Starring:
Date: July 9, 2016
Summary:
The bat's second test for their summoning contract pits her and others against a summoner from the Locusts.
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Origin of Batgirl - The Bat Signal"
Southern Land of Lightning
It's been a couple of days since Nozomi left Kumogakure. Originally, she had intended to go to the bats alone, but Arashi had made his presence known and appeared concerned, and Nozomi was appreciative enough for the concern not to fight it. When she got here, she spent some time talking with the bats, first formally then privately with Ang, the bat whom she saved. Interestingly enough, it turned out to be the same bat that had been coaching her. After a day of gaining a non-human perspective on her situation, both she and the bats felt it was best that she take her mind off her troubles.
As dusk fades away into night, Nozomi waits at the borders of the bats' areas for Arashi. Ang is on her shoulder, and she had told him the night before that she would be up at dusk and ready to go. The bats have a mission, one that is more important now than ever. She is dressed in a dark blue and violet ninja kimono, with her white hair done up into a bun and stuffed under a hood. "I need to do something about my hair if I am to be going on night missions like this," she tells Ang as she waits. "Perhaps dye it blue?"
Arashi looked at the night sky for a moment. He was a bit tired as he wasn't the one learning to deal with night times and such. The only reason he could handle it how he could was because he rarely got sleep anyways until recently. He was used to having nightmares that kept him up all night. Anyways he would walk to where he was to meet Nozomi quick enough to catch her last bit of words, and he just smiled before stepping closer to her. "Blue hair? Maybe a dark blue huh? I figure in some situations normal blue might still be a bit bright right?" He said teasingly before seeming to try and give her a quick hug before he noticed the bat on her shoulder. "Oh. Hello." He looked at it a tiny moment.
Nozomi tentatively returns the hug even as the bat scurries to avoid getting trapped between them. It is a kind of fruit bat that Arashi had seen before, but unlike the last time it seems in a bit better of a mood. "Or maybe blue-black," the bat says as it crawls up to the top of Nozomi's head. "Kind of hard for me to tell shades of color, but your right that the white hair does stick out a bit."
Nozomi nods slighly twice as she leans back. "He does have a point, it would look more natural. Only concern I have is that people I entertain on my circuits tend to expect the white hair. It's almost a trademark, so I have to think about it." She then shrugs and says, "So… thanks for coming along on this mission, Arashi."
GAME: Save complete.
Arashi nods when the hug is broken, and smiles a bit. "Well here is the thing… If you need to you could get a wig of sorts to use for performances right? Or maybe even do a simple henge. For missions leave it unhenged and dark and such. That way you aren't using chakra." He smiled and nods anyways before placing a single hand on her shoulder. "I wouldn't miss it. You could both use a friend and some back up right now right? And I can fulfill both of those roles as well as allow you to travel wherever you need to without a big fuss." He stated. "So. What are we gonna be doing now?"
Nozomi shrugs at the suggestions given by Arashi. "That's an option, one of many I'll need to think about," she says before filing that conversation away for another day. "The bats have arranged for us to meet up with a couple of people contracted out of Kumo, who I am expected to lead. We'll go meet up with them, and then make our way to the northeast, where are target is."
Arashi simply nods and follows along then when she starts heading out. "Yeah that makes sense I suppose. Do you know if you know any yet or are they all random to you? And do I count as part of this for you or do I simply follow my orders of keeping an eye on you?" He asked since he very well could be a part of her team for this thing. Might as well be sure.
It doesn't take them long to reach their destination really as the bats seem to know shortcuts to get them there. "In a way, that's up to you. I would prefer if you just joined us, as that reduces the number of variables for this mission. And given what they want me to do, the fewer variables we have, the better things will go." That said, Nozomi steps out into the clearing where Hanami and the other person are supposed to meet them. Her kimono is dark blue and dark violet, and her hair is done up in a bun and put under a hood. "As far as who is to be sent, well the bats didn't say…"
Hanami was on another mission. A vague one at that, and with Genin A in tow. She didn't know what was going on, other than she was suppose to meet some contacts to get the mission details. So she headed off for the designated meeting place, making sure Genin A didn't fall behind or anything. Eventually they arrive at the meeting place and she's definitely surprised to see Nozomi there with Arashi. Coming to a stop she glances at the other girl, "Huh, can't say I expected this, what with you leaving and all. At least by the note I found."
