Starring:
Date: August 3, 2015
Summary:
Out on patrol, a group of genin stumble across something that looks like the deadly Red mist and go to investigate.
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Rise of the Red Mist - False Mist (Part 1)"
Sandy Expanse - Eastern Desert [Land of Wind]
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The deserts of the Land of Wind appear to be a barren, waterless, plantless, lifeless wasteland to most people. There actually IS life here, and water can be found as well if one knows where to look and how to gather it. However, the fact remains that the desert is an inhospitable place to be without protection. The Eastern Desert is the great, barren expanse that lies between the border of the Land of Wind's border with the Land of Rivers, and the Hidden Sand Village.
Sunagakure lies to the west, and the border lies generally eastwards. North is empty desert.
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Since those of Sunagakure have been warned away from the ruins to the north and east, most of the patrols that contained genin were made in a way such that their paths would not chance upon the ruins. Arika is on one such patrol with Ping and Jiro accompanying her. Ping, of course, is in charge. "Remember, we're not only on a patrol, we also have to check up on some of the nomads along the way, should we pass any, and make sure they have their alarm systems up when it comes to the ruins," he says, trudging along with Arika just in front of him.
Jiro is on the patrol because, well, where Arika go he goes. That's just a fact of life these days. And one he doesn't mind at all. Now that he's all of nine years old he attempts to be much more attentive on his missions because he's 'older'. Older maybe, but not wiser. The boy is watching the surroundings as they go, following behind Ping who is behind Arika, trying to watch everything as he walks. "Don' worry, I'll protect ya both." He says with a serious expression.
Arika huffs faintly at Jiro. "I can protect myself, Jiro-kun!" she grumbles. "And I'll be the one protecting you!" The girl shoots Jiro a look that says 'gonna argue?' over her shoulder and proceeds to make her way forward. "But I don't really see anything…" she notes, squinting her eyes so she can peer out at the sands. There really wasn't that much to look at. Ping gives a small sigh. "Even though you've lived in the desert, Ikitara-san, you still don't remember that not everything is obvious. There are things that travel beneath the sand while some travel high in the skies."
Jiro just snorts indignantly at Arika's proclamation but he doesn't argue. After all, mission, patrol, important, paying attention. When Ping points out the subtelties of the various types of dangers in the desert he nods a little. "Yea', I remember my parents pointin' things out that ya normally wouldn't see when I was little." Well, little-er.
Arika grumbles. "I knew that!" she huffs, grumbling softly because she actually didn't. ~Hehehe…. Baka…~ rumbles that voice. 'Urusai!' "Well, I still don't see anything, either way. There's nothing up, and there's nothing down. And I don't see anything from side to side, either. So what'm I even looking for? There's nothing there!" she huffs, still irritated by the other two's matter-of-fact-ness.
Ping gives a chuckle. "If you focus long and hard enough, you might notice the twin trails left by snakes in the sand. Or maybe the scuttling feet of scorpions. And if you'll notice there's no wind, which I'm sure you can do, Ikitara-san, you might find that a dust cloud is more telling of another's presence…"
There isn't much for Jiro to add as Ping goes over some of the signs one looks for on a desert patrol. One would think she'd know at least some of it already but, well, they weren't exactly raised the same way. She had been a bit more sheltered for various reasons than Jiro had, although being on the streets for a few years tends to teach you even more about things to look out for, both inside and outside of the Village.
Arika peers around, trying to find something, anything, of interest. However, nothing appears to her, and that tiny little dust cloud in the distance is really difficult to see from far away. Well, the good news is that Ping sees it, and he points it out to the duo. "There. That might be a group we can alert. But we need to be careful in case their hostile or something." "Hai…" comes Arika's irritated voice, the girl grumbling because she feels like she failed /again/.
Jiro pauses when Ping points out something in the distance and he puts a hand above his eyes to block out the sun. "Huh, yea', I see it." He mutters, then shrugs a bit before looking to Ping. He's in charge. The boy is just there to patrol and look pretty. One of which, at least, he's doing well.
