Starring:
Date: July 10, 2013
Summary:
A band of shinobi are sent to investigate and resolve a conflict involving a remote village. They are mistaken for someone else and drawn into the conflict.
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Not Your Enemy! Part I"
Northern Kumo
One of the issues with a vast terrain like Kumo has is that secluded villages are always being discovered. For the ones that are known about the hidden village tries to make and maintain peaceful relations. Not only for the protection of the people of the land, but for the value that these villages hold in people and possible jutsu. Shinobi villages require numbers and new perspectives. Both of these are provided by little villages.
Kanbei was excited to be sent out to one of these small villages. For one reason or another they seemed to be riled up. He glances back towards the other two as he continues to follow the mountain trail. "I think the village was said to be around here… Any ideas?" he asks. The boy takes a deep breath as he moves past the mountain side. It provided a good view of the valley, but no village. They should have been getting close.
Kotone frowns a bit, "I don't know, this does seem like about the right place." She says then as they plod along. The cold and the weather up in these mountain passes doesn't seem to phase the Yamayuki girl. "Maybe it's snowed under?" She wonders then.
Kayaru would go with the other two up into those mountains. Pondering as he'd look about, a small shake of his head was given. "There's a lot of possabilities.. potentially they're blocking us even with genjutsu.. we just have to be alert, go to the location we know and see what aid we can give." He'd shrug slightly, hand casually settling onto that katana hilt as they'd keep going. "We'll see what happens. I'm sure our intelligence isn't wrong about this.. so it's just a matter of time."
A nod of his head is given towards Kayaru as Kanbei scans for the village. "It's suppose to be right here. Maybe I got the map upside down…" the red haired boy states as he tries to flip it over. "Nope… that cant be right. The directions are upside down now." The map is the dropped.
Kanbei's sight starts to darken and the sound of a drum can be heard. The first strike is soft. His eyes start to feel heavy. "Oh no… I think we found them."
The sound of the second strike can be heard and his eyes close halfway. His remaining vision becomes distorted. It is almost like he sees black leaves falling. His breath becomes slow. He's so tired.
At the sound of the third strike, he is out cold. The others would have felt a similar effect. Kayaru might have realized that it was a genjutsu as well. All three were helpless against it.
As the three woke, they would find themselves facing a village of angry, angry villages. Warriors with war paint on their face cried out for their demise. As each woke up, they would find their hands and feet tied to seperate posts. All three of them tied facing the crowd. Kanbei on the far left, Kayaru on the right and Kotone acting as the rose between two thorns…
"These people come to harm our village! They have come to steal more of our lands! They have come to steal more of
our herds! We will sacrifice them before our battle tonight! Let the war dance begin!" It seems someone had mistaken who these people truly were and they did not have very long to prove their innocence.
Kotone squirms a little in her bonds as she comes to, and then tuggs more deliberately at her hands. "What… what is this?" She asks then, just coming to. She blinks the haze from her eyes, "What, sacrifice? No way!" She tugs at her bonds again but doesn't make any progress. "Why don't you let me down from here, huh? You big scary men afraid of a little girl!?" she accuses then.
Genjutsu. He almost managed to pull a kunai to try and break it.. almost. Kayaru would drop like the other two.. only to come to later strung up in what seems to be some sort of sacrifice. Frowning, he'd tug at the ropes. If he was stronger.. no.. he's not really that type, is he? Eyes narrowed, he'd look towards those yelling for their demise. "If you are warriors.. then you would allow another warrior to challenge you in combat. Outside of that, we have actually been sent here to seek to aid you, not bring you harm." Kayaru would tug at a rope again. "If this has been occurring for a while, then you should know well whom it is that effects you.. we are not seeking harm to this village or your people."
As Kanbei wakes up, his eyes focus on the angery mob. Then he hears Kotone taunting them. He turns his head to the side to look at her. His arms would simply not come free of the ropes. "You know. I would appreciate if you tried not to foe them off. I do not want to live forever, but I would like to see at least the weekend. So quit taunting them." His eyes then turn towards the leader. He had no idea what the man was going on about. It took him a while to start to understand his accent. With a deep breath Kanbei glances upwards towards the setting sun. In an hour or two darkness would start to over take the night. If they could survive that long things might turn to their advantage. Kanbei's face once more turns to the side. His eyes now trying to focus on Kayaru.
