Starring:
Yoichi, Airine
Date: November 20, 2013
Summary:
On a seemingly normal day, Yoichi stands guard at the marketplace in wait for something the village received a tip on coming through the port, and a Genin happens to fall right into it.
"Ice Age - A New Threat"
Land of Water - Marketplace
With the coming of morning, the sun has begun its ascent into the sky to start the day. The marketplace is rather busy at the moment, a multitude of people trying to get what they need early so they can get on with the day. Among them stands a member of the Seven Swordsmen with his arms folded over his chest, keeping an eye out for something perhaps. Whatever it is, he seems to be looking sternly as he awaits its arrival. Were one to notice, the mist in this area is slightly thicker than the rest of the island, perhaps indicating that he is keeping a watch to one with the ability to sense his chakra in that mist.
Clear days were boring… They were hardly the days that Airine looked forward to on a regular basis. She liked the rainy days. Those were fun, when she could just pull out her guitar and play anywhere she felt like, whether there was a river running through or not… The rain made her favorite passtime that much easier. However, today was not one of those days, and that meant that she had to go out into the wilderness to do any major practicing… and it was awfully hard to come by food out there, so she had made her way into the marketplace to find herself some dinner that she could eat a little later in the day!
Her search for food took her on a winding path that eventually led her to the fish market, where the terrible scent of.. well… fish, assaulted her nose. Airine sighed loudly as she made her way into the area, her steps faltering as she suddenly considered not going any further… surely there were better foods somewhere else in the marketplace… sweeter foods… Fruits even!
She did a quick mental check of the map in her head and frowned. There were fruits, yes… but they were on the other side of the fish market. Why had they been put somewhere so far away? That seemed awfully bothersome… But it seemed that her only course of action was to brave the terrible smell of the fish market, fight the dangers of the fishermen trying to push her wares on her, and make it to the other side where her reward of sweet, delicious fruits awaited!
And so she was off! Ducking under people and dodging through the crowds on her way to her goal, a look of determination on her face! … Or maybe it was a look of holding her breath, it was easy to mix up those two expressions.
She had apparently not taken any note of Yoichi at all! Of coruse, to her, he was just another face among many. It wasn't as if she actually paid any attention when important people came through the village or said things, or were given awards or parades or anything… did the village even do parades? She didn't know, she'd have to look at up later when she had the time.
Yoichi's form is as stone as he continues to wait for whatever it is he's waiting for. His eyes narrow a bit as he simply patiently stands as if keeping guard at the market. No one is given a greeting of any sort, most who would appear to start to greet him given a mere glance before his eyes would turn back ahead. His anti-social attitude helps a bit in a situation where he has to keep an eye out and can't afford to get distracted.
Coming off a ship toward the fish marketplace, an old man adorned in rather tattered-looking clothes moves with a small cart that seems to be loaded down with fish. Thus far, no one has really taken notice of him, as he doesn't seem to be selling anything exotic or interesting, just a normal load of fish that he's carrying in be sold.
Airine tries to keep track of the crowds as she holds her breath, but it becomes increasingly difficult as she gets further and further into the market. She dodges past a pair of students at the last second, only to find herself tripping over the foot of some random chuunin in the crowds, and falling forward, face first, into the side of the cart of fish being rolled through the crowd!
She gives a raspy squeaking scream as the cart moves beneath the weight of her body, and then comes back down… Her body weight wasn't enough to knock it over, that would have been silly! However, the cart's own weight as it came down on it's wheel was another story, and a particularly poorly made section of the wooden wheel snaps loudly, just as Airine hops backward again, away from the danger of disgusting fish!
As the cart rolls out of control, Yoichi would blink at the bit of chaos. Though he almost ignores it, he feels a chakra on the cart as Airine hops back that does not belong to the girl as the old man chases the cart… with much more speed than his appearance would let on that he should have. As this happens, a couple of men out of the crowd start chasing it as well, then a few more. Whatever is inside, more than one person appears to be involved in its transport and now trying to recover it.
With a crackle of lightning, Yoichi would seem to vanish into thin air to appear about ten yards ahead of the cart. He holds his hands forward, quickly changing them into the form of a sledgehammer head and a shield. The shield, he holds forward to start slowing the cart down before striking at each wheel to knock them off with the hammer in an attempt to bring the cart skidding to a halt in front of him… Though that is successful, as the Swordsman looks up from this task, he notices he is now surrounded by a dozen men staring at him a bit nervously but seeming prepared to fight.
Airine blinks a bit, watching the cart fly through the crowd… and then get both it's wheels shattered by some random guy with a hammer. She doesn't move for a long moment, watching everything that's going on all of a sudden, as the man is surrounded by OTHER men… Her brow furrows a little… What exactly was going on here?
She had to assume that there was something about that cart… Though exactly what was up with the cart was anyone's guess. She was hesitant to move from the spot, watching the dozen or so men surround the first one, apparently about to start a fight… in the fish market no less.
Suddenly she slips her guitar off of her back and plays a quick succession of notes, shutting her eyes tightly as she plays off of the presence of moisture in the air to try and call for help from someone more… official, than she is. She had no idea what was going down, but it couldn't have been very good, and it seemed like a good idea to bring other shinobi, more EXPERIENCED shinobi in to help deal with things.
