Starring:
Kefka, Tsuchiri, Shinjiro, Naruko, Yagyu, Miyu
Date: December 11, 2016
Summary:
A team of shinobi go after another escaped animal from the Ninja Petting Zoo.
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Ninja Petting Zoo - A Bear of a Time"
Miati Forest
Yet another animal of the Ninja Petting Zoo has been spotted! This time it's a bear named Joben. He's a rather massive fellow, standing over ten feet tall on his feet with brown fur. Along with the signature red collar of the zoo, he tends to wear human-esque clothes, being a vest, a fez, and puffy pants.
Deep in the woods on the western side of the Land of Fire, the giant beast was spotted a number of times. First he stole a basket of different kinds of berries and then he stole someone's entire chest of fish they'd spent all day catching. Luckily no one has been hurt yet, but one never knows if Joben might eventually get sick
Yagyu was making her way back from her jobs, hoping to finish them off when she returned to the Land of Wind. Along the way, she'd heard news about the Ninja Petting Zoo and though she didn't think much of it, she had to be wary. The animals could be anywhere, after all.
Another day, another.. well, this isn't Chiri's first bear chase. It's her third, but that isn't too important. Hoshikage requested she help the zoo and so she is, out in the woods and waiting to see if the others elected for the mission were gathering, if at all. She's got an easy enough perch on a tree limb, wary herself of the immediate surrounds and paying attention to local movement.
Shinjiro was making his aimless rounds about the outskirts of the village as news about the bear sighting was sent out. As the messenger who told him of his selection left he shrugged and changed course towards the general area of where he was told to be, no special hurry being put forth to get there faster than needed.
Searching out for missing animals would almost be considered a fun past time for Naruko at this point. While she wasn't deliberatedly trying to take on the mission it sort of just fell into her lap that there had been a animal sighting in this particular area, and a search party was gathering to finish the job. The young Uzumaki took it upon herself to get involved, passing
Searching out for missing animals would almost be considered a fun past time for Naruko at this point. While she wasn't deliberatedly trying to take on the mission it sort of just fell into her lap that there had been a animal sighting in this particular area, and a search party was gathering to finish the job. The young Uzumaki took it upon herself to get involved, passing along the outskirts of the Land of Fire and moving towards ther supposive meetup area. The kunoichi was adorned in a simple white a grey cloak, shielding herself from the chilly elements. She stumbled upon a few people already, lingering in these woods. " Hey there, looking for a bear?" Naruko asks the group which had already arrived. Afterall, it would have totally sucked if this wasn't the group she was seeking out.
Tracking is not Miyu's strong suit. She spent most of her life in a monastery, learning to punch things. It wasn't until she began taking lessons from her cousin that she even began to see the world outside, to become involved aiding Kumogakure, learning new ways of fighting and new philosophies. While her training in the Cat Fist style has granted her the ability to enhance her senses to the level of a cat's, granting heightened hearing, low-light vision, and sense of smell, she is by no means a tracker.
So despite her rank, as she sets out on this mission, she may be one of the least qualified to actually conduct the mission. What does she know about tracking bears? She comes up shortly after Naruko arrives, moving at a casual pace because it's just a bear. "I, at least, am seeking one." Miyu answers. She finds the entire idea of zoos to be reprehensible, so she isn't exactly in a hurry to retrieve Joben, but she does recognize the need to ensure he doesn't hurt anyone. Maybe there's a happy medium, and maybe there isn't.
She scans over the others here with a pale yellow eye, trying to see if any of them are equipped for non-lethal takedowns. That would be ideal. "Do we all understand the nature of the situation?" she asks, because it never hurts to check.
Simply searching one's surroundings might not be enough to lure out a bear with this kind of training, especially when one of those there speaks out and makes it certain that they ARE in fact looking for it. The team will have to work together on figuring out ways to track the giant beast or perhaps to lure it out into the open so they can attempt its capture. What will they decide….
