroto attacks target 1 with POISONED-SHARP with a roll of: 25
[NPC System]: Sand Worms roll(s) Earth Dive vs Hiroto (22) from 10 to 30 and get(s) a 17. - Rolled by: Arika
[NPC System]: Sand Worms roll(s) Earth Dive vs Hiroto (25) from 10 to 30 and get(s) a 11. - Rolled by: Arika
[NPC System]: Bandits roll(s) Grawr vs. Malik from 25 to 45 and get(s) a 38. - Rolled by: Arika
[NPC System]: Bandits roll(s) Grawr vs. Malik from 25 to 45 and get(s) a 42. - Rolled by: Arika
RPCOMBAT: Malik defends against with a AERIAL-DODGE…29
RPCOMBAT: Malik defends against with a ACROBATIC-DODGE…34
RPCOMBAT: Malik took 400 damage.
Malik silently curses when he realized that he dropped his Henge. His eyes widen slightly below his hood as the guards turn on him. He growls. "No idiots, attack the worms. The worms!" Even as he attempts to dodge the attacks, he is impacted twice, causing him to roll along the ground a bit. He grunts, withdrawing two arrows and firing them at once. They would split apart for the two guards as a net would come out in an attempt to capture them. For the moment, he doesn't have time to re-apply his henge. He just needed two minutes without being attacked by guard or worm.
COMBAT: Malik attacks target 1 with NETTED-ARCHER-SHOT with a roll of: 35
COMBAT: Malik attacks target 1 with NETTED-ARCHER-SHOT with a roll of: 47
[NPC System]: Bandits roll(s) Rapid Slice vs Malik (35) from 27 to 55 and get(s) a 53. - Rolled by: Arika
[NPC System]: Bandits roll(s) Rapid Slice vs Malik (47) from 27 to 55 and get(s) a 29. - Rolled by: Arika
Looking from Hiroto to Malik, Akina couldn't help but make a face to see that his henge had dropped and the 'guards' were quick to turn their attention on him, rather than on the worms. "Hey. Hey!" Her voice quickly rises, sprinting towards them. Her usually light tone takes an edge of a no-nonsense growl as she nears. If need be, Akina even steps between them and Malik and narrows her hard gaze at them. "Cut it out! Go find the rest of the villagers. That's what we're paid to do. And the worms are more dangerous than this little," she scowls. "Punk." Should they doubt her, Akina's expression darkens further. "MOVE! MOVE! WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!"
One of the bandits would quickly slash at the netting that suddenly shot out from the arrow, but the other wasn't so lucky. The one untrapped would quickly free his friend, though. "Fine," he mutters, running with his companion in tow. The sand worms were still an issue, though. Thankfully, most of the civilians were safe at this point. Hiroto was successful in deflecting the worst of the attacks.
Hiroto stood there and frowned. "These worms are a pain. Malik if you could rehenge…and into something else now that they may suspect the old one. That would just be helpful until we know we don't need them." He looked to Tenshi and Tenshi looked down to him before they both looked to the ground. They wanted to keep an eye out for any possible ground movement that would tell them where the worms would come out next. From there he would already have an arrow ready for those stupid things.
RPCOMBAT: Hiroto defends against with a HAYATO-SENSES-II…57
Now that Akina had taken the attention off him. Malik's eyes turn golden with black pupils as he makes another handsign and henges into a red haired guy with pale skin and spiky hair with a red goatee around his mouth. His eyes look blue as well. He offers Akina a quick thumbs up before looking around for more civilians. "I say we forget the worms and just get the people out. If the worms stick around, the lava will take care of them." He suggests to Hiroto as he scans the area for people in need of saving.
RPCOMBAT: Malik defends against with a HAYATO-SENSES-II…48
The thumbs up is met with an unpleased, flat glance, though now is not the time to dwell on things that aren't important. "Couldn't agree more." Akina murmurs, already on the move and picking out cries from buildings. Surely there wouldn't be that many left inside the village.
Hiroto would find a two kids who seemed to be siblings. In trying to save themselves the parents(or just random adults)seemed to cause a dresser to fall over and trapped the boy underneath the dresser. Hiroto moved over and lifted it up enough for the kid to get out before he picked both of them up(in whatever way seemed easiest at the time. Probably piggybacking one and carrying the other in a arm. Luckily they are small enough for it.) And with that he looks at the others. "Anyone still in houses are erupted…. from my point of view we got the majority out of this place and we need to make sure they are safe. THat is a victory in my book even if only partialy." He sighed, but started walking off towards where all the people were moving to.
