Starring:
Date: June 8, 2014
Summary:
An expidition by Saisho to recover some old Kaguya bones turns into a fight with pirates and the recovery of a pirate ship, pirate loot and a successful search for the bones, all with the assistance of two Okumo and the student Saisho.
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Saisho Building the Puppet - Log 3"
Kitori Village Ruins
Saisho Mission Request Letter:
Mizukage and Administrative Staff,
I would like to request permission to travel to the remains of Kitori Village. My research indicates that there was a series of very strong bandit attacks there approximately 4 to 5 years ago. Shinobi from the village were dispatched and managed to defeat the bandits but significant damage was done to the surrounding area and reports indicate that due to loss of life, damage to the village itself, and damage to the surrounding area that the primary village on that island no longer is inhabited but has since been abandoned.
I have reason to believe that in the remains of the village there may be materials that I could use as one of the final elements in my new puppet. I believe that there is minimal risk in traveling to this island location. Based on my travel time math it should take half a day to get there. I request permission for leave for one weekend, leaving in the afternoon on Friday and returning late on Sunday to attempt to gather the materials.
My last expedition was successful and I hope it has proven that I can make these low risk expeditions with very little trouble. Please let me know if this request is acceptable or not. If not please advise what steps I could take to make it acceptable.
-With Great Respect,
Tsuko Saisho
Meruin's Approval Letter
To: Student Tsuko Saisho
Your travel request to the remnants of Kitori Village has been approved. It is agreed that the danger level of a cleared village only half a day's travel from Kirigakure should be fairly low. You will still, of course, be assigned an escort to accompany and protect you throughout your journey and item procurement. Your time limit is, once more, two days. You will be reporting your presence to the gate guard 48 hours after you depart.
It seems as though you are taking after your older brother, creating something thoroughly interesting. Do not hinder your innovation. Be frugal with your creative limitations. Settle for nothing less than a perfection of full satisfaction. I look forward to seeing what comes of your capabilities.
Stand in strength Tsuko Saisho.
Yondaime Mizukage, Okumo Meruin
A mission, sure not a high risk one, but a mission none the less. Escorting a student on a gathering expedition for some kind of puppet materials. Well, it has been rumored Saisho has been doing a heck of a lot of research and already has gone on one of these missions, with Amata no less. The sailboat is packed up with what appears to be food, water, and quite a bit of digging equipment as well as a strange metal box with legs and some kind of weird drill on the front. It looks pretty crude by most puppet standards, and at the moment is completely inactive, just sitting there in the pile of shovels and picks and the like. There are a few empty wooden crates as well, implying Saisho plans to return with a sizable something or other.
This one seems to be something a bit different as it involves returning to a location of a previous battle, where a village was defended from bandits, but the damage had been done. The B-Rank mission to defend the village had destroyed the bandits several years ago, but the bandits had done enough damage and the collateral damage from the fighting was enough that the village was abandoned.
The village had been a prime farming spot, due to the relatively flat nature of half of the island, and the volcanic soil that helped things grow so well. But no one has been there in a few years. At least no one formally. These things happen, villages go, new ones are made as stresses on the land change and needs are taken in new directions.
Map in hand, Saisho is ready to go, and waiting at the dock for the two shinobi who are going with her, early in the morning. The report said the trip should take about half a day and Saisho waited until the weather looked like it would be calm but enough breeze to get the small sail boat to the island quickly enough.
A look at the boat as she approaches, Amata hmms before looking over at Saisho as she approaches, "Saisho-chan." She nods softly as she approaches and looks over the boat before looking back to her, "So, an abandoned village this time, huh?" She hmms and then prepares to move into the boat, "What exactly is it you are after now?" She hmms and peers into the boat, "You appear to be quite ready for a proper journey then." She chuckles even as she settles her hands into her lab coat pockets.