"I hope y'all understand cause if we don't, it's gonna be some problems," Yagyu states while overhearing the group. She approached them and looked around at who was gathered. "Huh. Been a while since I've seen peeps like y'all. Anyway!" She waved away that thought with her hand. "So, some ideas," she begins. "I dunno how long this bear been out, but depending, he probably took a dump somewhere. If so, we can probably try lookin' for that. Tracks too. What else…" She thought to herself. "Eh. So, who wants to look for poop and prints?" She smiled.
Tsuchiri blinks. She rises up to her feet and hums. "I admit, tracking isn't my strong suit. I can keep an eye and ear out." another capture alive mission- she's having doubts about the judgement of Hoshikage and the missions she's put on. "If anyone does catch it or its direction, I'll be more use then.." wishing she'd thought
Shinjiro waits about with the gathering group till all expected members arrive. After Yagyu's suggesting of looking for 'leftovers' goes out he shrugs, "I guess I could try, no promises though, only tracks I'm trained for are human, dog, and cat, anything else is guesswork at best." He takes a slow deep breath and closes his eyes for a moment before opening them, the veins in and around them bulging forth as his Byakugan comes to the forefront.
Miyu was a person Naruko wasn't expecting to see. From afar she offered the jounin a polite dip of her form, followed by a friendly smile. Their company looked pretty good from what the Uzumaki could see. With this many people, and hopefully with hidden talent in the works…They would easily be able to find a giant bear. "One would think it would be hard for a massive bear to have slipped away but I think the odds are in our favor," Naruko comments as she muses over the plan. Yagyu's idea seemed to be the most…Straightforward method. "I imagine there is lots of poop in a forest like this…But yeah I believe that is an option. I can try and sniff it out. Before going to poop though perhaps we can check places where this bear may have had a bit of a snack. Food sources…neh?"
Miyu bows her head in acknowledgement when she is greeted, and listens to the plans of others. She keeps quiet for now, allowing the other shinobi to take the lead. She does not feel the inclination to boss others, nor to interject into the conversation when it seems to be under control, especially when she has little to contribute. Talking just to talk is a waste of time. It is frequently much better to observe and reflect.
So for the time being, she will follow along with the others in seeking out signs of Joben. They seem like a competent bunch who don't need her butting in.
Scanning the area would reveal a number of things. Certain berries and such fruits have been foraged through within the last day or so. There are also droppings around, but they appear to be pretty dry, so it's been some time since they were left. There are many tracks around, but, given that he is a bear, it's entirely possible that there have been other bears through the area as well.
"Alright, I got you. I'll help as best as I can. We ain't lookin' just for poop, though. We lookin' for tracks and anything else. Food, like you mentioned. Besides, if it ate, it done pooped too. Just sayin'. We matchin 'em up and see where they lead," Yagyu described. "So, you lookin' for bears. Bears eat a bunch of stuff, but their poop don't look like deer poop. I been around plenty of deer to know that. I ain't tryin' to be real descriptive about how it should look, so I'll just say this. Look for seeds and sizable portions of poop," she shrugged.
"We can also try and draw it out. This is bear that belongs to a zoo, right?" She paused. "Who puts a bear in a petting zoo, though? How are they even able to be pet?" She shook her head to remove that sidebar. "Probably is used to having its food prepared. Might not even be that far from here if this area is familiar to it." She rapped her fingers across her arm trying to think. "Anybody know where the attack took place at? Near here or further?"
Noooo! The berries she's after, ruined already! Chiri returns from her adventure in foliage to get some view from tree, eyes sweeping over the area- walking around the tree to maintain vision. "Most of the good stuff around here's picked clean, so we know the local wildlife is well fed. Or our mark has a healthy appetite." Chiri remarks. Tracking still isn't in her strong suite.
