Starring:
Date: May 26, 2016
Summary:
Arika and Jiro assist a merchant partway to the border.
"More Wormy Fun"
Land of Wind
Sometimes Suna doesn't have anything more exciting than an escort team for Arika to do. She doesn't particularly enjoy boring missions now that she's been spoiled by B and A ranked dangers, but she'll take what she can get so she doesn't feel like too much of a burden. Today, it was just her and Jiro going out, which hasn't happened in a while. So the girl is excited! She's already at the gate chatting to the person that they're supposed to guard. " …. 'n then I was like WHAM and POW! And I was able t' keep everyone safe! The end!" Arika would be heard saying, to which the elderly gentleman would just smile and nod. Trying to be polite… "Umm… Yes, so when can we leave?" "When Jiro-kun gets here!"
And he's not that far off either! The youngster makes his appearance at the same time he tosses a random wallet down an alleyway, likely having already cleaned it out of whatever might have been inside. He grins as he nears Arika and waves a hand high over his head before letting them flop down on his head. "'ey Ari!" His blue eyes look over the other person curiously but he doesn't say anything to them.
"Jiro-kun, yer late!" Arika would huff, though she grins shortly after. "This's our client. We gotta escort him to the outpost up by the Land of Earth. Halfway minimum." She looks to the old man, who tips his imaginary hat. "Moroba Isshin, at your service. Thank you for your protection." Then he climbs into his cart and nudges the beasts that are wheeling it around. "Easy peasy, ne, Jiro-kun? Le's go!" she says, already skipping out towards the open desert.
Jiro continues to eye their client for a few moments before he gives a sharp nod. "Alrigh'," he says after a few moments. He goes to the opposite side of the wagon from Arika so that they can watch from both sides, though they doesn't stop him from peaking /into/ the wagon when he passes. After all, it's always good to know what their client is carrying. Just in case, ya know, they get attacked by bandits or something.
The merchant has a decent amount of jewelry in his cart, but his primary selling item is wooden furniture. Cabinets, jewelry boxes (implying the jewelry itself may be fake), and stools among other things. Everything is strapped down so that it doesn't move around too much during the journey. Arika keeps to the opposite of Jiro's side, and a shadow clone of the girl would appear on top of the cart to keep a lookout for trouble behind the group.
Wood furnishings? Eww! Jiro seems a bit disgruntled by that. It's not like they're even protecting something all that valuable! Sheesh. His hands move back to flop on top of his head as he turns his full focus to the surrounding area now that they're out of the village. "Where'r ya goin' ta sell all'a this?" he asks after a few long moments, trying to be at least semi-polite.
"I sold a few things here in the Land of Wind. I was going to do a circuit up North to the Land of Earth, then go along the Land of Stone and eventually slip into the Land of Fire and Tea," Isshin replies easily enough. The cart is moving at a steady pace that would allow them to reach their goal in a few hours, which was nice. Arika wanted to rush a bit on ahead to scout, but that felt like a bad idea. So instead, she sent ahead some inky creatures to scout the way. "Ooh, the Land of Earth is fun. I like the Land of Fire best, I think. Cuz Tatsuo-niisan and Ken-chan are there! They're super nice~."
The mention of Kenta sets Jiro's mouth to drooling. So much free food from that one! "We shoul' go back'n visi' them 'gain," Jiro says quickly, smiling toothily over at Arika. "I's been a lon' time an' 's'not nice ta no' visit." Yes, of course that's the reasoning! What do you mean it's not?!
The poor merchant can't really get a word in as Arika would agree with Jiro. "Yeah, we should! Le's see if Itami-chan will let us go after we're done with this mission," she suggests, more than happy to take a trip. Itami might not be as thrilled with Ari and Jiro, but… Well… Hey, as long as they have a guardian, it should be all good, right? She doesn't care as much about the free food like Jiro, but that's a mega bonus. Arika's clone that was keeping an eye on the behind would squint a bit as something shifted in the sand… Something sorta big-looking! "Ne, I think I see something!" she calls to the two Genin.
Jiro nods his head, almost violently, at the suggestion from Arika to take another trip to Konoha! He opens his mouth to comment more but then Arika2 talks and he turns his gaze up to look at her curiously for a moment before his focus is once more outwards. "Where do ya see i'? Where is i'?" he asks as he squints out ahead of them, hands remaining in their place on his head despite the squinting.
"Sorta on yer side, but more behind us," Ari-clone says, pointing off to the distance. If Jiro looks where she's pointing, he would see some ripples in the sand. It sorta looked like a snake was moving around, or a worm. One of the giant variety, naturally, because Ari-clone wouldn't be worried otherwise. The real Arika would frown a bit, but she would scan her own side to check that they weren't going to get double-teamed or anything. Some animals were smart like that… "Just keep going," she tells Isshin. "We'll hold off the beasties easy."
Jiro turns to look where the clone is pointing, squinting again to try and see exactly what she's pointing at. "Huh," he says finally, then finally lets his hands drop as he turns his focus more on whatever might be approaching. "Gonna leave yer clone ta go with the car'?" he asks, just to make sure someone or something is going with the wagon so that they aren't blindsided by some bandits or something!