The crowd seems a bit more riled after Kotone yells out her challenging words. Someone even throws a rock at her. It hits her in the stomach. This only seems to make the crowd even more blood thirsty. The village elder, or at least leader turns towards Kayaru. "Lies! We have lost our land to your kind. We are told that we will be given goods and paid for what we had. Now we are lied to!"
Kayaru frowns, tensing as he'd pull at the rope, a sharp CRACK showing the wood weakening when Kotone was hit with the rock. They were getting him mad. "Look. We are not lying, we got no goods from you and we haven't-" Kayaru would suddenly sag, the leader hitting him with that genjutsu forcing him once again into darkness. He'd try to rub his arm against the rope, anything to cause that pain, to wake up.. without any success. Shortly after that, he was once more oblivious to the real world.
Kotone scowls as she's told, in not so many words, to shut her trap. But she complies anyway. "Well, whatever, these guys are just rude. You don't just go and sacrifice people. I mean. Who does that?" She complains then. "But, listen, we might be able to help you if you explain our situation better than 'rar you're sacrifices'"
Hiei had only recently come back from one mission, only to be told to go out on another one. He thought about passing it up, until he found out that it was Kanbei and Kayaru that were gone. And the Yamayuki girl that he met in the village once. Hmm. He still needed to spar her at some point. At any rate, after getting their intended location, he pauses for a little nintaijutsu manipulation to increase his speed before he blazes off in the direction that they went. He's hunched over, arms splayed out behind him, and he's pushing the limits of his speed to it's highest degree…well, in rapid mode anyways.
Hiei arrives at the village to find the team all tied up like some sort of sacrifices. For the moment, he attempts to stay out of sight until he could glean some information on the situation. He wishes there was a way to inform the others that he was here.
Now that Kayaru was out cold, that kind of made Kanbei feel like he was in charge. It was a slight victory in a horrible loss. Kanbei watches as the sun finally begins to set. He glances over towards Kotone before crystals begin to form on the edge of his hand. He was starting to cut through the ropes on both hands. The movements were ever so slight. He did not want to be put under like Kayaru was. In his assessment of the situation, it seemed like the leader was the main genjutsuist in the village. The others mostly seemed to be blood hungry warriors trying to protect their way of life.
After a moment the rope starts to loosen. Kanbei turns his head towards Kotone. "You about ready to make a final stand?" he asks her. In a moment the ropes would be cut and he would at least be free. He was trying to give her a heads up while the villagers seemed preoccupied with the sacrifice they were about to make.
"It's not over till the fat lady sings." Kotone responds, with a bit of a grin. She braces against the ropes and readies herself for action when the time comes.
Hiei surveyed the scene below him one more time and made a decision. He had to free Kanbei and Kotone. It looked like Kayaru was already unconcious and there are a group of bloodthirsty warriors between himself and who he assumes to be the leader. He had heard something about a sacrifice and he decided that it was not going to happen to any friends of his. He makes a quick series of handseals. "Release: Lightning Aura." A column of blue chakra surrounds his body and then solidifies into a type of aura with bolts of lightning dancing around him. Reaching up to draw Fukushu and Saiai, his two swords, the Yotsuki clansman blazes a path right up the middle of the warriors. His target is the cultist leader and he reserves his most devastating attacks for him. As he passes by the first time, he attempts to strike him with both blades at once. Then, he plants his feet, changing direction quickly as one sword crackles with lighting before he flips the shortsword over from the sharp side to the serrated side and attempts to strike him towards the base of the neck before striking again with the lightning infused weapon.
Suddenly not only the crowd's attention but Kanbei's is drawn to a rushing bull through the crowds. 'Oh adversary, its Hiei!' Kanbei thought to himself. He was happy to see him, though not too happy to see the lightning blade. Hiei's speed was easily able to get him past the warriors in the crowd. These people were feared for their sheer number, not their unhoned abilities. Quickly Kanbei cuts through his rope and drops to the ground. As Hiei attacks a crystal shield begins to form. The first attack shatters through it and stikes the leader. Each of the following attacks meets a solid stop as the crystal shield that formed over the leader manages to hold. "Hiei! Stop! These guys are not our enemy!" Kanbei yells as he pulls his fingers together. A crystal prison begins to form around the now wounded leader.
"We are here to resolve their issue. We need to gain their trust." Kanbei states as the crowd begins to charge forward. Instead of cut Kotone down, Kanbei moves forward. "Everyone stop! That or we will have no choice but to fight." His eyes then focus on the leader as if expecting him to tell his people to stand down. "Hiei, would you cut down Kotone and Kayaru? We need to prepare for evacuation." His words were still uncertain that the leader would agree to a cease fire.