Malik collapses his bow and puts it away in the small of his back as he move over to some rubble. He starts throwing pieces out as he grabs a five year old girl and hoists her up into his arms. "It's alright." He says to her as he runs in the direction that Hiroto moves. "Agreed. This village is doomed no matter which way you look at it. Let's get out of here."
The wailing is what drew Akina's attention, urging her on an instinctual level to dive deeper into the rubble of the building. In a matter of moments it would be all around her as well. Sweat poured from her brow as she pushed away pieces of wall or ceiling, and in a matter of moments finding a crib. It's inhabitants bundled up in a blanket and screaming it's head off, probably due to the noise. Lifting the infant into her arms, Akina clutches it (him/her) against her chest, shielding the babe with her body as she quickly follows after Malik and Hiroto. She wasn't about to take a leisurely stride either, almost running out of the village.
It was not due to the volcano, but the sand worms that the village fell into rubble and dust. The villagers counted amongst themselves, and apparently five of their number died within those houses today. Out of about a eighty, though, that wasn't so bad. And then include the bandits, which numbers twenty or so, and things were looking up. The shinobi were greeted when they appeared with the children, and the rescued were paired with their parents. All in all, a successful mission! … *BOOM* And then the volcano decides to explode -.-
Hiroto frowned as he heard the explosion of the volcano behind them. "Now if everyone could move further away." He looked to Akina and whispered to her. "Is it possible for you to make an earthen wall or ditch to stop the lava flow? If that alerts the bandits me and Malik will take care of them, but if that lava gets close…a little too close we would need an out." He turned back to the villagers and bandits. "Keep moving steadily. We need a good pace for everyone to stay away from the lava and to not trip over each other." He frowned as he knew things might be raining from above. "Malik…. keep an eye out for any debris we might be able to stop." He frowned…this was a bothersome mission.
Malik hated this mission. However, he nods to Hiroto's instructions and gives a sign to Sinbad that he's to look out for debris. He hands the child off to her parents and then spends his time focusing on making sure that anything heading towards them is spotted with enough time to take it out.
RPCOMBAT: Malik defends against with a HAYATO-SENSES-II…43
A couple quickly rushes to Akina and scoops the baby out of her arms, matching one another with tears of joy. Her mud brow eyes glance up at the erupting volcano at first, then to Hiroto when he approaches and whisper to her, making her strain against the echoing explosion. "Maybe. It's more likely I can make a crack in the earth, but I think the worms might get to us first before the lava reaches them." Akina glances up at the villagers. "It would be better if we just herded them further away. I doubt lava will go all that fast."
Whatever the shinobi choose to do, they might want to move quickly. Herding a group of one hundred people wasn't going to be easy. Or fast. The lava/magma/whatever it's called moved slowly across the sand and earth to turn some parts to glass. Did anyone mention that about a mile from town was a river?
Hiroto kept moving forwards and when getting to the river he just blinked a bit. He didn't want any fighting to break out as that would ust be a big issue for them. "Alright…" He looked to Akina and Malik. "Any ideas for getting past this quickly." He looked to Akina, but didn't say anything…. just combat was not needed at all. He shifted his gaze to everyone else. "We can either try to move through it or if someone else has an interesting idea…one at a time say so." He frowned as this was becoming a big pain. His gaze shifted back to the volcano in the distance.
Malik comments, "How about we friggin swim?" He comments before taking a few steps and diving into the river. "Swim for it if you want to live, carry the kids on your backs or what have you!" It was only five feet deep, annelid if they couldn't swim, they could just wade across.
Watching the speed of the lava, Akina makes a face. "Yeah, swim." she murmurs under her breath. "Swimming is good. Let's get everyone e across the water." Already she waded deeper into the water, escorting couples and children that were having trouble across. Encouraging them to pick up the pace.
The villagers hesitate a bit at the edge of the river, but seeing how shallow (>.>) it is would encourage them to cross the river! And now that everyone's out of danger… Definitely mission complete! Most of the babies and kids that couldn't swim were carried by taller people, and everyone else waded/dog-paddled through the current. In the end, all's well! … Well, suna now has to deal with homeless people, but that's another issue!