Starring:
Keisuke, Takeshi, Tsiro, Yuuka
Date: December 7, 2011
Summary:
The Kaguya place a little wager on who can take out the most bandits on their latest mission.
"Ore Retrieval"
Northern Island [Land of Water]
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Northern Island is situated, as one might expect, to the north. Specifically, it is north of the Land of Water's coast and inbetween it and the Land of Lightning — yet within the territorial waters of the former. A beach wraps around much of the perimeter of the minor landmass, with the sand seeming to be rather fine in density, free of most loose stones or gravel, and with minimal drift wood, kelp, or other "offerings" from the ocean's waves. There is no dock for boats to tie off at, and a coral reef combined with treacherous, rocky masses and alternating depths to the local waters make approaching the island in a ship a hazardous prospect at best and potentially suicidal at worst.
Just past the beach, a mix of grassy fields and dense sub-tropical vegetation forms a forested area that may more closely resemble a jungle than the pines, oaks, evergreens, and so forth that individuals from other lands may be familiar with. Though the size of the island is more than merely modest, it being surrounded by the ocean means that the foliage is grown closely together, in overlapping layers that both figuratively and literally form a barrier to sight and land-bound travel alike.
Northern Island has little room set aside for human habitation, with the eco-system being more geared towards herbivorous, insectivorous, and carnivorous animals of medium to tiny scale. Birds, small mammals, and various arthropods are all present, as are some reptiles in the form of a half-dozen types of lizards and two known types of snakes. Thankfully, neither the serpents nor the other creatures on the island are known to be especially venomous, or at least not inclined to approach, attack, or even necessarily reveal themselves to humans. They are not domesticated, and would much rather be left alone than have to defends themselves.
Toward the center of the island, on a significantly high, sloping hill, covered in healthy grasses, shrubberies, and low-lying trees, there is a large manor of some kind. The building is surrounded on all sides by a tall fence with a single, secure gate as the apparent entrance and exit to the grounds proper.
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Though Kirigakure differed from the other Great Shinobi Nations in that it was more blood thirsty, it still maintained some allies. Most of these were smaller towns and outposts. Their reasoning for dealing with Kirigakure varied from place to place. Some did so for protection, others did so by force. Every so often people forget who is who in the relationships. It has been weeks since the last contact with the small mining out post on one of the many islands. If it were not for the missing shipments this place would probably have gone over looked. It is without choice that Kirigakure sends a small force out to investigate.
(Official Mission) Located on the southern portion of the island is a small mining camp. They have gone silent. Your job is to solve the issue through any means necessary. Shows of force are encouraged. We expect your return to be with the first shipment of ore.
The small mining camp is filled with some people. There are a number of armed guards. Around twelve total. Half of them are stationary and the other half roam around in patrols. There are a few men cooking over a fire but for the most part most of them seem to be off working in the mines. There is a single log building in the middle of the camp. The rest of the camp is comprised of tents. There are also a number of dogs caged up on the north side of the camp.
Upon a rocky cliff overlooking the camp from the south, a pair of heeled boots faintly crunch the bare ground with a light step in a pause. Loosely crossing her arms, Yuuka arches a pale brow as she glances over the makeshift camp with dusk settling over the land. The corner of her lips tugs with a slight smirk when the wind catches her long, snowy hair and pulls it to one side. "Well this should be fun." she murmurs to herself before glancing over her shoulder at her assembled team. "This time, I am not really worried about stealth. Just take them out quickly so we can find the shipment of ore. No doubt it is nearby." The smirk grows subtly. "Should we make it a contest? The one that kills the most gets his drinks for free tonight, perhaps?"
Tsiro raises an eyebrow at Yuuka. "So your going to let me go drinking sensei? And even pay for it?" the boy asks. It was obvious that he was implying he would win the bet. A grin soon replaces the raised eyebrow. He moves towards the cliff and looks over at the group down below. A bone protrudes from his palm. He was a little excited just to be off the damn boat that brought them here. "I wonder how many guards there are in the mine…"
Takeshi was just kind of walking along behind the group as a whole, with his cane. Wait, why was he here again? Who knows, but whatever, he was here, because someone saw fit to distribute a mission to him - he should go see about that whole retirement thing sometime soon. So wait, there was still a mission and now there was a bet. "I already drink for free." Benefit of being old and the clan elder, "But beating you youngsters would be fun."