Out on a patrol of tbeir own, Malik and Mei approach the location of Jiro and Arika at a run. Malik's keen eyesight had seen the small group earlier and was going to see what was going on. As always, Sinbad is in the sky above them, streaking towards them as well. The falcon, being much faster, will reach the group long before Malik does. But Arika and Jiro know him well enough to see just who it is, and that it means Malik isn't too far away.
Jiro was watching the direction that Ping had pointed still before finally noticing the appearance of a falcon in the sky. The boy blinked and raised his hand as he turned his head to shade the sun as he looked higher up. A grin splits his features when he recognizes the bird and, while he doesn't exactly show the same enthusiasm as Arika, he does look fairly happy with the arrival. Too bad there's really no place to hide. Oh well, the normal greeting will have to be forgotten for now.
Malik turns his head to face Mei. "Yeah. It's Jiro, Arika, and Ping. But they're not what I'm worried about. You might not be able to see it, but there is some sort of haze that way." He points towards it with his finger. "And the other group is heading right for it. We need to catch up with them before they get there. It's not a trick of the desert heat, I know that much." Meanwhile, Sinbad pinwheels in the air and descends towards Arika and Jiro. Landing on the sand in front of them, the bird hops from one foot to the other while pointing his wing towards the hazy disturbance. Unfortunately, Malik isn't there just yet to interpet for them. Though the duo might know that this is not normal behavior.
Mei made a polite bow towards Jiro and Arika. She had a friendly smile on her face but it was lost under the shawl. Which was a pleasant shade of pink, making the look less threatening. "You sure it's not some fata morgana. We've been running through the desert for a while now. Maybe it's just the heat." Mei said. Picking up her pace however. She was, like Malik, rather safe than sorry.
Arika tilts her head a bit as Sinbad makes all these odd gestures, trying to figure out just what it is he's saying. Eventually, though, something clicks. This may or may not be because she had to deal with the silent-Jiro for the longest of times, as well as another who didn't like to talk. Her gaze shifts to the haze that's before them, and she frowns a bit. "Hnn…" she mumbles, wondering if it's just like that red mist that was at the ruins. They were far from those, though, so how could it be?
Ping frowns as well as he notices the haze, making a handseal. "Kai…" is muttered, but nothing changes in his vision. So it was no genjutsu, at least. But what was it, anyway? The man didn't know, which made him more cautious than before. "Let's wait for the other two to arrive…" he suggests.
"'ey Sinbad." Jiro greets the ninken once he's landed nearby. When the bird starts to dance and hop around he tilts his head slightly. "Uh…potty?" He asks after a moment, remembering what some of the Students had looked like when they were trying to hold it in. "We're ou'side can'cha just go somewhere?" He asks, seeming mightily confused.
Sinbad gets even more animated until it looks like Arika notices what he's trying to point out. When Jiro asks him if he's got to potty, the bird gives him a deadpan look before floating up to perch on his shoulder and swifty slapping him with his wing in the back of his head. Then he points again in the same direction. Meanwhile, Malik and Mei reach the group at this point. Malik's lower face is covered with his mask and his hood is up, making only his eyes visible. "Hey, we got something bad coming. I don't know what it is, but I know it's not a mirage." He takes a moment to catch his breath before nudging Mei softly and pointing. "Can you see it now?"
Mei nodded in the direction Malik was pointing her towards. "Yes I can see it. It looks like red dust." She says, having no clue what that would mean. She looked at Arika and her escort. Before looking back in the distance. "Do you think we should report it, or investigate?" She asked. Since Malik wasn't the only one seeing it, she was a little more worried now. Opening up her umberella to provide herself and Malik with some shade. As she tried to squint and see exactly what was going on over there.
Arika blinks. "Something bad…" She glances at Jiro and looks like she also wants to hit him, but Sinbad does the job for her. "I think we should report it… If it really is red. But we should double check that it is," she says aloud. Ping shakes his head a bit. "No, we should stay far from it. Hayato-san, could you please send your hawk to explore from up high? Report to us what it seems to be. If it's not truly red, then I think we should look into it further. Otherwise, we need to report this right away."