Shinjiro goes totally silent as he slowly turns about, glancing around for the listed trackables for a few moments before speaking up, "She's right, looks like its been awhile since anything was through here. There's plenty of tracks, but its pretty hard to tell if they were left by what we're looking for. Could be wildlife, could be him, could be both, tough to say." He glances up to Tsuchiri, "Hey, can you check those branches for claw marks? Bears like to climb and I cant get a very good view from down here."
"Does anyone remember if there was anything that would distinguish this bear from other bears" Naruko questioned out loud as she herself would attempt to focus on any wide tracks that were left. If she could find the tracks she could inspect it for fur…or anything else that could lead them in the right direction. The fresher the tracks the easier it was going to be to simply follow them and find their target. "I'm not quite sure how far bears travel but if it's been spotted here I believe that it may be setting up shop in this area… shouldn't be too hard to find."
Following the freshest tracks, the team would find that they seem to be a bit fresher as they go. Perhaps they are hot on the beast's trail. Whatever the case, there is some hope at least of finding it. Along that trail, there is a minor miracle of clues…. right alongside the tracks there is a broken wicker basket that appears to have smashed berries along its sides where something was eating them.
"Oh yeeeaah! That's right!" Yagyu chimed and snapped her fingers. "Thanks for tryin', though. You helpin' the group out a lot just by searchin'," she complimented Shinjiro. "I think I remember readin' that the bear has clothes on. Pants, vest, a hat. Obviously, normal bears don't do that sort of thing, so that's one thing we have goin' for us," she replied to Naruko. She continues along with the group and spots a basket full of smashed berries. She looked around the area for a few moments to assess it and determine if any danger was present. "At this time, I think we should look around and see if the surroundings are clear before approachin' that basket."
That said, she starts to look around the area to see if there may be any immediate dangers. A circus bear is out here among the many other kinds of wildlife around here and all of 'em together might as well be considered dangerous. Who knows what else has been through here or may be nearby?
Chiri follows close behind the group, staying off the forest floor to be less disturbing to the brush. Once they make it to the site of the basket, tilting her head. "Close." she remarks to herself. Her eyes sweep the area once over, faint wisps of her feathers start forming along her back. "We should be on-guard. All the animals have some shinobi training."
Shinjiro follows Yagyu rather slowly, his eyes scanning about as he goes, stopping at the basket to check the tracks, "Clothes?….Check for fibers along the brush and adjust for weight when measuring the tracks. And check for breaks in the bark at around eight feet up or so, I'm told bears like to claw at them." He stops and continues his scanning.
They were finally making some progress it would seem. Naruko continued to keep up with the tracks while maintaining her alertness. Her senses spiked just enough as she listened and sniffed the air, searching for any other clues that may bring them closer to their target. "If…the bear broke open the cask I may be able to track the scent and follow it." Naruko explains briefly, waiting for the others to make the irst move rather than pressing things herself.
Miyu decides, all her own, that rather than putting herself into the mix, especially if combat results, the best thing she can do here is step back into the shadows and observe how the others do. If she REALLY needs to step in, she will, but right now she is confident in the ability of the assembled shinobi to handle the mission. And having observer data to report on regarding how well they did will be a better contribution in the long run.
And we have a winner…. The moment Naruko gets close to the basket, something happens. There is a whistling sound like something flying through the air, something brown, and round but with an odd shaping that's far from a perfect circle…. It might be too late before one realizes that a bee hive that has been emptied of its honey has been launched from the trees right at Naruko's head. Whether it hits her or not, bees race out from it when it crashes to sting at everything in sight.
"All y'all got good points that would help us to track this dude down. If he got some training, that probably means he know how to keep stuff under wraps a bit more than the wildlife. On the flipside, that'd also help to make him stand out a bit more cause ain't no normal bear gonna try that stuff…" She paused once more. "Shoot, I don't even know why I didn't think of this sooner. Any of y'all know how to sense chakra?" She questioned. "If this bear been trained, they probably got chakra too. That probably woulda sped some stuff up a bit, but y'know, bears and all. We were thinking on a normal level, but now…" Her voice trails off as a trap goes off nearby the basket and a bee hive comes flying out of nowhere. "Frick!"