He sidled up next to both Tsiro and Yuuka, "Oh, probably about four company judging by the amount of food. Probably a little more deeper down, but the shipment should be up here. You don't get to be worried though, not with you being Yuuka's student."
"I suppose we all have to start some time," the deep voice of Keisuke rings out as he appears beside Yuuka. "Though predisposing him to alcohol so young could be a bit detrimental to his pocketbook later since his tolerance will likely be high even for a Kaguya." The giant Swordsman is a bit of a wildcard here. Once again, he's here to observe and make sure the mission goes smoothly. It's not that he doesn't trust Yuuka and Tsiro, but he is observing many of their missions of late. Perhaps there is some other reason, though there is always the plus that he does get to travel with Yuuka. He makes no comment about the mission so far, apparently leaving the planning and carrying out to the mission leader.
Yuuka glances over her shoulder at Keisuke at his comment, arches a brow for a moment's pause before shifting her attention back to the camp below them. "I did not say Tsiro-kun can drink as much as he wants, now did I." she smirks with a roll of her shoulders. Reaching up to the collar of her kimono, she slides the fabric over her skin to free her shoulders, revealing the tight wrappings of bone encasing her chest much like a breastplate. The kimono arms flap loosely from her waist as Yuuka narrows her eyes on the camp. "But right now… lets have some fun. Take them out." The Kaguya kunoichi blurs with sudden speed down the cliffside.
Tsiro listens to the words of both Takeshi and Keisuke. He grimaces a bit as he has heard that Kaguya have a naturally high tolerance to liquor to begin with. "Who said anything about worried old man?" the words were obviously for Takeshi. "I am Kaguya. I do not get worried. I get pissed off." the boy finishes his words before following after Yuuka. He's not as fast, but he's not far off. As he runs, he produces another bone from the other palm. The boy no longer seemed to hold so much shame in his heritage. It was pretty obvious as of late that he has begun to embrace it.
Takeshi looked back at Keisuke idly, "Oh, they asked you to come too? It makes you wonder sometimes who puts us on these missions. It's apparently one of our camps turned free, probably some attempt at rejecting our rule. So, what are you going to do boyo? You get more enjoyment out of this than most of us right?" There was a yawn as they all rushed off to do their best at bringing down the camp. Takeshi? No, he was going on his own schedule as he steps off the side of the cliff, the cane pushing against the wall as he walks down it calmly. Run fast and risk arthritis because of this cold? HE thinks not.
Glancing between the three Kaguya as they speak, Keisuke shows a faint smirk. It's been some time since he's seen such clan banding time between the Kaguya. He allows the others to get a bit of a head start before vanishing to follow behind them. Perhaps the clan will be in good shape, after all… And since the old man is pestering him, maybe he'll go ahead and show off his skill a bit and rip these guys to shreds.
The Camellia sword forms in her hand as Yuuka sprints down the side of the cliff, appearing an instant later within the camp itself. The slight smirk tugs at her lips, "Looks like this is not your night, boys." she murmurs, the pair of bodies falling in her wake from the invisible slash of her sword. Two down at the firepit.
There is a battle cry from Tsiro as he runs directly towards a patrol of two men. As they turn around he stabs both of them in the gut. He pulls the bone blades from out in a single motion of both arms. He then looks around for his next opponent. His eyes glance back towards his other clan mates or currently the competition. He glances towards Yuuka before pulling one of the bones from his palms and tossing at one of the stationary guards. He had hoped to add one to break the tie of two between them.
Yes, Takeshi was now down the mountain and taking one step at a time like a good old man. To this end, he sidles past Yuuka and Tsiro, cane in hand, one step at a time and very slowly. No words are offered to either as he heads towards the campfire and holds his hands out, "Oh boy, it's warm. This should be fun." His hands are starting to get warm and toasty, that's just right. "Can't beat a fire in the middle of a cold night."