Jiro just watches Sinbad as the bird alights on his shoulder, then blinks when he's wing slapped in the back of the head. "Hey…" He mutters, using the opposite arm to run the back of his head while he grins faintly. "I was just makin' sure." He says with a bit of a mischievous gleam in his eyes. When Malik and Mei come near he gives them a little wave, trying to make sure he doesn't upset the birdy balance. He waits and listens to the others while not really volunteering anything himself.
Malik grins at Jiro. "Hey, bro. He gets impatient when he's trying to tell you something." He then turns to look at the mist himself. "I don't see what's so dangerous about it. Besides, there's nothing to report if we don't go take a look." He nods at Ping before lifting his forearm. Sinbad moves from Jiro's shoulder to hop onto it. Malik and Sinbad stare into each other's eyes for a moment before he sends the bird back into the air. Sinbad makes his way above the mist and circles above it, using body language and different levels of sound to tell Malik what he's found.
Mei let out a long sigh as people's opinions seems divided. Malik had a point. We saw red isn't exactly the most detailed report they could bring out. Then again, maybe the fact that it's so out of the ordinary and they were just genin should have been an indication that they might have to bring a more trained ninja into this. She looked at Malik, a little worried as she let her eyes get used to her surroundings. "It could be a jutsu. We've heard of Gold and Dust, red … Something isn't too far fetched is it?"
Malik, through Sinbad, would be able to report that the mist, while sometimes red, was mostly clear or even rainbow-hued. It's likely due to the way the light shines on it that it appeared red to Mei. Arika watches Sinbad take flight, grinning just a bit despite the grumbles her inner self is having. The young girl glances over to Mei and Malik, waving cheerfully to greet them as well. "Hi, Ma-kun! Mei-chan!"
Ping shakes his head. "There's been reports of red mist. From the ruins. Amaro-San and Ikitara-San discovered it with a team by the ruins, and it appears to have a draining effect. It didn't reach them from the air last time, which is why I asked for Sinbad to be used."
Jiro just grins toothily up at Malik when he explains Sinbads poor attitude. "Yea' well I know the feelin'." He tells the pair before once more falling silent as he waits for the report back. He does watch the rest of their surroundings as he waits, just to make sure nothing sneaks up on them while they're all looking in a different direction.
Malik is silent the entire time Sinbad is inspecting the mist. After a moment, he turns towards the group. "Sinbad says that it's not really red but more like a rainbow color. It's sort of acting like a prisim in that it's refracting the sunlight into other colors, red included. So, I say we go see exactly what it is. It's got my curiosity piqued, to say the least." He looks around. "What do you guys say? Ping?" He looks over at the older shinobi.
Mei looks at Ping in unsion with Malik. Reaching for her water-bag and taking a large swig before looking back at the haze. "Honestly if it's draining I'd say we don't go near it." Was her input while she kind of joined Jiro. Who was looking in the other direction. He seemed to have the right idea. "Let's not be reckless." She concludes. While trying to see what Jiro was looking at. "Just doing rear-guard or did something catch your gaze?" She asked. Focusing on her surroundings.
Jiro won't notice much. Nope, nothing of interest over there. Literally nothing. Ping furrows his brow as he thinks, the man unsure here. From the sounds of it, the mist here wasn't the red stuff that the team had dealt with a while back. It was something else. "I think we should check it out. It seems this isn't the red mist that we know, so it should be fine. But just in case… Ikitara-san, send a clone back to the village and report this in case we need backup. Better safe than sorry, indeed…"
Arika nods and makes a single seal, clone forming with a *POOF* of smoke as it dashes away back towards Suna. "Let's go explore, then!" she says with a grin, eager to see what just is going on.
"Jus' bein' safe." Jiro says softly before looking back to Mei with a big smile. "Dun wanna have someone sneakin' up on us." He adds before looking around once more, then towards the sand or mist or whatever. He nods at the mention of exploring. He actually wants to. But then he's a little crazy. He waits for the others to lead the way as he prepares to pick up the rear again.
