Starring:
Date: November 13, 2016
Summary:
Goh and Mushi are led to the Uzumaki Village, where they stew over their latest incident.
"The Twelve Hunt - part 2b: Regrouping"
Unknown location
The walk to the Uzumaki Village hadn't been long. In fact, now that they knew where to go? It was apparent that they had been almost painfully short of their goal to find it on their own. But they likely never would have, given the various traps and leads to steer them away. It wasn't a Hidden Village, but it was pretty close to it.
Once inside the Village, Roshi needed to rest in his quarters. After commanding a room to be made available to them, he had left them to recover and get some rest of their own. They were to meet again at dinner, where proper instructions and introductions would be placed.
So the two are inside their room, in some wooden lodge type housing. The pot, Lucielle, was never actually taken from Goh. So he had carried it all the way to where they were staying, and left it sitting nicely in the middle of the living area floor. There wasn't a whole lot going on in the room, otherwise. A couch, a bed. A bathroom. That was it.
The pickler was just beginning to emerge from the bathroom, winding up from his time in the shower. It was a weird sort of habit he had developed, really. After being locked up for such a long period of time, he now found that he wanted showers often. So he'd have at least two a day. Perhaps three, depending on what transpired that day.
"Do you think we'll have anything good for dinner?" The pickler calls out over the running water, voice hoping to catch Mushi, where-ever she may be. "I'm /starving/."
While Goh has been relieved due to their rescue, Mushi has been preparing relentlessly for the Twelve. Now that she knows what they're facing and has a bit of reliable information, she's taking all safety precautions possible. It doesn't matter that at full strength she still was helpless against that thing. She'll try to make sure next time is different. She had said to Roshi and Goh, "Now they'll think I can't beat even one of them. They'll let their guard down." If only the fact that she /can't/ beat one of them was untrue.
Mushi has been flipping through notes, examining the pot, and most of all studying the chakra that is now sealed in the scroll. A strange aftereffect of forcibly siphoning out the senjutsu chakra must be itchiness. Because she's scratching them as if they're covered in mosquito bites, without really noticing. She's currently sitting on the floor, chewing on the stem of a feather, and reading a scroll. While one hand is busy raking reddened marks up and down her forearm.
She glances up to smile at Goh. Every time she's smiled at him has been a smile that's said 'I'm so happy you're alive.' She gives him one of those now. "As long as it's not pickled vegetables," she says cheerfully. And then more seriously: "How are you, Goh-kun?"
"You know that Roshi /loves/ my pickled vegetables, right? Which means that this place is probably SPEWING with them. They probably got them on every single plate around here! They may not be mine, but beggars can't be choosers, hey?" Turning the water off, the pickler stands in the doorway. "I'm fine." He replies. "But you know what's weird?" Wrapping a towel around his waist, he moves over to the bed to start sheathing on some clothes.
"Two. I mean, the guy. Two. The one you fought before. You fought him one-on-one." He thinks. "But when I faced the Twelve all at once, he seemed… well. Weaker?" He thinks, head tilting. "I mean, let's consider it. In Sage Mode, with my Salamander Squad, I could have had a bit more firepower than what you had this afternoon. But we're talking small percentages here." Just to make sure that she didn't think he was trying to boast, he lifts a hand. "Respectively." He clears his throat. "And Two wasn't the problem. It was Nine. And Ten, actually. Both of them do this weird combo thing…" He trails off. "Anyway. It got me thinking. Do you think that when they all engage together, they could be weaker somehow? As if they're drawing power off some sort of battery?" He shrugs. "I dunno. I'm just rambling. All I'm saying is the guy you faced was /way/ stronger than when he fought me a few years ago."
"Spewing pickled vegetables," Mushi says mildly. Though those words say it all, and about what she thinks of them. She takes a step towards when he mentions the strength of the Twelve, or lack thereof. Then she stops. Her expression clears, and she looks relieved. "I was afraid…" she says. "Not just for you but for everyone, if twelve such beings collaborated. They could bring about the destruction of a hidden village." She frowns. "Two may be able to," she admits.
Then she starts taking off her clothes. And she puts new ones on. A tank top. Shorts with pockets lining the side. And a billowing white robe, with voluminous sleeves, and a similar number of pockets. Then she'd start gathering supplies, and placing various ones into different areas. Everything from medicine to weapons to pens and paper. "That pot was amazing," she says, "But Roshi-san mentioned that he couldn't use it again. If it's true that they have some source for their power…maybe something such as that could help neutralize it? Hmm, I'm hungry."
