Starring:
Ra, Maikeru, Tsun, Yuuka, Meruin
Date: February 13, 2011
Summary:
Still waiting for an audience with the Okumo Elders, Ra is an observer during the recovery efforts after a mysterious beast destroyed a large chunk of the Land of Waves. Maikeru, Meruin, Yuuka, and Tsun all have their own jobs to do in salvaging the pieces left behind.
"Bonds: Family - Unnatural"
Water Ferry Docks - Land of Water
The Land of Water is not as close to the Land of Waves or Land of Whirlpools as the Land of Fire is, and thus was not hurt as badly by the disaster that struck those two island nations. But it was still affected by the large waves and strange weather patterns. The thing that hurt the Land of Water the most was not the storms themselves, however. It was the destruction of most of the shipping and cargo vessels crossing the ocean. The Land of Water is not quite self-sufficient, and depends on trade to keep things moving. Thus, in addition to rescue efforts being underway there are also salvage operations. After all, no reason to let all those supplies sit and rot at the bottom of the ocean in the event there are no survivors to rescue, right?
Loads of wreckage, refugees, and more are being brought in daily. Someone has to oversee all this and ensure all proceeds smoothly — and that the nation remains secure. Not every survivor was a harmless trader after all. Some may have been pirates, enemy shinobi, or wanted criminals! The new Jounin of Kirigakure, Maikeru, has been given the assignment of ensuring all remains as it should during this stressful and chaotic time. He has nominal authority over all the matters of this expansive mission. But Okumo Meruin and Kaguya Yuuka are both in charge of their own operations within the overarching mission parameters. Meruin is in charge of 'local security', as opposed to Maikeru's 'Village security'. Yuuka is in charge of 'peace keeping', which could be viewed as security as well. However, it is more practically keeping order, ensuring all recovered supplies go where they should, all survivors are registered and given accomodations and medical treatment, and so forth. Various people, ninja and non-ninja, report regularly to Meruin, Yuuka, and Maikeru. Assignment trumps Rank in this instance, and even some senior Chuunin may be answering to the newly-promoted trio.
One person has been given a very specific assignment though. She may be only a Genin, but Kaguya Tsun has been told to keep an eye out for the beast that caused all this. Further, she has been told to keep an eye on a certain visitor to the Land of Water. Okumo Ra has not caused any trouble so far, but the fact he showed up saying how he was going to take the entire Okumo Clan away from Kirigakure has been cause for concern amongst Kirigakure's leadership.
The Daimyou was not particularly happy either. For these reasons, Ra is considered a 'guest to watch closely'. He has spent about three months now doing nothing suspicious at all. He has been waiting for a meeting with the Okumo Elders all this time, and has not received any indication when this meeting will occur. They really have no idea what to do with this man. He was thought dead! What does it mean that he is alive? What does it mean that he has returned to them? Does it matter that he was the first Okumo? Is he a relic of the past, or a potential weapon for the future? What is the significance of the timing of his appearance?
Tsun needs to watch Ra closely, but she was not told why.
Right now, it is afternoon and the sun has penetrated the dense fog that often shrouds the Land of Water. It is not 'sunny', but it is at least warmer than early morning.
Keeping an eye on those coming in on the ships, the newest Jounin in Kirigakure carries a bingo book with him that he has studied and flipped through the entire time since this all started. Every once in a while when he spots a suspicious-looking person, he will motion for a few of the shinobi working under him to escort them over to him and question them. Sometimes he might even end up escorting one of a small group away and end up returning without them, perhaps having disposed of something potentially harmful to the village. After all, a time like this isn't a time to let things slip through his fingers.
"What a mess," Maikeru says as he looks around at the survivors being brought in, every so often flipping quickly through the bingo book again to make sure he hasn't seen anyone that matches or even resembles or carries a mark like anyone in it. "At least some good may come out of this tragedy by eliminating these threats," he says as he looks about again.