Malik nods. "Well, alright then, bros. Let's go." He tosses an arn around Mei's shoulders and lowers his mask enough to kiss her cheek before moving towards the mist, or whatever it was. He nudges Jiro. "I don't think the others appreciate our inquisitive nature, little bro. If there's trouble, we'll just deal with it, right?" Sinbad calls out from above before moving to land gently on Mei's shoulder. Something that she's probably used to by now.
Mei couldn't help but blush a bit. Turning her face so she could half return the peck before moving along with Malik. Barely even noticing Sinbad using her as a perch. She actually felt a little safer with her friend there. "So kick it really hard. I love it when you get all fancy." She teased. Before focusing on the task at hand. Moving over next to Arika as they started moving.
The quintet would start making their way to this strange rainbow mist, which is actually a fair distance away. The fact that they're in the desert can make distances deceiving, no? Arika sighs as she wanders alongside Ping, the girl just making her way forward with the Jounin guard while others seek out whatever it is they hope to find. She looks around with squinty eyes, but admittedly can't tell if they're even getting closer. Eventually, though, they come across … a sand-colored building! It seems to be the thing that's making the rainbow mist, too, as there's some haze around a pipe that extends from the side of the house (pointing up like a sort of chimney).
Jiro makes an ick face when Malik and Mei kiss, "Gross! Stop doin' that!" He says, shaking his head quickly. What is it with old people and kissing anyways? He just makes another face and follows along after the others, trying to avoid looking at Mei and Malik just in case they do something gross again. As they near the house he pauses to see what he can see. What the heck is it that's making all that…mist and haze?
Malik grins at Jiro. "Little, bro. When you're older, trust me. You'll want to kiss a girl." Okay sometimes he does it just to get a rise out of Jiro. It's payback for his 'greetings' that he likes to do all the time. As they get closer, he can see the building and the stuff coming out of it. "I've been all over this desert, and I've never seen anything like that before. Who do you guys think might live there? And do you think they're friendly?"
Mei follows alongside Arika. Covering her mouth and nose with the thin veil she often wears. Usually made to stop sand, making it more of a placebo than an actual solution. "I don't think we should go in there. It could be dangerous." Mei says. Looking around at the rest of the group. "What if the haze is poisonous?" She stops for a moment. Looking at Ping, the oldest guy in the group. And then to Malik, the one she actually trusts the most. "Unless one of you knows a wind jutsu strong enough to make a path I'd say we report this and call it a day." She was also of a half a mind to twap the back of Jiro's head but decides against it. Instead she makes a little note in her mental notebook of twaps. Buried but not forgotten. She throws Malik a brief look. "Strange secluded house, weird ominous haze. And you're still considering them to potentially be friendly? My god you truly do see the best in people." Mei says, smiling. It's clear she likes that about Malik. It's also clear she has no intention of being the one to make the call to go any closer!
"I can do that!" Arika tells Mei, making a handseal to gather wind chakra to her feet. Then she makes another handseal, a clone poofing next to her. Looks like the other one was done delivering the message! The two Arika look at each other with a grin, then they nod and leap up, performing a roundhouse kick in the air that blows away the entirety of the haze! Well, that was easy… Arika lands in the sand, clone gone, and turns to look at her friends. "Let's go!"
Hey Jiro is all about checking this out! He isn't going to let some weird hazy misty junk stop him! Plus this will help distract him from that ugly disgusting kissy thing the other two were doing. He can't get it's nastiness out of his braaaaain! "Yea', le's go." He agrees, pulling off his sash and pulling it around behind his neck so it's at hand. Ya know, just in case.
Malik looks at Mei, "You're out-voted babe. Besides, it'll be fine. I promise." He leans in and kisses her again…mostly to mess with Jiro. Then he puts his mask up on the lower part of his face and pulls up his hood. He slips his recurve bow off his back and walks towards the door. "Jiro and I will take point. Mei, you and Arika be ready to back us up should something go wrong." Walking up to the door, he does what anyone else would do. He knocks on the door, hard. "Hey, anyone home?"