Arashi simply nods. "Alright. Makes sense to me, and I guess I can accept just being there as a..protector of sorts. Make things go well if they are heading downwards. He looks at Nozomi and nods again before turning towards Hanami. "Oh. Funny. I guess this is fitting." He greets the two of them. "Yeah. Don't worry. We are out making sure she can do some of her own personal work, but I will let her explain it to you. Nozomi is to be leading this mission entirely." So he takes a step back, and goes to watcher mode. Nothing else to do but watch right now anyways."
Nozomi nods once with a half-smile to Hanami, then allows for Arashi to finish what he says before she starts to speak. "For this mission I am not representing Kumogakure, but rather the clients that hired you, the bat summons."
The bat sitting on top of Nozomi's head gives a wave as she says this and says, "For this mission, consider Nozomi to be in charge."
After nodding slowly, Nozomi continues to speak, "Just over the hills to the north-east, about a kilometer away, is an encampment, with 2 humans and several locust summons. Most of the summons should be asleep at this point, though there is likely a guard. One of the humans is a summoner for the locusts, and the other is his guard. Currently the bats and the locusts are at war, and the bats are here in Kumo looking for an alternate food source after an attack on their home territory destroyed a lot of their fruit trees. But they are being effectively pinned down by the summoner and the locusts. So our mission will be to go remove this threat, either by driving the summoner away, or by more permanent methods. Any questions so far?"
Hanami gives a curt nod to Nozomi and Arashi's explanations, "Very well then." She listens to the mission description, then after thinks a moment before responding, "Okay we got a summoner and guard and the locusts. The locusts weren't really great to face off against that one time…hmm." She rocks on her heels a bit, then shrugs, "I guess I can't think of anything. So then, as the boss what's the play?"
Arashi keeps sitting on the sidelines for now. He still had no reason to speak up until all was said and done. "I am curious what our plan is as well Nozomi." He paused and smiled to hopefully reassure her. In all fairness he was judging everything she did, and was taking it in carefully. He had personal reasons just as much as his mission to be here. Though that wouldn't be revealed just yet.
"The locusts won't be as difficult to face this time," Nozomi explains as she holds up what looks to be a gas bomb. "These contain a special drug that both sends any summon to sleep and returns them to their territory. At this time of night most of them will be asleep due to them being creatures of the day, but this will take care of any staying awake for guard duty. The bad news with these is that we'll have to be close to them, and we have a limited supply, as summons really hate using this stuff. The good news it is completely inert to humans, so we won't suffer any ill effects from it."
After she lets that sink in she says, "We know very little about this summoner, save that he is a wonderer of about chuunin skill, so we don't have to worry about starting a war here. We will sneak into camp, setting off the bombs as we go. We will then burn the camp down, making sure to keep the surroundings from being too damaged, while destroying or obsconding with their supplies. If we have to fight the summoner or the guard, attack with intent to kill." She then draws out a quick diagram of what they know of the camp on the ground, displaying places of interest. "As of last night, we know of no bat prisoners, but if you see any, get them out."
Hanami listens intently to Nozomi, looking at the map when she pulls it out, "Okay then, seems straightforward enough. Hopefully I'll be able to pick up on any locusts or whatnot patrolling around the area as we get closer. Should help. And yeah, we'll keep an eye out for any bats if they have any, don't worry." She looks about, then stretches her back, "Well I take it we're ready to go then?"
Arashi listens and nods. He was impressed with the plan and even if some of the bats helped with it Nozomi still spoke on the plan flawlessly. "Nozomi. Good plan. It sounds solid enough, and I will stick by it." He smiled towards her before stretching. "If there are any bats or that one on your head. Will the gas effect them though? Sounds like it." He had to be sure about that. "Anyways. Good plan and I will treat this as if I was under your command for now. Until…it is otherwise needed."
