Starring:
Date: February 15, 2014
Summary:
Three gang bosses are being transported from the old prison to the new prison and their respective gangs attempt to free them.
"Prisoner Escort Mission"
Mountains - Land of Lightning
The long chain gang. It was a group of rather vicious and brutal members that had fortunately been captured. Well, the leaders had. Three of them precisely. They were had to be bound by rope, because any chains they were able to effect. It was some sort of wierd blood thing that the medics still haven't quite figured out. With the new prison available, it was time to move them. Of course, there was a strong potential that the rest of the gang, a total of 10 members, may show up to try and recover their leaders. If they do, the damage they could do to the Land of Lightning would be brutal. As such, Hiei was picked for his known ability at combat. Kin, a known scout of Kumo was also sent along to deal with the gang's potential rescue attempt. While Misaki was on watch, so could not leave the Land of Lightning, it was important to have this group dealt with and she got sent along with Hiei. Thus the three of them show up at the old prison, a squad of 10 people watching the three prisoners they are to recover. The leader of the guards would salute Hiei. "Turning over the prisoners as ordered. We will have two other groups go out in henge, to try and throw off the gang. Good luck."
Hiei knew an important mission when he heard one. After the Ox King escaped prison, he had been looking for a way to redeem himself, being that it was his team that the known Yakuza leader had slipped by. Working with both Kin and Misaki, Hiei felt confident that they could handle almost anything the gang could throw at them. However, he was still going to play this as safe as possible. When he's saluted, he returns the salute. "Thank you. We'll take it from here." While waiting for the transfer, he turns to Misaki and Kin. "If I were looking to spring these guys, I'd make a play once we're too far away to send for backup. What do you guys think?"
"I don't think these guys think like Shinobi.." Misaki says while crossing her arms. "I do think they'll set a trap. Since that's what criminals do right? Ambushes and such?" She hmms…. "If they're hiding initially kin's bird won't be much good, unless they totally suck…" Misaki hmms again. "How - good - are these guys exactly?"
"They took 2 squads of shinobi to capture them and the squads didn't even get the whole gang. They have something special about chains.. not metal, just chains. It's a wierd manipulation." Kin shook his head, glancing up at Dred. "He's already scanning wide area here. I'm expecting the half-way point between the prisons for an ambush. As for what they'll do.. they are very good at traps, from what I heard. They also like to break bones." Kin frowned, hand absently touching the seal his bow was in. He'd nod at the gang members as they were finished processing through. "Real simple you three. Less money for you dead still makes the mission a success. I can shoot you a very long ways out. Run, you die." Kin jerked his head at the road then. "Let's get going." The three leaders had that knowing smug look on their face that was classic of gangsters who thought they were going to get away. They were otherwise compliant to whatever orders the three shinobi would give.
Hiei exhales slowly and begins to walk behind the gangsters. "Kin, please let me know what Dred finds, no matter how insignificant." He grumbles. "I'd love to have Hiroyasu's senses on this one, but he's away on another assignment." As they walk, he reaches out and places a hand on Misaki's shoulder. "Relax and stay cool. If Matatabi has any advice he'd like to impart, we'd be willing to hear it." He tries to relax and allow his own senses to focus. It wasn't much, but maybe it'd help him avoid a trap or something. "Chain manipulation. Huh. I've never heard of that before. Well, just like I tell me students all the time, just because they're not shinobi, doesn't make them any less dangerous. Especially if it took two shinobi squads just to capture them, and they still didn't get them all. That should be a testament to how tough these guys are right there."
Misaki sighs and relaxes at the touch, her arms untangling calmly. "He doesn't know the manipulation either. And suggests a scout ahead might be wise. Since I'm probably most resilient, albeit not the best dodger, I think I should volunteer for that?"
Kin nods in response. "Absolutely." He'd look up and give a click. The bird on wing above would give a call back before flying forward. Tapping the seal on his belt, he pulled out his bow, that seal on the bottom of his quiver also engaged for arrows to be ready. Seconds that could of been used against him denied. Eyeing the gang leaders, Kin shook his head and kept walking. "I don't like this. They are too smug. They already know what's coming." Looking to Misaki, Kin studied her for a moment before giving a small shake of his head. "I'd recommend against it Hiei, Misaki. Dred is up high enough to give us a forward view. Otherwise, we're stronger together, than seperate where the rest of the gang could pick us off. Tough or not."
Hiei nods. "I'm inclined to agree. We shouldn't split up. We'll let dred do the scouting and relay his findings through Kin." He looks at Misaki. "However, it'd be a good idea for you to take point and check for traps along our route. We'll go carefully, but not slowly. The longer it takes us to get to our destination, the more time they have to ambush us." He frowns. "We know it's coming. We just don't know /how/ it's coming."