Mei was silently hoping no one could. Being inquistive is one thing. Has no one here heard any of the child stories. This is probably inhabited by a witch of some kind. Or something… Or worse, not something! Luckily Jiro's chipper words and go-lucky walk towards what to her seemed like a death-trap calmed her nerves a bit. "So, who's kno-…. Ofcourse he is." She rolls her eyes before straightening her back. Collecting some of her chakra. Ready to respond if need be.
Knock knock! Who's there? An old man! What? Yeah, there's an old man at the door staring suspiciously at the group of Genin. Where did Ping go? Exploring, perhaps. He always disappears at the worst times, y'know! The man suddenly says in a very deep voice, "Passsssword," extending that s like some kinda snake.
Arika gathers a bit more chakra, this time enough for a fight, and gets ready to go in with her guns (Kunai) blazing! She falters a bit upon seeing the old man, though. Why was he here? She shoots a questioning look at Mei, wondering if this is even more suspicious that they thought. After all, passwords mean there are secrets!
Jiro blanches when Malik kisses Mei again and he makes a sound like he might hurl. Gross old people. And then they reach the door and it's even /older/ people. What the heck. "Passwor'?" Jiro asks, looking over to Malik with a confused expression, wondering if he knows what's going on. "Uh, clam chowder?" He asks, looking back at the old old man again.
Malik seems to be at a loss for what the password might be. He looks at Jiro and shrugs slightly before holding up a finger towards the old man. "One moment." He then turns around to look at Arika and Mei. "Listen, we've probably only got one shot at this. Anyone have any ideas what the password might be?" He looks back at the old man. "I mean..he's old. I wouldn't want to put an arrow in him."
Cl… What desert folk would have clam chowder as their password!? Mei scoffs for a moment as she observed the man. And the building. And the doorway. "Sanguine?" She says, lacking a little bit of confidence in her voice. But recalling the color of the haze around the building. Red was too simple. So this was the first thing that came to mind.
The old man says, "No, we don't have clam chowder. What do you think we are, boy?" He's a bit irritated… "What the $#*? is Sanguine? You kids …" he face palms. "One more chance, and make it good," he grumbles, being lenient. Because kids have poor memories, right? Yeah, right!
Arika stares at the man and glances back at Jiro and co. "I think it's red," she says with a nod, looking at the others for a sort of confirmation. They only had one shot at this, so they better make it good! As Malik so kindly pointed out.
Jiro grumbles a bit as he looks at the others before turning and stomping up to the man, raising a fist at him. "The passwor's let us in b'fore I punch ya in the nose so hard yet gonna smell yer teeth!" He threatens in all his mighty glory, tiny fist shaking up at the man blocking their entrance.
Malik rapidly puts a hand over Jiro's mouth and says to the old man. "Don't mind him. He was dropped on his head as baby." He pulls Jiro around in fron of him and looks at Arika. "If you think that's it, then you go ahead and tell him." He releases Jiro and says, "You got to learn to calm down, little bro. Something tells me that if he try to force our way in there, it's not going to be as easy as you think."
Mei seems to think. Eyes darting left and right. She heard Arika but didn't comment. Red clothing, a sun. And then it - dawned - on her. She interrupts Arika if she has to. DAWN." She says firmly. "The password, is dawn." She smiles, looking at the man, hopefully she's right. Because his teeth kind of depend on it. Or their safety. Neither of which she's prefer to put on the line if it can be avoided.
The man stares at the group of people for a bit. Then sighs. Okay, that confirmed it. These kids weren't all that bright. Also, they didn't belong here. As much as he hated killing kids, orders were orders. The man shuts the door, blocking his hands from view so he can go through a series of handseals that make the ground shake a little before opening up into a huge chasm! Ahhhh! Sadly, the chasm is a bit too wide for anyone to actually /not/ fall. The only thing they can do is soften the landing.
