Starring:
Totoro, Yasuo
Date: July 22, 2016
Summary:
In order to test the waters of their partnership, Yasuo and Totoro hunt and retreive a small boy in Fuuma known as the "Peasant's Prince" that has been inspiring more hope than the bounty poster felt comfortable with
"Bounty: The Peasant's Prince"
A Lawless section of Fuuma Alley
Call it a test run, a simple bounty for humble beginnings. Word is on the streets that a man called the 'Prince of Peasants' was recently implicated in an assault on a local business owner. Not saying that the business owner wasn't a terrible person who oppressed the people in his individual district in Fuuma, and not saying that this 'Prince of Peasants' was a bad person, but anyone who sticks up for the little person always becomes a target for the people in power. Bounty Hunting isn't about what is right or wrong, it's a job. Negative publicity can rot in a hole.
People with standards do not take work like this, and fortunately, Totoro had none of these standards. Lacking in any finesse, the powerful and feral woman began their hunt of this 'Peasant Prince' by doing the most obvious. Her hand was gripped around the back of the neck of a random street-goer who had been at the wrong place at the wrong time when he decided to mention 'The People's Prince' out loud. The poor sod who ran upon bad luck was a younger gentleman who was currently lifted about two feet off the ground. "Hey. Yasuo. Did you hear that? I think I heard something about a prince." Totoro said, sporting that fear-inspiring grin of hers that would cause the normal man to shake in his boots. Totoro easily swiveled the man to face Yasuo, as his hands struggled to pry her grip off his neck to little avail. He made terrible choking noises as his heart raced. Totoro held firm, "You'd better ask him the questions. When I do it, I get frustrated and kill them too fast."
Yasuo's appearance… does not help with not scaring the man in the least. The soulless white eyes of the Hyuuga blended with long black hair like a reaper's cloak, the skull mask that he wears upon his face, his extreme physique, and the scars upon his body make him look like something out of one's nightmares or a shinigami here collecting souls.
As the man is turned his way, those fierce eyes lock upon the man. "You would do yourself a high favor to tell us what we need to know so you can go about your day," he says as he steps over, bringing his hand up in the man's face as his fingers begin to crackle with lightning. It doesn't quite touch him thanks to Yasuo's chakra control, but it gets rather close. "Tell us all you know about him… and be quick about it."
"AAAGH! I DON'T KNOW! I JUST KNOW HE IS ESCORTED BY A SAMURAI IN WHITE! PLEASE!" The man looked very uncomfortable, partly because the woman's grasp was so tight.
"Right. Samurai in White. That helps." Totoro found the information useless. It wasn't like a scent she could track. The large woman threw the man to the ground, roughly. Enough to have him skid across the ground and likely scrape his skin rather roughly. All the other people who were on the streets seemed to stare. It was like two of the four horsemen, personified, were walking down the street today. To the common citizen who had never seen anyone gifted with either ghostly or barbaric appearance, Death and War had come. "Kill everyone wearing white and anyone following them. We'll get it eventually." Yasuo was probably better at looking for someone described as such. It was unfortunate, however, that one onlooker happened to be wearing white. He looked at his clothing, and suddenly one could see his heart jump. He would find himself running quite quickly. That triggered Totoro, who dashed quick enough to blur her form slightly, grabbing the fleeing person and smashing his head against the wall. This sort of action would not fly in a hidden village. Yet, this is Fuuma in a lawless poor district. "Did I get him?" Totoro wondered, blinking in a confused manner as the man's life drained from his eyes.
(Note: Yasuo used an advanced perception, requesting further information.)
There were thirty-two possible choices, based on the information. Thirty two men wearing white. Of those thirty two men, five were nearby another person. Of those five pairs, one of the pair had one individual wielding a blade of some sort. That was within a two mile radius. Like death finding those whose time had come, Yasuo finds his target sitting at a pond surrounded by shanty-shacks. The Samurai was sharpening his katana, while his partner… A small boy… was skipping stones in the pond. This was likely the target. It seems money really does not distinguish between any person.
As the information they need is finally given, Yasuo brings his hands into a seal and activates his Byakugan, though he doesn't call out its name like most of his clan. He makes no bones about Totoro chasing down that guy in white and smashing his head while he uses his Byakugan to search through the surrounding area to find their target. Upon spotting the target, his eyes return to Totoro just as she asks her question. Yasuo chuckles a bit and shakes his head. "No, you did not," he answers simply enough then turns to begin moving toward their real target. "Stick with me. I know where he is," he says as he goes to move through the shadows toward the samurai and the body, keeping his path concealed save for from Totoro.
Totoro seemed displeased. You could measure the displeasure in how hard she kicked the deceased corpse of the man whose skull she shattered. No regard for someone she killed on whim, or the family she might have caused great pain as a result of her action. No remorse. A result of no childhood guidance. Collateral damage was expected when the hunt was on. As Yasuo took to the alleys, Totoro would not be far behind. All to attack the unsuspecting boy who was hailed as a 'Prince of the People' or some iteration of such.
The boy, still skipping stones as death approached, was telling his escort his dreams. "I'm going to make a Fuuma… Where everyone is equal!" The boy clutched a rock, as his fiery passion could be seen in his face. "Everyone will eat. Everyone will play. Everyone will finally be happy." … His accompanying swordsman, who likely just took pity or saw the boy as someone with ideals that even a ronin could get behind smiled. "I'd like to think that a world like that is possible. You're almost convincing me it's possible…" Maybe… Maybe this boy was worth protecting. Maybe. If there was good like this in the world, then… Maybe there was hope for him. He only had moments to feel good about himself. Two cloaked figures were coming to collect, after all.