Arriving at the boat Taree would be wearing a wide brimmed sun hat. Smiling and waving to Saisho and Amata as she would hop aboard. Setting down a few small bags, nothing more. Taree would quickly move around the boat like she been on a few before. Checking the lines, rigging and the stores. Stopping before Amata and saluting Taree would ask, "Amata do you mind if I hmm infest the boat a little it would help with the trip" Nodding approvingly at all the supplies and tools gathered on the boat, everything was well prepared. Looking at the digging puppet with extreme curiosity, "I am no judge of puppets all I usually get to look at is Ishino's HARPS, but this looks neat. What are we going after with it?"
Saisho climbs up into the ship, "Come on, let's go!" She says eagerly, "I don't have much time but I'm really glad you're both coming. This time I might need some help digging." She explains as she gestures to the crude digger puppet, "I'm going to be looking for some old leftovers from a big fight I found in some old mission logs that were declassified. I've been looking for… well, something special. "Um…" She glances around the dock then back to the other two, "Come on, let's go and I'll tell you on the way?" She says hopefully, clearly not keen on explaining before the ship is already set sail, as if she's afraid knowing what she's after might make one of the other two not want to go.
Moving easily on to the ship, she settles in before nodding to Taree and then looking out at the water, "Lets get moving." She nods her head, "If you have so little time." She chuckles, "We are prepared, we merely need to get going." She will then look at the digger before saying, "Don't worry, as before, I'm sure we'll find what we are looking for if your theories are sound and your research is good." She nods her head and smiles to Saisho.
Finding a good spot to take a stance in the middle of the ship Taree would grin evilly at Saisho. "Your wish is my command Captain. One fast trip coming up." Tossing her hat to the side, Taree would just hand sign holding it for a moment. Spiders starting to pour out of her hair. Crawling all over the ship, Up the mast, and across the sails. In a few moments little silk webs would be spun around the gear and stores. Looking around admiring her spiders work, "That is just to make sure nothing gets wet." A few more minutes later the spiders would start to let the sail unfurl. Hundreds of little bodies acting like deck hands. Once the boat was well on its way and safely out of the harbor Taree would hand signs again.
A fog bang rolling out before the boat. The fog climbing unnaturally high across the water. As the boat started to enter the fog would drop. Pushing hard against the sales propelling the boat forward. A clear tunnel of air before the ship propelling it forward.
Once the ship is underway, Saisho explains: The records indicated that there should be the ruined remains of the village, that a clean up crew did come through after the bandit battle and that there was extensive use of Kaguya bone in both the defense of the buildings and in attacking the bandits. It is not stated but implied that the clean up crew probably removed most of the bone but if enough was used it is definitely possible they missed some.
During the trip, Saisho lays out her plans, to investigate the village ruins, set up a base camp then try to scout out locations where the fighting was most intense and try to find spots where some bone might have been missed. She makes no secret of her goal, to bring back as much left behind Kaguya bone as she can.
Saisho is clearly impressed with Taree's actions but seems more focused on the goal, "See I want the bone to incorporate into my puppet because it's supposed to be much stronger than metal, but it's not like you can just go buy some at the market…. So I thought if I found some left behind… that no one would mind me taking because it was… well, left behind? That would be okay… so that's my plan. What
do you both think?"
Looking over at the water, she hmms as they start moving faster, listening to the plan with a distant look before she nods and hmms. She turns her gaze over to Saisho, peering at her for a moment before tilting her head, "The only question I have in all of this is to check if you had checked with the Kaguya about getting some directly from the source. Were they unwilling to part with some bone for you?"
She hmms and then looks out at the water again, pondering, "I'd hate to think we are going out there for something you could get fresh at home." She nods and glances back at Saisho, "No offense, of course. I just wanna make sure all possibilities have been expended."
Taree would keep the fog bank moving the boat along. Keeping a sharp eye about for other ships, the fog would look very strange from afar. "Kaguya bones. Hmm I see. Well if the clean up crew the send was anything like a Okumo clean up crew. We will not find much. But then again bound to find at least something. A bandit with a bone threw him could have wandered off and died from his injuries." Looking at the map Saisho was carrying Taree would shift the course of the boat slightly to adjust for wind.