She immediately begins to wrap herself in shadow to protect her skin from the stinging. "Where did that hive come from?" She questioned. "Can anybody pinpoint it?" She states while focusing chakra for the task. "We might have somethin' to follow up on from here."
Bees! It seems that there's a lot of foreplanning by their attackers.. Tsuchiri is not prepared to handle bees, the instinctive reply is to start retaliating, but, it's far too slow to make a difference against the aerial swarm. The brief expulsion of violet chakra whistles off into thin air and manages not to at all avert the threat as she's swarmed. Amidst that failure her feathers manifest in full and shine brightly while some choice swears are emitted.
All is well as the group examines and searches and then SUDDENLY BEES! Shinjiro does the manliest thing one can do in this situation and shrieks like a banshee as he starts wildly flailing to desperately try and avoid the swarm. Needless to say this is a stupid plan and fails miserably, quickly leading to him falling to the ground and curling into a ball with his arms over his face and neck in a pathetic attempt to protect his most vulnerable areas from stinging doom.
The bees which struck out against Naruko was fairly easily defended against. She would appear to be struck completely by the bees, only to explode in a poof of flames. The real Naruko had snuck away into the tree line, carefully looking around for the source of the of where it was thrown from. Perhaps this was all that was needed. For here she would simply wait, waiting in case the others needed her help.
The bear isn't really smart enough to know the difference between a clone and a real person. What it IS smart enough to figure out is that people are after it. Said people must be stopped! With a roar the giant beast comes barreling of the trees into plain view right at the shinobi that are still within its view, attempting to rip, tear, and claw at them as it charges from one to the other.
Guess that question has been answered. The bear is here! Now it's time for a regrouping. Yagyu moves over in an attempt to get in a good position and see if she can't try and assist with their angry bear problem. "Alright. I'mma need y'all to be on your best game! So far, we've been doin' good, but now I'mma try somethin'. I'mma see if I can get my shadow on it and when I do, y'all can go in and use your abilities to capture it! I'm guessin' we can't harm this dude the way he tryin' to harm us, but hey, that's how things go."
Once she was ready, she made a seal and extended her shadow out in an attempt to stop the bear and force it to immitate her. If she could keep it locked down for a bit, hopefully, they could subdue it.
Chiri spies… Bear! With bees less of an issue her feathers all come around and successfully fend off bear-strikes, a bubble of glimmering violet chakra that absorbs the attack and lets Chiri reposition… right, this isn't a kill mission. "I'm at a notable disadvantage.." she admits, moving back and trying to get some cover behind a tree's trunk to better assess the situation.
As Shinjiro comes up for air from the bee attack things quickly go from SUDDENLY BEES to SUDDENLY BEAR. Oh joy. Taking advantage of his companions being the immediate targets of SUDDENLY BEAR, Shinjiro scurries to his feet and narrowly manages a twisting dodge as the bear slashes just shy of him.
Has the remaining trio brought the bear down for the count?!… No. Not only does it dodge, but it uses its keen senses to figure out where the other two are trying to hide! It lets out a roar as it jumps over the shadow coming its way and charges right at Shinjiro, curving around at Tsuchiri, and finally to Yagyu to try and take them all down.
"Son of a…" Yagyu mutters to herself as the bear dodges her shadow. She isn't going to give up, but that just grinds her up somethin' fierce. "Friggin' trained bears and animals. Gotta make life all hard and—" While busy going on her self rant, she tried to make a move to avoid the bear, but he managed to come across her and attack. With success! She's knocked down and in pain shouting all manner of curses in her frustration, but she does see the advantageous position she's in while its so close. Less energy to use up with her shadow.