Then suddenly, men are upon the elder. Two of them to be exact, hacking away with their weapons at his back, except they don't seem to be doing much good and Takeshi is remaining obliviously unaware. "Oh, that's great, can you hit it a little to the left?" They don't know what to do at this point, it's kind of like being confronted with a monster. Takeshi snorts, "Keep scratching my back or I'll kill ya." One of them gets scared and keeps hitting the elder with his sword, the other one however promptly finds blood pouring from a wound that wasn't there before. The elder snaps his neck, "oh, thanks, that got rid of that itch, come around to the front here." The patrol man steps around gingerly and Takeshi nods, "Good, good. So, do you want to come back to kiri and be a good boy or do I need to kill you?"
This one drops to his knees, "Don't kill me, I'll do anything."
The elder nods, "Good, good. I need a new servant."
A single arrow of bone rockets down toward the fire pit, heading toward one unlucky gentleman who happens to be traveling with a group of himself and three others. Just as it seems only one man is going to die right now, the arrow splits into four separate arrows of bone, seeming to fly at will directly at the hearts of each man, even if they attempt to move out of the way.
Higher up the mountain, Keisuke stands with his grandmother's bow in hand, that faint smirk still on his face as he watches the practice of what he is learning from her take effect.
Two, four, number five, then eight. The numbers were adding up quickly. Yuuka arches a brow as she glaces over her shoulder at Keisuke for a quick moment, seeing his barrage of attacks. It looks like he's entertaining himself with a new toy. She smirks lightly to herself and shakes her snowy head, straightening the curve of her back to narrow her blue green eyes at her surroundings with a bit more deliberation. Besides the mines itself, the only possibility where the bandits might be keeping the shipment of ore is in a log building that appears to be built into the side of the mountain itself. "Hm." Bet or not, finding the shipment was part of the mission. Yuuka rolls her shoulders as she turns and approaches the front of the building, stretching her senses out further around herself and whatever or whoever may be inside.
Tsiro watches as his bone dagger hits it target to make three, although as he glances around he still was not in the lead. The boy grumbles before looking towards the dogs. He pondered for a moment if they counted. There was like four of them. That would put him in the lead… Against his better judgment he decides to leave them alone. He watches as Yuuka makes her way to the cabin.
Takeshi was more than happy to leave it all to them, "Hey, you, get me sake."
The other man runs off towards a certain shack that looks suspiciously like a bar. Well, at least he was going to be a good servant. Then there were the idiots behind him, trying to sneak up on an elder in an attempt to catch him off guard, that wasn't going to work on Takeshi. As his servant comes running out of the bar the sake bottle splashes open with a crack as an arrow pierces his new found servant's heart. It wasn't Keisuke. "Now damnit, that was a perfectly good servant and some damn good sake. Who did that?"
He turns around to face the idiots standing up on the mountain behind him, the one with the bow firing an arrow at Takeshi that just bounces off, "You're gonna have to pull harder than that. Damn you." He grabs his cane and starts making his way over to them all, except that the rest of the patrol rush out to meet him. They don't last long, each one maimed and killed in differing ways as he approaches the archer and pulls one of the swords off the nimrods from the rush before tossing it at the archer and skewering him. "Damn kids and their damn bows. That was good sake and my servant boy was killed. What the hell's wrong with these people." He stomps his way back to the camp fire to stay warm.
Just as another wave of about three men come from behind Takeshi, arrows of bone pierce their hearts from behind, the arrows actually going completely through to fly up and around to impale the guys coming behind them.
As their bodies fall, Keisuke walks from behind them with the bow slung over his shoulder now. "I think I chose well," he says as he approaches, holding a foreign bottle of sake in each hand. "Bought this off some brewers in one of the lands I ravaged on that mission. Their specialty," he says before handing one of the bottles over to the old man. "It was actually supposed to go to their feudal lord's private stash, but I can be rather convincing," he says before taking a few sips from the bottle he kept.
Once Yuuka opened the door she would find the shipment of ore. It had been packed into bags and looked to be about ready to be shipped off. There was a letter attached to one of the bags containing the seal of Kumogakure. Other than that there is little evidence of anyone else around.