Ang interjects at that point by adding, "Yes, the gas would affect me if I were to come in contact with it. I will therefore be flying above the camp to keep watch over what happens. I won't be participating otherwise, as this is a test for Nozomi." For a brief moment a bit of uncertainty washes over her face, to which Ang says, "You can do this."
Nozomi closes her eyes as her summon friend pulls at her hood to bring her out of her temporary funk. "Hai, I can do this," she whispers before straightening herself up. She then hands each of the people two smoke bombs and says, "Genin A-san, you will be keeping lookout for us. Don't be afraid to use an owl call if we're about to get in trouble we haven't seen." Hanami and Arashi both get nods, and Ang takes off as she says, "This way."
Nozomi leads the group on a back trail into the foothills of Kumo's mountain range. As she does, she becomes very quiet and even goes as far as to pull out her flute. But right now the only thing that can be heard is the sounds of insects at night…
Arashi took the smoke bombs as she handed them off. "Alright. Well I figure I won't be much help for trying to find people in the area sadly. My skills tend to involve… Hiding and finding when it isn't a stealth mission. I need to practice that myself." He chuckled. If only it was already misty. "Anyways. I will keep an eye out best I can." Which he does as he walks along. He yawned a bit, and had chakra prepared just in case. He didn't like being caught off guard.
Nozomi hums a little as the group makes their way toward the camp. But soon she holds up a closed fist to call a halt. She then sends Rokuro off to where she indicated she wanted him before looking back to Arashi and Hanami. Her eyes flash blue in the darkness as she asks via hand signs for a report of what they found, though she is now pulling out a smoke bomb to be ready.
Hanami pauses as her senses take in the insects among the creatures and the two nearest. Nozomi seems to probably be picking up the same thing, and she uses the same hand signs to inform the group of the nearby insects. No real surprise about there being guards about. Even though she knows the insects are near she still keeps alert.
Arashi was clueless. Gordon he needed to stop relying on those mists of his. He didn't speak and just stuck close to the other two for now until he was useful. His eyes were still shifting though in hope that he could spot something… Somewhere
Nozomi nods once, then motions for Hanami and Arashi to throw one bomb each to the right and the left, depending on what side they were on. She keeps her concentration ahead of them though as she continues to hum, though the hum changes pitch slightly. They're closer to the camp now, and soon they will be able to blanke the entire camp in that gas. Hopefully there will be just enough moisture in the gas for Arashi to use his skills…
Hanami nods at the orders and takes up one of the smoke bombs. Covering the right she tosses the bomb off in the direction of the bug she sensed, hoping indeed these things work as they're suppose to. Once done she moves up with Nozomi toward the camp. Now that they were getting closer the first big hurdle would be the large number of locusts there. If their bombs could get rid of them no doubt things would be much easier.
Arashi would toss his to the left in sync with Hanami. He didn't know when they would make it fully in the camp, but hopefully this gas would work for mist control. It had to be.. a bit watery though. For now he kept looking and prepared the second smoke bomb he had on him. At least he knew if it came to a fight he could do what was needed.
The gas bombs explode and fill large areas with a moist gas. Each person (though vaguely in Arashi's case) would be able to sense several resulting "poofs," adding to the gas as the summons fall down and are reverse-summoned to their territory. Nozomi gives the signal to charge even as two tent flaps open and not two but three people come out of them! As Nozomi runs forward she tosses two more bombs head and to one side as they run through the camp. Finally she skids to a halt and digs out a flare, lights it, and throws it on the nearest tent. The attack has now begun in ernest.
Hanami takes off after Nozomi, following her lead as she senses the locusts poofing away. Taking her remaining bomb she chucks it at the large mass of insects looking to send as many back as she can. And apparently there were three guys to deal with, well hopefully that wont matter much. She takes a deep breath, working her chakra she unleashes a fast spinning vortex of wind to rip across the campsite into one of the other tents. Time for things to get interesting. She follows it up with a wind chakram aimed at the nearest of the guys, "Time to stand down now. You and your insects are not welcome here."