"… It seems our bounty is only a child," Yasuo comments in a low tone as they move along. "Probably not worth the kill yet since he won't provide any challenge. We should tear his guards to shred and take him in for the higher bounty. Assuming he doesn't straighten up, he'll have a higher bounty on his head when he's older." As they arrive, he points both his hands forward, sending dual blasts of lighting-charged chakra that look like mini tornadoes of lightning at them, attempting to knock the kid down and blast the samurai back to give Totoro the opening to attack. No warning. No mercy. The one who looks like Death comes in to obliterate, his fierce white eyes looking to the boy. "… Stay down."
The sudden appearance of Yasuo gave the Samurai barely enough time to stand up, and raise his blade. In a desperate attempt to block the technique, he struck his blade to try and part the attack. Only, such an attempt was futile. The Samurai dropped to one knee, and grunted. The lightning surging through his body, he looked up to see if his charge was okay. "Samus… Kid, Run! These aren't normal thugs!" Too late, the little kid was also on the ground, but he did his best to try and fight the draining feeling. "No! I… I'm not going to run from anyone! I… I'm going to make changes!" The boy had enough willpower, amazingly, to stand up and run towards Yasuo. His fist was powered by ideals. All the while, as Totoro likely moved to sate her bloodlust, the Samurai himself gained a short burst of energy himself and reached out to stab the she-wolf.
Totoro rarely ever dodged. Someday it will be her downfall, but for the time being it just proved how little she cared about getting stabbed. "Cute." She grunted as the Samurai's blade punctured her abdomen, heading out of her body through the other side. Totoro had no elan. No real combat skill. The only real advantage she had was having extreme stamina, and relentless personality. Even though the sword ran her though, she did not stop walking forward until she had grabbed the man's head as the sword ran her through. After grabbing his head, there was only one thing to do with it. Drive it into the nearest hardened object. At that very moment, it was a rock… Once, twice, three times. Maybe that was enough.
As the kid runs toward Yasuo, he would run straight into a knee to the face before the Hyuuga drives a palm up to drive the kid into the air and stun him. "You are not ready to make changes, kid. Stay down and live to go somewhere and make something of yourself. Then maybe you'll be able to make changes." He then turns his head to look toward Totoro as she lets herself get run through and shakes his head. Assuming the samurai is trained enough to not be killed by being driven against a rock, Yasuo flickers over and drives a palm up to his jaw to send him reeling into the air just like he did the boy to open him up for whatever annihilation Totoro feels like dealing out to him.
The boy was clearly on the verge of death, for just a simple physical must have given him deep wounds and the upper cut to the boy's chin both send him skyward and disabled and disoriented him thanks to the tenketsu shock. His eyes glazed over, and he hit the ground soon after. The very same happened to the Samurai, only he was far closer to death. Totoro drew the sword from her abdomen, the blade coated in blood, and in the midst of the Samurai's journey through the air, Totoro returned the favor as she injected his own blade into his neck. The Samurai was sent to his grave, choking on the ideals that he was inspired by. Now the little boy would be turned in, and hope would be squashed in Fuuma once more as a local 'hero' was removed from the picture…
Totoro looked at the blade that had run her though, and grunted. "Never using one of these… What was I thinking!" She laughed as she grasped the blade in her hand, bending the samurai tool to an unrepairable angle before throwing it aside. Her hand was bloody from the blade cutting into her palm. She was terribly rusty.
The Yasuo from Konoha may have pretended to care… but that Yasuo is gone. The world is left with this one now. He watches with a smirk as Totoro uses the opening he provided to violently extinguish the samurai and then dishonor him further by bending his blade. He casts a glance over at the boy, figuring he won't be going anywhere for a while and steps over to Totoro. His dark voice rings out simply, "Hold still," as it looks like he goes into an attack against her tenketsu in a flurry of strikes. Rather than close off her chakra, however, it pushes healing chakra through her seals up her wounded abdomen as well as her other injuries. He might have considered just letting her recover from the wound normally, but a wound like that to the abdomen can cause one to bleed out or be otherwise problematic, so he's just taking care of it before it slows them down in their journey on their path of broken bodies.
Totoro was confused. Rapid movements attacking her? She would attack back, by thrusting her own fist into Yasuo's abdomen. "What do you think is the big idea, hitting me like that!?" Wasn't any stronger than Yasuo's flurry of punches, but didn't feel as good either. "Are you turn-coating against me to take all the pay!? I thought you were better than that!" Totoro groaned, feeling a little betrayed. Hey, he didn't explain himself! She's pretty forward too. Despite the small misunderstanding, Yasuo would find that the target's defenses were neutralized, and he was ready to be turned in. What happened to him then was a matter of the the bounty's poster…
Yasuo chuckles as Totoro starts to strike him, sidestepping around her and grabbing her wrists to criss-cross them and basically hug her from behind while avoiding damage. "… I suppose I forgot to tell you that my medical jutsu looks offensive but actually heals you," he says with a smirk behind that mask. "Look where you wounds were. They're gone. I didn't want you bleeding out on me while we're going to collect our reward." With that he'd release her and walk over toward their bounty, pulling some rope from a pocket on his pants to bind the kid up then hoist him over his shoulder. "Let's go."
"GYAAAH boba off!" Totoro would break from his grasp, or did he let her? Anyways, she would hiss at him in a feral manner. "Don't fool me like that. Give me a warning. I've been falconed over hundreds of times out of the blue like that. The last times were definitely not healing 'attacks'." Totoro takes a deep breath as she reaches behind her and takes out a shovel she had hanging at her back. "You go on ahead. I'm burying this one right here. I always bury my prey, if I don't eat my prey." She gave him a dismissive wave as she went to doing what she had done for the people she respected in the Land of Rivers. She dug a grave…