Jiro continues trying to talk around Malik's hand when the older boy covers his mouth, which in turn earns the boy a nasty glare. He's about to say something else when the ground starts to quake and he lets out a yelp of surprise as it disappears beneath him. Without thinking he channels chakra through the cloth so that it flairs out above him and holds very much in a parachute that he holds onto. Whew…
When Malik feels the ground shake, he was about to leap clear before the bottom gave out and he begins to fall. Manuvering his body in mid-air, he directs himself towards one of the walls, where he plants his hands and feet in an efffor to slow himself down. Sinbad, seeing the group fall, goes into a dive and flies down. The bird grips the back of Malik's vest and extends his wings, trying to help further slow his progress.
Mei drives herself to the side. Focusing on the wall next to herself. Before weaving a set of seals. Solidifying the earth and dust around her in a crystal ball with little space inside. Causing it to roll down the side of one of the walls. The impact was harsh. But the tight crystal ball protected her from most of the shock as the ball opens like a coccoon of a catepillar.
As for Arika, the girl waits until the ground is several hundred feet below her before making a handseal. The very air she uses seems to gather at her feet, pushing the ground away and slowing her rapid descent until she's falling at a less dangerous pace. The process is repeated over and over again until she hits the ground, looking around to make sure everyone is okay. Malik succeeded in slowing his descent thanks to Sinbad and can simply hop off the wall once he's several feet from the ground. Jiro might have felt like his arm sockets were yanked out, but he eventually floats down safely, too. Poor Mei might have had the roughest landing, but that crystal shield she made took the impact nicely, even making a small crater.
Surprisingly, it was light down here. There were torches, and apparently they were in… a cage. A prison cell! The ground above closes up, the man from before being a Sasaki of the Path of Earth, and they're given the opportunity to look upon a deserted chamber! It doesn't look like it's been touched in a while, really. It looks like a laboratory.
Jiro winces after he lands as one of his arms just kinda flops uselessly to his side. Shoulder popped out of his socket. About what he gets for causing trouble right. Gritting his teeth against the pain of his limp arm he holds his cloth in one hand and walks up to the cage bars. "Wha' the heck's this place!"
Malik takes a moment to look around himself. He sees Jiro's arm and walks over to check it out. "Little bro..this is going to hurt." Taking his arm, he yanks on it to pop it back into it's socket. Then he binds the arm close to his chest so that it remains immobile. With that done, he turns to see their situation. "Looks like they're planning on keeping us here. Anyone got any ideas? Mei, you have any kind of jutsu that can get us out of here?"
Mei cleared her throat and looks up. "I can move earth. But this is a lot of sand. And it's heavy as snickerdoodle. Nothing like the moistened earth near the well. Even if I could it'd take me a long time." Mei says while looking at Malik. "Besides, you're the one who insisted on knocking. Why don't - you - get us out smartypants." She says. Clearly a bit irked by the choice of action. And lacking the years of experience to know not to get angry during a mission at stuff like that.
Arika rubs at her eyes as if that'll help with the darkness, and she looks around curiously. "Umm… D'you think we could slip through the bars?" she asks, holding an arm out between them to try. She can't quite make it since she's a bit bigger than the bars, sadly… Meh. "I bet we could break the bars if we tried hard enough!" she says hopefully, though that might not be the case.
Jiro is a little annoyed by the predicament to hear what Malik says and he starts to ask him just what he said when the shoulder is jolted back in. He lets out a loud yelp of pain as dots dance in front of his eyes. It takes him a few seconds to clear his head and then he just looks grimly at Malik and nods. "Than's…" he says before turning back to the bars. Part of the benefit of being a street rat if being small. Jiro looks at the bars before he decides to at least try. He shoves one arm and leg through before he slowly tries to force his body through.
Malik turns to Mei. "Now is not the time to blame me for this." He sighs under the mask before placing both hands on her cheeks. "I know you're scared. And honestly, so am I. But we can't panic. Remember our training. We'll get through this." He briefly leans his forehead against hers for a moment before he turn towards Jiro, only to see him going through the bars. Malik looks at Sinbad. "Go with him and keep an eye out." Sinbad lifts a wing in a bird salute and goes to squeeze through the bars next to Jiro.