So, she keeps herself down and tries to connect her shadow with the bear's once again. He has to be withheld as it appears he's not too keen on being cooperative. She has half a mind to let him go, but the money tells her not to. "I'm still tryin' to work out the plan, but if I do, I hope y'all will be able to follow up. He ain't happy right now and I can't be mad at him for feelin' that way, but we gotta get paid, so… That's too bad for him. I'm demanding extra for this work, though. Got me twisted thinkin' I'mma fight a bear and not get compensation in his size."
Chiri's not too surprised she was seen. More that the thing's fast and going to capitalize on her bad attempt at hiding -right away-. She goes on to kick at the offending strike, but that just makes her off balance to be tossed around and dazed. Stings, bear swipes.. patience is thinning. She hops back some to make still more distance, "Pretty soon this is going to look bad." she murmurs.
Shinjiro's attempt at hiding might have worked….ok it wouldent have fooled a blind man, but regardless the branch he was trying to hide on broke under his weight, insult achieved, and then as he sits up SUDDENLY BEAR is SUDDENLY clotheslining him like it was shot out of a cannon. Shinjiro flips an impressive four times and sticks the landing!…..right on his face, "….ow." Is all he can muster as he struggles to get to his feet.
This time the shinobi manage to pull off a tactic that works. The bear suddenly finds himself frozen. He blinks a few times as he finds himself unable to move and lets out a roar as he struggles to remove himself from his invisible bonds while he tries to figure out what exactly has him bound to begin with. Now is their chance!
"Bruin…" is all Yagyu could say to what was taking place at the moment. This bear wasn't giving in and he was pullin' off moves that were both impressive and frightening, but finally a boon! The bear has been trapped! "Hahaha!! Got 'em!" She shouted as she took the opportunity to stand up. Once she was there, she proceeded to create some distance between the two of them by backing away and having the bear follow her movements. Once done, she placed her hands to the side to keep the bear's paws out of reach of them while she held on.
"Alright! Now y'all can do your thing! I won't be able to hold him long and he's all sorts of mad right now!"
Chiri sighs… her thing largely included. Well if she was careful. She purses her lips and brings her left palm perpendicular to her chin, then whistles towards their mark. A gleam of violet glitters from her mouth to the bear with numerous tiny impacts. She exhales fully and then repositions, and repeats, then does the cycle once more before observing the result.
Shinjiro reorients himself and focuses on the defenseless bear, rushing in for a quick series of palm strikes at its arms and legs before taking a skip jump back to hopefully avoid getting swatted across the face…again.
The bear appeared to be restrained providing just enough opportunity to hopefully wear out the bear with a signal kick. from the treeline she swept down aiming to kick the beast square in the throat, then using her free hand envelope the bear in a strange dark hue fire. painless… but sapping away at the heat in the muscles hopefully exhausting it.
BAM! BOOM! POW! SMACK! The bear is delivered blow after blow from physical strikes and chakra orbs. His eyes start to spin and finally it drops to the ground unconscious. This, of course, leaves our heroes with the problem of transporting the dead weight of the bear they attacked so mercilessly. Mission accomplished… apart from the walk and dragging that huge thing back to its owners.
Yagyu drops the shadow control and sighs in relief. "Good work, y'all! We got him down for the count. Now, we just need to notify some peeps and let 'em know that they can come get this dude." She walks over and reaches down to take the bear's fez hat off his head. It's her hat now. "Y'all got the resources for that. I just partnered up on the job. I still intend to get my cut from the zoo keepers, though. Ain't no way I ain't gettin' paid for this after what he did. I kinda feel bad for him, but heck, it was him or money. So…" She shrugged.
With bear downed, Tsuchiri's feathers unfurl further and wrap around the unconscious form, "I can try to drag him off with my feathers, we'll have to be quick though." it'd be like sledding! "Or he'll wake up, I'm not sure how much attention I can put to -keep- him restrained if necessary."
"Don't worry about that. I know what I can do. Give me a bit of time and I can whip up some makeshift restraints with some of the plants around here…" Yagyu spoke. "Keep an eye on the bear for a bit. I'll be back with some materials and he'll be wrapped up in no time."