Arashi would follow with the other two. He would try to find the best spot to throw his last bomb before doing so. He began lighting flames with a flare of his own if he had one in which case he could throw it around. But now that the gas was everywhere he would spread it out a bit, and likely would try to figure out a better idea of the area around him. As well as forming a small cloak of chakra around himself.
The middle man looks around as his eyes narrow. "So the bats go this far… Unfortunately for them, this leaves their homeland all that much weaker, something we will sure to take advantage of after your deaths." He then inhales before letting loose a stream of fire right toward the group. Yes, it catches more tents on fire, but it's size would ensure all three attackers are targets. The guards, in the meantime, throw shurriken out toward Arashi and Hanami in unspoken agreement, Nozomi is the summoner's responsibility.
Nozomi doesn't say anything, really. There's no boasts. There's no taunts or even comebacks. Instead her face twists into an angry vissage as she puts her flute up to her lips to first fend off the flames, then to retaliate with a stream of swords toward the middle guy as her eyes blaze with blue fire. Here is a worthy target for her ire…
Hanami was moving from her attack on the tent and goon when she spotted the stream of fire. Putting on a burst of speed she tried to dodge out of the way but was quick enough, feeling the bite of the flames rush over her right side. She stumbles, but manages to twist out of the way of the shurikens raining down on her from the guard. Smothering the flame she turns her attention toward the guard, though she gives a dark stare at the summoner for the fire. Chakram in hand she focuses her wind chakra and with a few quick slashes she sends a large, howling wolf head of wind zig=zagging for the guard that attacked her, intent on ripping into him. She wasn't messing around, wasn't much in the mood. Following that her hand flashes through the signs and a quick gesture brings a section of solidified air above the guard smashing down for the purpose of pinning him.
Arashi quickly formed water when he ran along so there were more Arashi's to take the hits. "Fire huh? Isn't that interesting. I guess I am just prepared to take you donw if needed." But he was gonna let Nozomi handle that. She needed the chance. He was gonna focus on the other two, and since Hanami seemed to sorta get one he was gonna get the other one. He shot out needles of energy before trying to tie him up with water chains.
"What, no snazzy comebacks? No wise-cracks about how sound will shake us to pieces? And you are a summoner of bats? Puhlease…" the summoner snears as Nozomi doesn't seem to respond. Even as the first guard is trying to shake off the effects of multiple wind attacks, he inhales again shoots out a great fireball toward the genin, who once again calls forth a sound pulse to attempt to disapate it, only to have it still hit and burn her more.
She moves the flute just enough to say, "I've got a lot of anger to vent, and you just volunteered." With that the flute goes back up to her lips as her music changes into violent attacks on the summoner's senses, then upon his body.
Hanami rushed to the pinned guard, dropping on him she puts her chakram to his throat, "Would really be nice of you to surrender. That girl over there is lit, you and your buddies lit her and her bat friends off. Bad idea. So, surrender peacefully and you'll be fine. Otherwise…" Then she just shakes her head, "You know, nevermind." Taking advantage of him being pinned she delivers a hard blow to the back of his head to knock him out.
Arashi would use water from the clones earlier to form little ribbons of water that were shot out to stop the guys skill from starting. "Fine.. Make this difficult why don't ya." He said with a sigh before forming some hand seals. Suddenly he set his hands out in front of him, and blue chakra was forming there. It looked a bit like.. Lighting colored, and from that would shoot about a dozen beams all at the one guy who attacked him.
"Oh… the baby is lit. Poor baby, here let me give you some rest, eternal rest that is," the summoner says as he throws another fireball. In the meantime, the first guard is rendered unconscious while the second guard is throws some wind-ehanced kunai at Arashi even while barely dodging the laser circus.
Nozomi, on the other hand, is slowly getting the hang of defending against the fireballs as this latest attack doesn't seem to do nearly as much damage as the previous. "Hanami, if you're done I could use some help," she says in between breaths. "I'll set him up for you…" with that she does this complex melody that beats against the summoner's body even more, in hopes of causing to disorient the man.