"Sooo…." Tsun would kick at the dirt, chewing on a chunk of bubblegum in a slow, circular, cow-like motion. "Uh." She'd fashion a seat out of ice, lowering herself into it as the seat itself and its armrests mold to fit her. Her eyes would shift lazily between the distant horizon and Ra. Her thumbs would twiddle, as nothing eventful really seems to happen, it was as if she had gotten another last minute job to make her feel special, not really finding a possible appearance monster that could most likely wipe out Kirigakure in an instant interesting enough unless she /knew/ for a fact it was coming.
A thought would roll on through her head, from her uglier side. 'On top of that, they have you watching an old man.' Tsun would sigh and nod, "Yeah…" The old man would get another look and she thinks to herself, 'He's so ooold and weird looking, why do I have to look at him all day of all people?' Ra would 'randomly' get a harsh look for a moment before Tsun's attention sways back to the world ahead.
'Babysitting, that's all it is Tsun-chan. You've really dropped to the bottom of the nin-' The thought would be cut off as soon growls out, "Shut up…" Tsun would look back to the old man, "Not you! Just uh…" Was he even saying anything she wasn't really paying attention to him, just making sure he's still there. A quick recovery must be made! Sparking up an awkward conversation starter, "So uh, what's it like being old and er, spidery?"
At the docks leading in and out of the Land of Water, teams of people stream from the ships docked. Couples, families, individuals that have lost loved ones along the way. Yuuka quickly flips through a clipboard full of sheets, checking through lists of people to make sure that everyone is accounted for. For the most part at least. When frantic parents or siblings come to her with names of missing loved ones, she tries to calm them down with her gentle voice, smiling softly as she writes down information and tries to be as comforting and reassuring as she can be. Those that were injured during the trip or along the way, the Kaguya kunoichi points them quickly in the direction of the medical shinobi. She breathes out a hard breath as she lifts a hand to quickly brush back her long snow white hair from her face, moving to the next set of concerned parents searching for their child, while a little girl missing her own mother keeps close to Yuuka's legs with a tiny hand gripping at the pale fabric of her kimono.
Meruin has had his time filled, recently, as fully as anyone else had been. There was a lot to do to make sure that things would remain lawful with the new tide of people. He'd utilized the team that had been set up under him, setting up separate regions that each was responsible for as well as setting up a patrol rotation.
There was a security camera system, of sorts, that was set up. The eight year old had gotten together a group of more of his own clansmen. Okumo nesters had dispersed their broods throughout the area of operation, their spiders on the watch for drug trafficking, defacement, physical violence — criminal activity, essentially. The Okumo reported any pertinent findings to Meruin, who dispatched others to deal with the problem. Meruin himself had a large portion of his brood separated from himself, staying nearby Maikeru, Yuuka, and Tsun. If they had an issue, they need only call his name, if the spiders couldn't see them.
As for what the boy was doing now, he was walking along the docks, a woman walking along behind him, a blanket over her shoulders. As it turned out, with the chaos of the disaster striking, a sickly man who had found the woman.. appealing had taken the opportunity to kidnap her to appreciate better appreciate her wares. He was now taking the opportunity to appreciate jailtime while Meruin turned a corner of a storage facility, leading the woman Yuuka's way. Mother that she was, she insisted on seeing her daughter before anything else happened. He obliged.
"Yuuka."
Ra is crouched on the side on a cliff face overlooking the docks. He seems to have no problem sticking there, age or not. Tsun's attempts at dialogue — either with him or herself — are met with silence. When she asks a question, he answers promptly, however. "We are in pain." He says nothing else unless prompted or asked further.