Misaki nods and follows Hiei's lead. He's more experienced so she's sure it's the wise call. "These guys can't communicate with their leaders. So we could use that for some confusion…"
Kin nods in agreement, following along with them. Misaki in the lead, the three gang members with Hiei and Kin taking up the back. They made decent time, nothing unsual showing for a while. At least the good first hour of the walk. Then Dred would give a wing dip ahead, Kin frowning before speaking up. "There's an avalanche up ahead. It's blocking the road. Dred thinks it looks forced. There also looks to be a path in a gulley up the mountain side, about 20 minutes walking out of the way." Kin shook his head, looking from Dred to the others. "Guess we know where the trap is at."
Hiei frowns. "An avalanche. How convenient. Thanks, Kin." He looks around. "Misaki be on guard. We have no choice but to take the gulley path, and that's where they'll strike. When the time comes, I want you to stay with the prisoners no matter what happens. Can you do that?" He pauses. "They don't have to communicate with their leaders. All they have to do is eliminate or incapacitate us and these guys are free."
"Hai…" Misaki says while testing her nekote, peering at the prisoners for a moment. "I can't believe we're willingly walking into a trap. Can't we somehow make them less effective?"
"That would be the benefit of working with me, Misaki. I can mess up a lot of things, especially when it's spotted by Dred, even at this distance." Kin would shrug, drawing an arrow with an odd tip to it. He didn't pull to fire yet though, simply preparing. They would get closer, the avalanche on the main branch shown and the side path there as well. Starting down it, Dred wheeled overhead. Kin frowned as well. "It seems too quiet. Dred isn't seeing anything guys. Something is wrong." Kin focused himself, gathering chakra while connecting to Dred more fully. This whole thing was putting him on edge and the smug look of the prisoners wasn't helping him any.
Hiei chuckles. "The fact that we already know it's a trap gives us the advantage. Not to mention how do you stop something when you don't know where it is or what form it'll take? You'd make yourself sick worrying about something you can't control. I'd rather spend my time preparing for the conflict that will inevitably happen. Otherwise we'd stand around and talk about it all day and my headband doesn't indicate that I'm a leaf shinobi, so that's not happening." What he does do is prepare his body for the coming fight. Lightning lances along his skin but he doesn't draw either of his weapons just yet. "Something is wrong. I'm getting that itch between my shoulder blades."
"By do something I mean prepare properly. If we're getting ambushed I'd rather outsmart them…" Misaki ponders. "Isn't the mountain their only way of attacking? That avalanche got started by something, can't we start a second one and try to force them to move and ruin their surprise?"
Kin saw it first.
Coming down from the left, a horde of rather large boulders that had no sound to them, was tumbling at the group. Kin cursed, grabbed one of the leaders and started hauling him backwards. "Incoming left!" The other two leaders laughed and would attempt to run into the crashing rocks. If Misaki and Hiei didn't stop them, it'd be revealed that the boulders were a henge.. papermache with a genjutsu to hide the noise of them coming down. They were released from a short distance away. Each one, however, was filled with several chains. The leaders of course were trying to get to them, so they could turn on the shinobi. Meanwhile, the rest of the gang would start down at them. Yep.. not in the gulley, instead, before it, out in the open, an attempt to throw off the targets it seems.
Hiei grabbed one of the leaders close to him and hauled him up onto his shoulder with one arm. At the same time, he begins leaping backwards out of the way of the boulders. He growls under his breath. "Right. Start a second avalanche. I think they heard you, Misaki." He sits the leader down hard and looks at him. "Call them off." He didn't figure they would, but he'd try it anyway. "Do you see them yet, Kin? How many are we dealing with?"
Misaki rushes by two of the guys they're supposed to protect, tackling one to deal with him later and grabbing the other, mimiccing Hiei's moves but in the opposite direction, moving - away - from the incoming boulders!
Dred would give a call, that connection between bird and shinobi enough to give Kin time to drag him and the boss out of the way. Gritting his teeth, he'd look around, finally calling out targets. "Both sides. We're surrounded. They blocked the view from above.. blast it." Pulling some arrows, he'd immediately start shooting, straight shots towards those on the right, seeking to scatter the five that were down hill from them. "The whole gang is here. I wonder if we bring extra prisoners, there's a bonus bounty.. what do you guys think?"
Hiei draws Fukushu just as it appears one of the boulders crushes him. In reality, he moved so fast that his afterimage was still in place when the attack happened. He stands several feet beside Misaki and Kin, appearing there suddenly as if he teleported. "Perhaps. But we'll worry about that after we survive this. Kill them only if you have to." He forms handseals before pointing his sword towards the left. "Release: Lightning Strike!" Bolts of lightning lance from the tip of his sword. "Remember, stay together. If they get the leaders, it's all over. Nobody gets past us. Understand?"
Misaki decides this is a little too high level for her for now, at least when these guys are at full strength. So she decides to guard as many guys as she can a little further back from the engagement.