Hanami quickly takes some cord and tightly secures the guard's hands and feet while he's unconscious. Once done she gets up and sees Arashi handling his guard, and Nozomi facing off against the summoner. She decides to give an idea a shot, and using the mists and the fact that the man is probably more focused on Arashi than anything, she manipulates the air around her to deaden the sounds of her passage. Circling around she tries coming upon the second guard from behind. She'll try using the stealth approach to deliver a low kick to the back of his right knee, her foot swirls with wind enhancing the speed and strength.
Hanami quickly takes some cord and tightly secures the guard's hands and feet while he's unconscious. Once done she gets up and sees Arashi handling his guard, and Nozomi facing off against the summoner. She decides to give an idea a shot, and using the mists and the fact that the man is probably more focused on Arashi than anything, she manipulates the air around her to deaden the sounds of her passage. As she was circling around to come upon the summoner from behind, masking her passage from both him and the other guard she hears Nozomi call out for help by the time she's near. So with the work done for her, she just rushes up to the summoner and goes for a blow to the back of the head, wind enhanced so a careful eye might catch her fist doesn't exactly connect with his head, just the focused wind and the force she throws behind it.
Arashi frowned at this guy. He was just being a pain now. "Really? I really could care less about your life you know? If you want to keep it I suggest you leave before I drill a beam of energy through your spine." Arashi said all of this with a straight face before suddenly stepping forwards some. He could try for that attack again. Or he could go for the chains beam combo… Laser circus it is. So again a beam of energy shot out. Arashi had barely moved in all this time. He didn't need to much while fighting. Everything could be done from one spot.
Well, things have turned against the summoner and the remaining guard as they try to defend against everyone. With Guard 1 out and the summoner still disoriented from Nozomi's successive minor music chords, he takes the full brunt of Hanami's wind physical, from behind, causing him to almost go down. Still he manages to grunt out, "If I have to go, I'll take the bat's summoner with me…" He then chares a kunai and throws it at Nozomi, who tries to step aside only to be scratched by it.
In the meantime the second guard is hit by Arashi's laser circus while being distracted by Hanami's sneak attack on the Summoner. Thus he tries to sprint over, only to be cut down by the laser circus. The guard may not be dead, but he's not capable of putting up much of a fight. In the meantime, Nozomi is feeling the effects of low chakra and whistles three last notes before falling back and releasing her Nejigan. Unfortunately for the summoner, that was enough to nearly kill him, causing him to be unable to continue the fight. Just like that, it's over. The clouds of gas slowly fade away, leaving the three attackers standing over ruined bodies of the defenders.
Hanami feels pretty satisfied with her attack connecting with the summoner, but before he goes down the guy gets in one last attack on Nozomi. When down she secures him tightly like her guard as Nozomi falls over. "Nozomi! You alright over there?" Glancing she sees Arashi had taken care of the other guard, so it seemed things were good and done for now at least.
Arashi was frowning a bit at the turn of events even if it ended fine. "Lets see… I guess we are succesful at least." He didn't seem to flinch as the guy he shot with lasers went down. It was a completely normal sight to him. Plus the guy should live. His skills are deadly, but not destructive yet. Only his laser beam skill is aimed to be like that. "Nozomi come here." He said as he walked over to her. He started pulling out a few medical supplies, and would start to dress a few of her wounds. "Hanami. You are fine yeah? No need for medical services?" He said.
Nozomi comes over to Arashi as she is called and lets him treat her burns. "Thank you," she murmurs while he's working. She looks pretty tired, but still somewhat satisfied. "I should have channeled more chakra at the beginning," she comments with a frown on her face. "I came far too close for comfort this time." She then looks over to Hanami and adds, "Thank you for the assist."
Now Ang flies down as the last of the clouds blow away. He lands on a nearby table instead of Nozomi and says, "Well done. Some of the elders will be here momentarily to deal with the summoner and his guards. I'm sorry we did not give you adequate intelligence."