~ Something is going on, I don't know what ~
~ Men are fighting in the Fish market ~
~ I can't tell who's friend and who's foe ~
~ Seems like a job for a hero ~
The sound echoes off of the fog, extending out into the market and the streets beyond, hopefully it'd reach someone before things really got out of hand…
As the song echoes out, Yoichi would shout out a command of his own. "All civilians, evacuate this area immediately!" He then looks around at the men surrounding him, reaching back to draw his blades as he says, "You can all surrender quietly and come with me, or your incapacitated bodies can be dragged in for questioning. Your choice." He quickly gets his answer as a throwing knife is lobbed at the back of his head.
Not even seeing to attempt to dodge, his head would splatter upon impact!.. Into water that quickly reforms as his head in perfect condition. "I suppose we'll have to do it this way then," his stoic voice rings out as lightning crackles from his blades while he ducks incoming strikes and more blades, taking on the form of a pair of whips that lash out and strike a couple of the men. Their bodies seize a bit before falling to the ground as their comrades continue to attack.
Airine blinks as the 'Civilians' retreat from the area… she wasn't sure if she qualified, since she was TECHNICALLY a Kirigakure genin, and that gave her non-civilian status, but at the same time, she wasn't entirely sure that she wanted to stick around… she'd probably be in the way… But still, 12 on one wasn't exactly a fair fight… and she DID already have a weapon out, even if it didn't look like one. Maybe she could serve as a distraction if nothing else.
She looks back down at her guitar and then strikes the strings with her fingers, creating a steady hum as she worked her chakra through the strings, and then struck once more, playing a melody on her guitar… All of a sudden she directed the sound waves and shot them off with every swipe of her fingers over the strings, while the water gathering around her provided a convenient harmony and rhythm to her impromptu music.
The directed sound waves would be aimed at the backs of the unsuspecting twelve who were attacking the hammer-man, cutting through the air in a way that would have left clear lacerations in the skin of the attackers if they didn't notice in time… It wouldn't have killed them, or even incapacitated them, but it might distract them long enough for Yoichi to handle them easier! And then maybe some help would come in to make sure she didn't get herself killed over this!
As the music continues, the men ignore it for the most part, at least until the sound waves actually start to do damage to them somehow. Those it hits would look back at her enraged. However, her plans works splendidly as suddenly eight more tails of lightning sprouts from each sword and start whipping around to strike at all the members of this group. Bodies start to seize and fall limp to the ground as they are rendered useless for the time being.
Once he's sure all the men are down, Yoichi would stand upright and re-sheath the Kiba blades before turning to the downed cart. He quickly starts pushing loads off fish off the cart to reveal a set of three large crates. Opening the lid, he would lift an eyebrow at what he finds… Shards of some sort of gems and metal… Weapons… Armor… This is what that chakra signature was coming from? As he looks these things over, Yoichi suddenly feels something coming… something massive… A jutsu?! A there's not enough time to put up a good enough defense from this thing… Quickly reaching forward, Yoichi would grab a few shards of the gems and metal along with a couple of kunai from the carts and stuff them in a pocket while a massive orb of glimmering white forms in the sky above the marketplace.
The orb seem to grow more unstable with frost emitting around it as it plummets toward the ground until it strikes and lets out a massive wave of icy wind to freeze all occupants of the area in place along with the area itself. It looks as if a massive blizzard went through the area, freezing everything including people. "Such useless little men," a smooth, enchanting voice would ring out as a black-haired woman in somewhat regal-looking attire, including a thick fur winter coat, appears by Yoichi in front of the cart. A set of six more figures then appear by her, completely shrouded in black gis and masks as they close the lids on the crates then vanish into thin air. "It would seem they can't even quietly move a package properly without setting off an alarm to this village," she says as she turns to Yoichi, placing a hand on his frozen cheek. "Pity. Their boss will have to make this up to me," she says before she would vanish into thin air, unless somehow impeded.
The music suddenly stops all of a sudden as the ball of light explodes, paralyzing Airine and keeping her from strumming on the guitar to continue the music… And then everything is gone… the people, the cart, and all those various gemstones and armor and stuff. All that was left was the guy with the hammer… After a moment or two, she finally gets a chance to move and falls to the ground, checking her guitar for damage frantically… once she was convinced that it hadn't been damaged, she shouldered it again and looked back up at hte hammer guy again, tilting her head curiously before standing back to her feet and moving closer. She doesn't speak, but she puts on her best 'concerned' face and hopes that gets her point across.
Finally managing the break free from the ice, Yoichi would quickly move his hands into a seal and thicken the mist in the area immensely before spreading it out in an attempt to track whoever it is that came through here… The delivery boys were fairly benign, probably just goons of some gang, but the new owner of those things is far from it. That woman has something planned… But why would she have them meet here? Did she purposely let Kirigakure know something was coming? This could be leading to a game of distractions. There could have even been a bigger shipment somewhere else.
"We've got to let the Mizukage know what happened here," the Swordsman says, his stoic voice seeming slightly shaken for once before he would vanish with a crackle of lightning. Apparently he meant he was going to run like crazy to report what's going on rather than actually wait for her to come along.
Airine blinked, as the swordsman was suddenly gone in a flash, leaving her alone in the market. She looked to the right and left, and sighed… At least she got her chance to be alone… maybe there would still be some people at the fruit stalls for her. She started to turn around and walk back to the stalls in question, feeling ever so slightly guilty about just abandoning the whole situation… but the swordsman had it covered. She'd probably be nothing but a footnote in the whole thing, and that suited her just fine.
She finally disappeared around the corner on her way to the fruit stalls, her stomach growling loudly… She REALLY hoped that there would be someone manning those stalls after all this.