Everything seems to be moving smoothly on the side of the ninja, and the Land of Water in general. Incidents here and there, being handled by Maikeru and Meruin. Families being reunited by Yuuka. Progenitor of an entire Clan being watched by Tsun…
Nothing ever goes this smoothly. And such is the case now as Ra lifts his head suddenly. He stands up, remaining straight in relation to the vertical surface he stands upon, as though gravity had no bearing on him. "We feel something coming." A moment later, a rising background noise that has been building for awhile now can be heard by others than simply the First Okumo. It becomes loud enough and deep enough that the rumbling causes everyone to stop speaking and to turn around and face the source of it. Out to sea, the fog parts suddenly in response to an incoming wave of air pressure. A wall of water is revealed that towers well above the cliff that Ra and Tsun are upon. It is still distant, because ships out on the water are not yet being swept up in it. But the wall of water is growing every moment. There's nowhere high enough or sturdy enough to run to in the time available.
Ra stands and stares from within his hood, eight glistening red eyes staring at the oncoming wave of death. 'Is this our end?' he wonders briefly. Then his almost entirely alien thinking processes return to the fore, ignoring petty human concerns like impending death and whether his life held any meaning and all of that drivel. He lunges off of the cliff face, lands lightly on a rooftop a hundred feet below, and then goes bounding off and leaving Tsun behind. Unless she moves to follow.
Everyone else in the area is likely freaking out.
As he looks around the docks again, Maikeru spots the girl who attacked the other day watching what's going on as well. A faint smirk comes to his face, though he keeps looking around to try to spot any bad weeds among this patch of blood and water drenched flowers. In this glance, he notices Yuuka as she has suddenly become Kirigakure's one-woman Missing Persons Program and then Meruin. He gives a nod to them both before looking to an older, rugged looking man walking his way attempting to hide a dagger in his hand behind his coat. "… Amateur."
"Those were the last of my crew, you piece of-" The pirate is interrupted by the elongated version of the Jounin's arm, its hand gripping his throat and quickly pulling him to him. After disarming the man with a quick motion of his other hand, he inserts the dagger into the man's stomach before motioning for a couple of the shinobi under him to carry the dying captain away. They flicker away with him before the hustling crowd really has a chance to notice. "I suppose that's close enough to going down with the ship."
When the rumbling suddenly starts, the Jounin blinks and turns to look out toward the sea to see the mist clearing and a giant wall of water coming their way. "Son of a…" He leaps up and out toward the sea, leaping in bounds out toward the ocean to try to meet the wall. He holds his possessed arm back in preparation as he heads for it, preparing to unleash an attack to try to destroy it.
"You want some kind of cold pack or something?" Tsun squints down, visibly annoyed with the response though, what could she truly expect? 'Oh great, I have spider webs between my pits and you know they make these nice little beds between my wrinkles.' Tsun would make a pompous face as she mouths the words, the teasing continuing on for a moment until the man makes his second comment, a comment that warrants a bit more respect.
Tsun would push herself up off of the seat, peering off ahead. 'Oh look, you're about to die. Please don't do that, I'm quite comfortable in here at the moment.' Tsun would not listen to him really, though she wouldn't hesitate to make use of his chakra. Her chakra level output rapidly increasing as goes through a string of seals at quite a pace for someone who doesn't make use of them too often.
"Stay right th-" Tsun would groan as Ra takes off, well there goes one part of her assignment. Assuming the sound of panic in the background was from the sudden giant water wave, she probably wouldn't have to call out any warning at least. "Alright." Tsun would take a leaping step off the cliff, crimson water arcing about the girl and solidifying beneath her feet. Taking advantage of her levitation she would start to lower herself and give chase to Ra.
Tsun would end the sign weaving, her hands parting and trembling before her. It was as if she was gripping the sea itself as she struggled to push her hands up. A few droplets of sweat forming, water would begin to swell up a vast amount on the opposite side of the wave. 'Now!' Tsun's hands would slam down, the wave she was creating would slam inward and she grits her teeth as she works the opposite way she usually does. The surface of the water would begin to cave in right before the wave, a force would collide with the water beneath the wave in an attempt to cancel it out as best she could.
For now, she'd have to hope that works as she chases after Ra, gathering chakra to prepare to protect herself from the oncoming wave.