Both attacks work in terms of tagging the targets they were aimed for. Kin manages to drop one of the gang on the right with an arrow tot he knee. While the rest scatter with a few arrows stuck to them each. Kin could pull fast when he wanted to! Meanwhile, it seems that Hiei's lightning bolt was drawn to the gang on the left. It seems they all wore chains, much to their detriment! The lightning dropped two of the five, although the other three were smoking, they kept going. An interesting side effect is the lightning travelled the chain, lighting the 'boulders' on fire. So the gang started using flaming boulders to try and attack Hiei and Kin once more. "They don't know when to quit.. do they?"
Hiei steps to the side to allow the flaming boulder to go past him. "No. They don't know when to quit. That will be their downfall." Hiei is amazingly calm, displaying none of the anger that used to accompany him fighting. There was a lot at stake here, and he couldn't allow his emotions to ruin it. He sticks his sword in the ground and forms another handseal before extending two fingers towards the group again. "They don't seem to like lightning much. I'll stick to that." Lightning charges at the end of his fingers before he releases a zig-zagging bolt towards another one of the gang. "They do seem to want to stay at range for some reason, though."
"They must think range gives them an advantage." Kin shook his head, Dred's call giving him enough time to avoid another boulder coming at him. Frowning, he'd hop to land behind where Hiei dodged to. "Alright. This is getting annoying." Focusing, Kin would draw two more arrows, draw and fire, draw and fire. The first would look like it went high, only to richochet off the roof the gang had put up to smash into one of the gang members from behind. That left him open for that second shot, the aim once more for a knee cap. It seems that Kin found a way to take them down without killing them!
The gang scattered at the look of lightning from Hiei, avoiding that hit and the further hurting it would of done! They started in closer, the chains reaching further along as more of the boulders was pulled into the fight. It seems the idea was to get the chains to the bosses, behind Misaki. It of course, came with another assault of those chains. Each side had one gang member break from the group to charge forward towards Hiei and Kin.
Hiei comments to Kin. "I can shoot lightning all day. This is getting them nowhere.." He falls silent as one of the gang breaks off from the others to move towards him. Hiei yanks his katana from the ground and move forwards, spinning around to block the boulder. There is a struggle for a moment, but the Yotsuki's superior strength wins over and he sends the boulder away from him. He then smiles faintly. "Getting in close to me probably wasn't smart." He extends his arm, palm side out, aiming for the guy's torso. Lightning flows down his arm and he attempts to send it directly into his opponent.
Kin's trick shot paid off, making the target stumble forward to immediately get pegged by that arrow, making him go down. There was only one back, while the other was coming forward. "You hit close, I'll hit far." The one that Hiei targeted would nimbly dodge to the side of the lightning bolt. The chain about him seeming to come alive with a hiss of metal against metal as it'd snake out to try and tag Hiei. The other one that was up close would follow up with their own attack to beat Hiei about the head. Kin had two targets and he needed to take them both down. Careful with his shots, he'd line up two for the one on the right, one for the guy on the left. If he finished off one side, then that just left the other side to deal with, right?
Hiei dodged the chains at the last minute to re-appear in the spot that he just vacated. This would prove to be folly as the secondary attack struck him right in the back of the head, making him drop his sword at his feet. Not having the time to pick it back up, Hiei staggers a couple feet forwards before throwing his elbow back towards his opponent, then turning in place, lifting a knee towards his gut. He had been training with his father for weeks in learning his family's taijutsu style…it was time to put it to some use.
The guy Hiei came into managed to deflect that first shot, the chain he used actually thrown at the elbow to make it not hit and by extension, electricute him. However, the guy didn't manage to dodge that knee, folding up to get dropped to his hands and knees, coughing. The guys in the distance would manage to avoid Kin's arrows, causing the archer to curse. Suddenly, about as rapidly as the attacks had started, they gang would start pulling out. It seems all the chains between the members were connected. Revealing how they managed to avoid the squads of shinobi by one chain pulling the next and they'd quickly vanish into tunnels in the mountain. While Hiei may be fast enough to pick one group or the other to follow after, the gang had chains on the pillars holding up the walls of the tunnels and would collapse them in to stop persuit. The leaders laughed and scoffed at Hiei and Kin.. until Misaki cuffed one of them. Panting softly, Kin eased up on his draw of the next arrow. "Slippery. No wonder they're so hard to pin down.. Well.. Are you ok Hiei? Looks like they clipped you good once. We should probably get a hustle on as quickly as we can, before they regroup. I didn't kill anyone, afterall."
Hiei growls under his breath and massages the spot on the back of his head where he got hit. "I'm fine. I do agree that we should move immediately. But after we put these guys on ice, I want to hunt down that group." He glances around to check on Misaki and seeing that she still had the leaders, he nods to himself. "Alright. Not to say that they won't try again, but let's go. Quickly."