"Hai!" Arika shouts t' Jiro. "There's some movement on this side, too, it looks like, so mebbe you should hurry for'ard a bit, Isshin-san!" The girl suggests, gathering chakra quickly. "Dun need to accidentally get you in the mix, ne?" Then she glances back to Jiro while the clone just takes perch on the cart and looks pleased that it gets to relax. c.c;; The nerve >:| Arika would say, "D'you think they both think this is an easy target or d'you think these things are working t'gether?" she wonders aloud, even as both genin would get to see the ripples in the sand come ever-closer.
"I dunno," Jiro says, still squinting to try and make out exactly what's coming and how long it's going to take to get there. He tugs the sash at his waist and also reaches into a pouch to pull out a needly folded cloth, then flashes both out so that they fan out and are ready, one in either hand. Then he just waits to see what's coming. Maybe they can just scare it away or something…right?
Maybe? That's what Ari's hoping. But both genin might have their hopes dashed as that rippling seems to disappear, giving them less indication than before on the whereabouts of the incoming attack. Moments after the ripples disappear, sand worms would burst up from the ground! They were pretty nasty-looking sand worms, with far too many teeth for a worm. And they were really big and looked like they could swallow the cart, had it not been nudged to move faster. Anyway, they were apparently trying to eat the area that Jiro and Ari were standing on, one for each genin.
Arika would feel the ground rumble a bit beneath her, and she used a burst of wind to aid in her attempts to get out of the way. "Yuck!" she huffs. "Why do we always gotta run into super mega large scary-looking things?" she complains to Jiro, sending two blasts of wind at the creature to try and cut into its skin.
Jiro considers the creature as it bears down on him, head tilting slightly to one side before he launches himself into the air, using his speed to avoid the nasty teeth before he comes back down towards the work. Both pieces of cloth are hardened into sharpened steel as he comes down and tries to slice the worm that tried to eat him! "Tha's a goo' question. I dun taste tha' goo', do I?" he asks, frowning. Like Ari would know.
Both Jiro and Arika are able to hit their mark with their first attacks, but upon injury, the two worms would dive back into the sand, leaving no trace of where they were. Not even a tunnel D: Arika frowns a bit as they disappear, hoping that they were just scared off and they aren't planning to attack the cart. That would be just their luck. "You'd prolly taste all dusty and gross," Arika tells Jiro, even as she notices the faintest ripple in the sand. "I'll try to lure 'em out, and you get 'em with yer cloths," she plans out, creating a blade of pure wind that she throws at the ripples. This causes the sand worm to screech from the pain (very nasty sound) while its partner rears up and tries to chomp the one attacking its friend.
Jiro nods in agreement. He wouldn't taste very good. Certainly not like chicken. When Arika volunteers herself to be the distraction he nods again quickly before launches himself forward, grinning evilly. ONe of the cloths is pushed forward at an angle and hardened right in front of the worm so that if it doesn't change paths it's going to end up cutting itself up along the cloth.
The poor worm can't really change direction that quickly. Sight is not one of its good qualities, so it gets cut up all nicely by Jiro's cloth and now we can all see the inside of it. Ewwww. Arika would stab the sand worm that was still hidden in the sand so that she wouldn't have to see the guts of TWO nasty critters. There! "I think we got 'em. We should go 'n catch up to the cart, yeah?" she asks, dusting her hands off.
Jiro flicks his cloth a few times to get the ick off of it before he folds it and puts it back in his pouch, then ties the other one back around his waist. "Yea', tha's a goo' idea. I hope tha's the only thing we 'ave ta deal with." He nods, then crouches down to scoop up some guts and holds them out to Arika. "Ya sure ya dun wan' this?" he asks, grinning evilly.
Arika makes a face at Jiro and would pick up a handful of goop from the critter's insides. "You try it first!" she says, flinging the nasty gunk at Jiro before running away!! Eeeeeppppp!!! Meanwhile, Ari-clone was keeping a good lookout and reporting on the other two's progress. "Oh! Looks like they finished beating up the beasties. They should be back soon," the clone reports. "Ah, good. That's nice to hear. I think we're almost at the outpost, too, if you feel like more good news."
Okay Jiro wasn't expecting that and it splats against his shirt. "Oh tha's i'!" he yells as he takes the scooped up guts and charges after Arika, doing his best to dump it in her hair on their way back towards the wagon. They are totally a good example of how shinobi are supposed to act, right? Surely their client can see that.
Arika would just flee from Jiro as best she could, even going so far as to waste chakra and let a clone take the goop. She still got the pleasure of experiencing guts on her head, but easier cleanup in the future! "Yuck…" she grumbles, the clone rubbing the guts away before disappearing. Then all the experiences just transferred to Ari and the original wrinkles her nose at Jiro. "Meanie!" she says, sticking her tongue out at him. Their poor client just watches the pair, laughing quietly. Ignore the nervous sweatdrop that seems to be eternally present while he's with them…
"Stupi' clone!" Jiro yells after Arika once the thing poofs. He puts on a burst of speed and tries to get the last bit of ick on his hands into his hair before they catch up with the wagon. Hey it can't be all bad can it? They stopped the client from getting eaten by a giant worm after all!
After a bit more traveling, they would reach the outpost with no more issue. Arika would bow quickly to the client, beaming cheerfully. "I hope the rest of your journey goes well, Isshin-san!" she offers. Isshin would give a bid in agreement. "Indeed. Thank you very much for the protection. I never felt safer!" … >.> <.< >.>;;;; "I'll just be on my way, though. Your payment was left at the Dome like usual."