Yuuka turns her snow white head to glance over her shoulder at the sound of her name, the little girl gripping at her kimono while sucking on her thump and bright, wide eyes curiously watching her surroundings. Turning her big eyes back at Meruin, though an instant later her tiny thumb pops out of her mouth with a thrilling squeal of delight, "Okaasan!" The small hand lets go of Yuuka's kimono as she takes off running, straight into the arms of the crying, smiling mother. Yuuka smiles gently at the sight of the reunited mother and little girl for a quiet moment, breathing out slowly as she glances up at Meruin. Though her soft lips part as she was about to reply to him, Yuuka blinks her bright eyes in surprise as she turns slightly, looking around for the source of the noise building in the background, much like many others around her. The fog parts away slowly, only now beginning to hint at the wall of water that is on a collision course for Kirigakure.
Her eyes widen at the towering wave headed towards their shore, more than likely minutes away. And like a clap of thunder, one single scream of terror breaks through the silence and the rest falls with it. People begin yelling and pushing into one another as they try to escape. Yuuka snaps her head towards the crowd of people, and the most unexpected thing happens. Her voice snaps through the air with volume as she shouts, "Keep close to your families! No pushing or shoving! And get to the center of Kirigakure!" her usual soft voice snaps her orders. Looking back at the others, her bright eyes narrow on Tsun and Maikeru with concern as they leap into action.
Meruin looked beyond Yuuka to take note of Maikeru dispatching a pirate lord who'd managed to get close as the mother he'd been escorting ran to her child. The issue was ignored but for a mental note to have further issues similar to this prevented. His eyes, instead, went to Yuuka, who seemed to be about to speak to him.
And then a gust blew his hair to the side, dashing the mist from it's reign in it's heralding of the tidal wave. Meruin turned to view the danger, and it froze him for a second. The Land of Water was an island, and this thing seemed as if it could get big enough submerge the whole country by the time it reached land, though it was hard to tell from this distance. No matter what the case was, the damage would be extreme, and the deaths many.
So he moved to do his job. He vanished from Yuuka's side, reappearing at his headquarters. He looked to his established second saying, "Full scale evacuation in Kirigakure's direction. Tidal wave large enough to cause extreme harm. There must be a plan for this, so we may have to head underground. We have less than five minutes. Everyone will stay within their regions to faciliate the evacuation with the exception of our suiton ninjutsuists. After I leave here, you are in further command." He looked towards another man, "Sound the Alarm. Alert the hawkers. Have them call all Suiton ninjutsuists that we have to the docks. They are exempt from evacuation duties." He looked to the another man, "Maikeru has headed towards the wave, so we must alert the Kage instead. Get your swiftest man to do so. We need someone else to consult with Maikeru's section. His suiton ninjutsuists should report to the dock as well, we need a dispatch of guards for the Mizukage when he arrives, and we need scouts sent out throughout the land in case this is a diversionary tactic, large though it is."
Orders given, he vanished, expecting them to be followed. And where did he go? His duty given to him by his clan was to watch Ra, even as he performed his duty to the village. His clan took precedence over his village, and so, while he did what he could to perform Kirigakure's orders ably, he left the rest up to his second and instead appeared on the lowering ocean, dashing in the direction of Ra and what was likely certain death.
Ra keeps on leaping from rooftop to rooftop until he is within range of the beach. But 'within range' for the First Okumo is not 'within range' for most other ninja. Maybe it's the augmentations he has been granted, or maybe it's the fact he's more spider than he is human. But he leaps from the shore out to about 1/4th of the way to the incoming wave in a single leap. That's… More than a mile. When he lands, he focuses his Chakra in a big way and then calls out, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu! <Summoning Technique!>" He smears some of his blood on a spidery-looking tattoo on his left arm. Tsun's barrier subverts some of the force of the incoming wave, diminishing it. People obey Yuuka as best as they can, surprisingly enough. Maybe they hold out the vain hope that if they get out in an orderly fashion they can get to safety that much sooner. Maybe they think they have time and a chance at living. They're wrong, but maybe they think that.