"H-Hey!" Kotone complains then, and struggles at her binds some more. "You're just gonna leave me here!?" She asks as the other two jump right into the action and leave her bound. Damsel in distress was so not her style.
Hiei slides to a stop near to where Kanbei and Kotone are. Blue eyes stare at the leader before he cuts his gaze towards Kanbei. He recognized the crystal shields, but was confused as to why he protected his target. "What are you doing? It's obvious they tied you up, and Sempai is unconcious. And you say they're not our enemy?" Good thing that Kanbei and Hiei had built up a level of trust, because had nothing to go on except the other guy's word. And that was enough for Hiei. He stands down, albeit reluctantly. The lightning aura dissapears from around his body, but he does flick his wrist to cut Kotone down before moving over to cut down Kayaru and hoist him up over his shoulder. "I was told to come assist you, Kanbei. When I got here I saw you all trussed up like turkeys. I believed you to be in danger." He sheathes his weapons afterwards.
Up to his neck in a crystal cacoon, the leader finally yells for his people to stop. He looks towards the others, especially Kanbei. He was pondering the same thing that Hiei was. "You protected me?" he asks in a confused manner. The situation was improving, but still not good. There were still about a hundred upset warriors on the other side of the leader. They had the advantage and the leader knew it. Even though he also knew he might not survive the crystal jutsu.
"The mission is to make a peaceful resolution here. Obviously these villages have been under some kind of durress. People taking their land and their herds. I believe they may be out cast shinobi trying to prey on them." Kanbei then turns towards the leader as if looking for confirmation. His hands come together and the crystal falls away from him. "We need some information about the issue going on. Why your people went from peaceful to hostile. Then we will take care of the issue. We never meant any harm." the red haired boy states as he glances over towards Kayaru. His eyes then return to Kotone. "Are you ok?" he asks.
"Oh, I'm just fine. You know. Hanging out here." Kotone says, just a bit sarcastically. "Would someone like to, you know, cut me down? At some point?" She asks then. And then Hiei does the honors. She lands with an 'oof' and then rubs at her wrists a bit, still chafing a bit from the rope burn. "Much better." she adds.
Hiei nods to Kanbei. "Understood." He glances over at the unconcious Kayaru, then adds. "Kanbei Taicho." He moves towards Kotone and checks her over to make sure she wasn't hurt before flashing her a faint smile, "Fancy meeting you here Yamayuki-san." He looks back at the village leader. "Sorry about that. I saw my friends in trouble. It was nothing personal." He looks at the sheer numbers of the warriors before him and pushes down the excitement that threatens to build up within him. He would like nothing more than to challenge them all, but the mission always came first. He glances at Kanbei. "What's the plan?"
The leader closes his eyes and sighs. "Ok. We shall let you deal with them. There is a group of people in the valley to the north. They have taken our herd. Without them we will run out of food in a matter of weeks. Each time we attack, the earth turns against us. We have already lost many of our brave warriors. These people will not show themselves otherwise I would…" he glances over towards Kayaru as he speaks. "He should be waking up soon. You all are more than welcome to stay here in the village until you are ready to depart. Call it an apology for attacking you."
Kanbei nods his head at the leader. "With that settled we will wait here until Kayaru wakes up. He's the leader on the mission. Once he's awake we'll figure out how to draw out these shinobi and deal with them. Then you can get in your battle Hiei." He then glances back to Kotone. She obviously had a bit of fight in her as well. "You too." Later on Kanbei would have to personally thank Hiei for his attack. Now seemed like a bad time. Too many people who might mistake it. If he had not attacked, the other shinobi might have been mobbed or even worse… sacrificed.
Kotone goes along with the group for now, though she does say- "It wounds like whoever took their cattle have some kind of earth manipulation style." She comments. "We might have run into a miniature ninja war here." She comments. "But that Genjutsu had some serious range. Makes you wonder why they haven't been able to just genjutsu those guys, too."
Hiei answers Kotone. "Because they're warriors. Who wants to hide behind genjutsu? I certainly don't. And I can respect that." He nods. "But it does sound like an earth manipulator. Which means my lightning abilities will serve us well." With his free hand he claps Kanbei on the shoulder. "I'm glad I came. This sounds like fun. I say we go rest up and wait until Sempai is conscious again. Then we take the fight to these troublemakers."