Hanami gives a shake of her head at Arashi's question, "No, see to Nozomi. I'll be okay, can patch myself up. A little burning, no big." She moves off then settles down with her own bandages and supplies to take care of her wounds. She gives Nozomi a small smile and nods, "You're welcome. Glad things worked out so well with this matter." When the bats arrive she just listens, glad they didn't have to worry about cleaning up the mess to be honest.
Arashi just made sure Nozomi stayed sitting until he felt she was fine. "Maybe you should've, but now you will know you can do more. Or will need to. I honestly could've done a bit less as I haven't even used much myself." He said and chuckled slightly. He let the bats talk to Nozomi as he looked at Hanami. "Good job by the way. You did good as well."
Nozomi isn't much for moving at the moment, though she does seem to be feeling better as Arashi treats her wounds. In the meantime, 3 rather large bats come and land on the prisoners. With a puff of smoke they are gone. "They'll likely be ransomed back to the Locusts. Given the rather bad position this puts them in, you may have brought a quicker end to the war," Ang says to them all. "You did well today, Nozomi. You have passed your second test."
Nozomi smiles a bit at that, the first smile that Arashi has likely seen in days. "I think I can make it back to the enclave, Arashi." Just then another bat appears with a rather large, heavy sack, which Nozomi motions to be given to Hanami as Rokuro shows up. "That's the bat's payment for the mission. Can you see it delivered to Kumo Hanami?"
Hanami finishes her treatment, good enough for now though with burns might need to have a professional check it out later just to be safe. She watches as the bats teleport the prisoners away, "Handy way of cleaning up I must say." Then when the big bat appears with a sack for her she blinks, "For me? I mean, thanks, though really it wasn't that much, don't really need to go through the trouble…"
Arashi smiled at Nozomi. "You did do well Nozomi. And I am glad you can. I am not too tired that I couldn't carry you, but I think someone would have some words with me later if I did." He says with a slight whistle at the end to just at to the joke. "Anywho.." He looked at Hanami. "That isn't all yours. That goes to Kumo. You get a small portion of that. You should know this by now.." He said with a frown. "Do I need to send you back to the academy from Chuunin rank?"
Nozomi's smile quickly fades as Arashi mentions someone having words with him. Her head falls down even as she shakes it. "No, she wouldn't care. And she lost the right to," Nozomi half-sobs and half-grumbles. She then starts to stand up before starting to pack up. "We really should be getting back to the enclave. I need some rest…"
Hanami frowns back at Arashi, "I'm aware, just still seemed like quite a bit. Doesn't matter," she waves her hand then raises a curious eyebrow at Nozomi's statement but it didn't seem like the time to ask questions. Clearly had to do with Nozomi's leaving. She could probably guess the 'her' but it didn't matter at the moment. She stashes the payment then gets up, "If you're sure you're good to return to this enclave, then that's it for us and we should likely get back. I hope everything works out for you Nozomi, don't hesitate to ask for help if you need it."
First he would address Hanami. "Pfft. You would be surprised how much they actually get. These villages can charge a lot sometimes." He chuckled. "Also… I am not heading back with you Hanami. I am gonna stick with Nozomi as much as I am allowed to." He looks to the bat for answers to that before turning to Nozomi with a frown. He would lean over and placed a hand on her cheek. "Now you don't have no reason to cry. One I didn't mean her. Two if she was the one looking I would carry you on purpose. That way she could see what she passed up on. Because at least I know she missed out on one of the best Kunoichi I know." He quickly forms some hand seals and about half a dozen more of him start running around made of lighting and water before the real him picks Nozomi up into his arms. "Let me handle the packing. You are tired and I can tell that. You just relax a bit, and I will be sure to take you as far as I can go or until you are rested." He stated cheerfully. "Plus. Maybe if she is nearby you can put on a big smile and at least act extremely happy. Both so she thinks you are happy without her, and so that she can be let out of your mind." He stated this last bit quietly just in case she didn't want Hanami to bug too much. Then if she was ready he would start walking off course if she wanted to walk on her own he would let her, but the offer obviously stands.