"I don't think there's much any shinobi could do to stop him if he ever desired to just take over a Village. Like I said. Numbers don't matter to these guys." Now fully dressed, Goh walks over to the large pot. With a crouch he looks at it carefully. For a while he stares at it. Then says: "Mushi." Goh looks to the healer. "I'm glad you're with me. You were… seriously, you were kick-ass out there this afternoon. I know what it's like to stare those things in the face… and you just stood your ground like a total boss. You should have seen you from my eyes take that thing on. You're really, really tough." The pickler beams a toothy smile.
"It sure is amazing." He agrees, looking back to the sealing pot. With a gentle touch, the man pokes the thing. But with a little too much strength! The pot sways on its base, threatening to tip and shatter. The pickler holds his breath in positive fright, before sighing in relief as it falls safely back onto its base and sits still. "Er." He begins. "Maybe I won't touch that again." He clears his throat, before standing up and taking two big steps away from it.
Short shorts, but tall boots. Mushi has pushed aside the prim look for a much bolder one. Though she ties her hair back into a loose ponytail. "So they could take over a village," Mushi says thoughtfully, "but instead they go out of their way to find you. And it's clear they're not interested in anything else for now." If he was telling the truth, Two would have just let her walk away. She huffs.
She grins when Goh compliments her. "Well things might've gone worse without Kirameki. But you shouldn't have told her to stay. She was supposed to get you out of there." It seems she assumes that Goh was the reason Kirameki stayed behind, not the hummingbird's own choice. She gives her boyfriend a warning look, but she can't hold it. Because it turns to alarm when the pot almost breaks.
"You…fool…" she gasps, when the pot has steadied itself. She lets out a huff of relief. She goes and hugs Goh tightly. "Why you? You're so good Goh-kun. You don't deserve any of this. And there are dozens of senjutsu users, maybe hundreds, yet they come this much further and put us in this danger."
"They don't care about Villages. Not about our quarrels with each other. I doubt they even care about this land. They care about other stuff, maybe stuff far beyond what we know of. All we know is that I'm the one that lived." Goh admits, burying his face into Mushi's neck as he picks her up to embrace her tightly. She was a bit smaller than he, so he could easily lift her up after wrapping arms around her. After a small nuzzle and setting her down, he lets his hands rest on her shoulders. "Maybe it's a personal thing. A point of pride. Maybe the experiments they ran on me were successful." He shrugs. "Either way, I doubt it matters. It's just the way it is. And hey, it was Kirameki's idea to just float around outside of range. /I/ wanted to go straight back to the battlefield." With a hearty laugh, he makes his way to the front door.
"You think there's hundreds of people that can use senjutsu? That's a bit of a downer. Here I thought I was all unique and stuff." He smirks, opening the door. A cool wind blows into the room. Goh himself is wearing his 'summer' attire too, like what he wore at the farm. Only this time the sleeves are down and buttons are done up. He also has long pants on, but they appear 'light'. "Let's eat."
"Or maybe they don't like pickled vegetables," Mushi says, and her lips quiver. "Sorry, bad joke. But you know, I'm relieved. Two was unimaginably strong. Yet he was real. Now I don't have to imagine something a thousand times worse. My nightmares made them scarier than they could be in real life. Even if they have the power to switch off the sun, I was still able to give it a bruise. And watch it run away screaming from a jar." She grins.
She hugs him and nuzzles him back until he mentions that Kirameki was a part of it. She stares at him. "Both of you are awful," she says. "I'd think it of you, but Kirameki-chan…she and I will have words…" But there's not too much heat behind her tone. Kirameki had come through for her in a pinch. She huffs and takes a few moments to compose herself. "You know, you may be right. I'm not sure if there are too many senjutsu users out there. I've met only one I know of, besides yourself." She follows him out, deliberately rubbing her bare leg against his before they're in the open with the other Uzumaki and the free food. Which she starts into with gusto.
"Or maybe they don't like pickled vegetables," Mushi says, and her lips quiver. "Sorry, bad joke. But you know, I'm relieved. Two was unimaginably strong. Yet he was real. Now I don't have to imagine something a thousand times worse. My nightmares made them scarier than they could be in real life. Even if they have the power to switch off the sun, I was still able to give it a bruise. And watch it run away screaming from a jar." She grins.
She hugs him and nuzzles him back until he mentions that Kirameki was a part of it. She stares at him. "Both of you are awful," she says. "I'd think it of you, but Kirameki-chan…she and I will have words…" But there's not too much heat behind her tone. Kirameki had come through for her in a pinch. She huffs and takes a few moments to compose herself. "You know, you may be right. I'm not sure if there are too many senjutsu users out there. I've met only one I know of, besides yourself." She follows him out innto the open with the other Uzumaki and the free food. Which she starts into with gusto.