Mei looks into Malik's eyes. Damnit, he's right. And idiot, but right. "Fine, I'll give you shit when we get home." She says. But revealing a small smile when her forehead hits his. It helped, he helped. A lot. "Lets get out of here." She reaffirms before considering their options. "Hang on…" She says. Moving over to some of the bars, gently putting her hands on two right besides each-other. Slowly covering them in crystal. It takes her a good two minutes. But when they're covered and converted into crystal, she takes a deep breath.
Her clan, they can turn anything inanimate into crystal. And once it is crystal. It can be manipulated….
And just like that, the bars begin to bend forward, slowly starting to create an opening. Mei has by no means mastered her clans ability. And it took a lot from her to manipulate this much, against such resistance! But she did try.
Jiro and Sinbad, thanks to their size, are able to slip through the bars. See, sometimes it's good to be small, Jiro! Arika, Malik, and Mei are stuck in the cage… until Mei does something fancy with her crystals. The girl perks up a bit and says, "Nice job, Mei-chan!" as she scrambles outside the cage now that the bars are a bit more bent. Malik and Mei might have to wait a bit longer unless Mei made the opening big enough for the older teens.
Outside of the cage, the smaller trio would have a lot to explore. There were blueprints, sketches, drawings, and maps all over a table. Next to the table was a strange machine that was working very hard at what it was doing. It looked fairly new despite the fact that everything else looked pretty ancient (including the guard!). Arika blinks at everything and tries to absorb the information, but it's a bit much. "This's weird," she says. "I don't get it at all."
Jiro looks back after slipping through and grins a bit when he sees Arika get out too. Since Mei seems to have the bars well in hand Jiro turns to go with Arika and look at all the stuff with a confused look for a moment before shaking his head. Screw it, they need an exit. That's what he starts looking for, holding the cloth in his non-injured hand just in case he needs it.
Malik, being the bigger of all of them, had to wait before he could get out. But he does say with a grin. "Nice job, Mei!" He looks very pround of her. And despite the fact that she'll be yelling at him later, he hugs her from behind for a moment before trying to see what the trio outside are looking at. Sinbad hops up on the table and looks at the stuff as well. Then he looks from Jiro to Arika and has a look on his face like: What do you expect me to do? I can't read..I'm a bird.'
Mei continued bending the bars. Occasionally taking a break to breathe and regain some strength. "When this is done. You're totally carrying me home." she says towards Malik. Sweatdrops on her forehead. Continuing to work the cage. She had to get out, and fast, best to stay as a team in case the old man comes back. "Instead of staring at it. Just roll it up and take it with you!" She advises. Before suddenly…. POP!
"Hai!" Arika says, taking the strange blueprints and rolling them up. She puts them in a pouch (they're gonna get ruined!) for safe-keeping and grabs some other papers that looked important while Jiro looked for an exit. Malik and Mei would eventually escape thanks to Mei's abilities, and the quartet would be able to escape! Because Jiro totally was able to find the exit that didn't seem suspicious. Yay, chance!
Yay freedom, woohoo! Jiro manages to find the exit and leads them all out. He's going to remember that old man though and knock some of his teeth out! Later…when his shoulder doesn't hurt so much…
Malik gets out and takes a moment to breathe some fresh desert air. He turns to look at where hey came from. "We report this to our superiors, and we give them the papers that we found. Then we're coming back here and I'm not going to be in such a good mood next time." His eyes narrow under his hood. They had hurt his little brother and somebody was going to pay for it by becoming his personal pin cushion. He kneels down on the sand and motions for Mei to climb onto his back. "I'll carry you home, honey."
Mei chuckled and pats Malik's shoulder. Catching her breath. Sliding away some sweat. "Don't think it'll get you out of trouble either." She says. Swatting his ass before starting to walk. She was clearly tired. But until she literally couldn't walk anymore, especially today. She was going to deny him the chivalrous oppertunity, prefering to walk by herself… Well, not exactly. A hand snuck out to the side to grab Malik's. Nothing forbids them from fleeing hand in hand!~