The Water-using Ninjutsuists head towards the shore as quickly as they can, coming from everywhere. There's only a minute and a half left.
Then Ra aims his hand out towards the tidal wave that is now around 700 feet tall, and releases a massive wave of Chakra that bends space-time with the mass of a truly enormous being. The world's largest spider appears in a massive cloud of smoke. She is black, and huge, and horrible to behold. She is also directly in the path of the tidal wave.
">WHO DARES TO SUMMON ME!? WHAT IS THIS!?!<" the voice of the Spider Queen drowns out the roar of the water for a moment, the vibrations simultaneously deep and high-pitched. The titanic form of the Brood Mother towers over everyone and everything — except for the wall of water. She turns her attention on it, and then as though it were no more than an annoyance, she bends her body until her spinerette is aimed forward. A deluge of webbing sprays forth, and fixes itself to seemingly thin-air as it hardens into a barrier. The Queen of all spiders weaves a wall of webbing that reaches from one end of the tidal wave to the other. Some water is still going to come pouring over the top, but the vast majority will strike the webbing and hopefully not break through and kill everyone.
Hopefully.
But it seems the wave has a lot of force behind it. Hitting the web wall just causes it to splash upwards into an arc and start sloshing over it. The Spider Queen seems very unhappy with this. She may have just put out more webbing than every Okumo that has ever lived has produced via his or her spiders >combined<, but she seems not drained in the least. ">THIS IS IDIOTIC!<" the Queen shouts. Ra turns as Maikeru starts approaching, and calls out as loudly as he can over the yelling spider and the roaring ocean, ">Leap up! Do not let it overcome the barrier!<"
Bursting into a string of Body Flicker III's, Maikeru moves as quickly as he can toward the wave. As he notices Tsun's attempt to cancel the wave, he flickers as far ahead toward it as possible. This seems to be a one-shot thing, so he plans to make this shot count. When the enormous spider appears out of nowhere, he looks back and blinks as he sees its web heading the way he is. He gives her a nod then looks back to the wave as he leaps up above the incoming webbing, flickering high above it. As he thrusts his demonic hand forward, an enormous form of the hand shoots out toward the wave, the Jounin pushing as much chakra as he can into the attack to make it as enormous as he can. It flies toward the wave, intending to collide with it. Upon impact with the wave, it will turn into a monstrous explosion that will hopefully shatter the wave into a mere mist and end this insanity.
Continuing to air surf, Tsun would eventually start to gain ground on Ra until, he decides to break the rules of logic… even for a ninja. Tsun's vision doesn't manage to keep up as he just barrels forward into the distance. "This is so dumb." Agitated, yes, yes she was, though that would soon be wiped away when a massive spider appears out of thin air, the girl not yet witnessing a Summoning Technique had no idea what had just happened. Her face visibly tenses, she tried to process all that was going on at once as there now appeared to be multiple enemies, both of them giant!
'Relax… It's on our side, for now at least.' The thought rumbles throughout her mind and she doesn't make any hesitation to listen to it for the sake of hope. 'Now if only you weren't such a coward, this thing could've already been stopped. I promise to take good care of your body if you never come back Tsun-chan.' Fighting the urge to punch herself in the head, Tsun would begin to float upward.
"Don't try to keep messing around with me, I'm on to you I already know how to use more of your power." Tsun would smirk, 'Oh, how's that?' "Ah… if you still had a lot of power over me, you'd of known what I've come up with wouldn't you?" 'Perhaps I'm toying with you.' "Perhaps… I'm pretty sure you've noticed I only used your chakra for countering that wave. Until I figure out how to fully control you, I can simply play a time game." Deep in the corners of her mind, Shukaku's expression would change for once from that obviously false smile Tsun always envisioned. She could feel him become irritated.
The girl had come aware that she was only focusing on chakra control, not her mental state when it came to keeping herself under control, unlike how she was formerly taught. "They assumed you were just like Six-tails I guess…" Her hands would clap together again as she rises, a few chakra focusing seals would follow as Tsun floats above the web wall only to drop off her ice pedestal. Chakra with a soft violet hue would explode from possessed, the chunk of ice behind her shattering into pieces and slapping onto her like armor. The air about her follow suit and even globs of water from the wave would sink into Tsun's black hole-like essence.
As the ice starts to take shape, it would form a partial mask of a miniature Shukaku, along with the slow forming of an crystal tail. 'oH It LoOkS lIkE yOuR'E OUT of TiME TSUUUUN-CHAAAAN~' Tsun would ignore this taunt as she drops directly into the remainder of the wave, her hand extended in front of her, whatever points of the wave didn't latch onto her would rapidly flee from her as if she were the plague. Steaming as it was beaten back to its place, the large wave would fall victim to a combination of water and boil manipulation.
Falling into the self made sauna, Tsun would quickly shut off all use of the demon's chakra before it was too late like Shukaku had earlier claimed, eventually splashing into the waters below.
Yuuka uses her slender arms to direct the traffic of people, yelling out commands and taking quick glances over her shoulder at the oncoming wave. It grew quickly as it neared, the pit of her stomach knotting with quick fear as she wondered to herself if everyone was going to die. If this was the end of her life. The hard wind whips through her long, snow white hair as the water thunders in the background. The Queen Spider seems to appear out of nowhere, causing her bright blue green eyes to widen in shock and further fear. Yuuka swallows faintly before shaking her head and returning her attention back to the people, quick to return her attention back to her duties while the spider webs a wall in front of the wave itself.
Meruin brought himself to a sudden halt as Ra unwrapped a planet sized present in the form of Miss Jurougumo, the Spider Queen. The eight year old latched his emotionless eyes on the creature that was so far and yet so close, and he stood immobile for the whole time that she and the others stopped the tidal wave.
The Okumo could feel the weight of her mind raking across his own and it was almost staggering. Nothing else mattered, just then, but that he kept an eye on Ra. His duty managed to keep hold of part of him, even as the sensation of Jurougumo's presence took the rest.
Jurougumo turns as others leap into the fray, stopping the wave from defeating the improbably large barrier. An arm of Chakra making the wave explode in one area, and a special kind of Chakra evaporating it in another results in the vast majority of the wave falling back or falling down in the form of rain. Only a small amount lands on Jurougumo. She is mostly displeased.
The web barrier will remain for awhile, but she can make it fall apart into nothing easily. The massive spider looks out upon the island nation of the Land of Water and then down on Okumo Ra. He kneels on the water, bowing his head. The Spider Queen can feel there are more like Ra in this land. More who are part spider. She understands why Ra did what he did.
But she does not approve.
"DO NOT SUMMON ME AGAIN WITHOUT MY EXPRESS PERMISSION, HUNTER RA." She waits only for Ra to acknowledge her, and then before her inhuman voice finishes echoing, she is gone. Another huge cloud of smoke and a shockwave as air collapses inwards to fill the now-empty space. Ra rises to his feet and turns to start walking back towards land. He saved his people. He saved his Clan. And he may have permanently damaged the trust that the Spider Kingdom has in him in the process. Sighing, Hunter Ra of the Okumo wonders briefly if helping the ninja of Kirigakure to save their Village will earn him any trust amongst them. They were ready to die for their Village. Would he do the same?
The force of the air from the wave pushes Maikeru back further up into the air, though it doesn't send him against anything other than the sky, so he is not damaged. He flips backward as he starts to come down, landing on his feet ontop of the water. "I can see being a Jounin in this village is going to be very interesting," he says as he looks out to the ocean then back toward the shore. He turns just in time to see the giant spider disappearing into thin air. Having used a good bit of chakra, he feels a bit tired now, though it's something he'll have to deal with. He starts to walk back toward the shore, deciding to save the rest of his chakra so he'd be able to continue his duties for the day once he gets back.