Saisho shakes her head, "I did some checking and it seems that most of the Kaguya who might part with bones were unable to for one reason or another. One pair can still control some of their bones as long as it is there bone. I didn't want a puppet made of /that/ cause, well, then it's a puppet made from something someone else can control. Another Kaguya apparently has some strange stuff going on with her bones, even maybe chakra metal in them? I didn't get all the story about that, but I guess seals are involved and it seemed like that wouldn't work. I was going to talk to the clan elder, but he recently died, and while there might be some in the village who I could talk into it, I hadn't found any yet."
Saisho frowns, "I asked around a lot, and kept getting reasons why that person couldn't help, but no one said that it was a bad idea, so I'm hoping that old bones that are left behind will be okay to use. Since if it was special or had seals or was still part of them, either they would have found it or it probably would have worn off by now, or so I hope." She explains, clearly having done a lot of research and checking into this, although still a bit unsure of herself as to exactly why so many kaguya seemed to have reasons why they probably couldn't share it more easily.
Saisho shakes her head at Taree's words, "They used something called um… hold on…" She digs through some papers as she tries to find the reference, "Dance of… um, something… I'm afraid the details are a bit sketchy, but it says that bones rise up from the ground to impale the attackers, and the mission report says that it was used a few times, and that bones were used to reinforce houses all over the village. Now even if they tried to get all the bones, if bones were coming out of the ground enough to cover a field? I'm hoping they couldn't have gotten them /all/. Or so I'm guessing. I don't need a whole field of bones after all." She says with a grin.
The group is making good progress and as the island comes into view through the mists, it looks like a jungle. The bay that was used to allow ships easy port is still there, and as the small sailboat comes around the island towards that inlet a rather obvious and almost evil looking large sailing ship can be spotted at what appears to be some kind of repaired dock. Seems the island is not so uninhabited after all!! As the group all spots this basically at the same time, Saisho looks to the others with a 'what do we do now' kind of look, and a frown, Well this is a bit unexpected. She manages to say softly, trying to keep the ship from sailing into direct line of sight of the improvised port, giving the group time to discuss what to do.
A pleased smile comes to Amata's lips at Saisho's words, knowing now that the girl once more did all her proper research and due diligence. She only glances a moment at Taree and then looks at the water again. She blinks upon spotting the ship though, pondering it for a moment as they are taken away from that to stay away from sight. She ponders and then nods her head, "Needn't worry." She nods her head as she speaks softly, "I say we simply keep to our original mission, focus on that." She nods her head, "They may just be in for repairs. Ignore them for now and hope we are ignored. There is no reason to look for trouble as that is not part of the mission." She nods her head.
Taree was enjoying the trip so far. It was nice to be out on the open ocean the air under the shade of the fog. As the Island finally came into sight, seeing the other boat and the repair docks it make Taree wonder. "I don't know about just being in repairs Amata. A repair dock like that is a major undertaking to set up and build. They been using this as a base of some sorts. The fog will cover our approach and we can safely get to a inlet to set anchor." Looking about Taree would concentrate hard. the fog would drop around the boat, it slowing down slowly. Sending up wave after wave of fog to cover their progress The boat would continue hopefully unseen. Taking a deep breath Taree would wipe a little sweat from her brow once the boat was safely away.
Saish hesitates, "Um, Amata-san? Do you think we should just sail up to the main dock there then? Or… like Taree-san is saying? Should we find another place to put our boat for now, and be careful? I… wasn't expecting anyone to be here. The most recent reports said no one was here, but…." She trails off as she looks towards the other ship as it is hidden by fog now, "Those were a little old I guess. I didn't think anyone else would be here." She repeats and frowns, "I don't know what to do. I only have a little while and I really want to get the bones, and…" She blinks, then looks towards the Seven Swordsman, "Um, what if they are bandits? Shouldn't we at least check to make sure they aren't? If they are we need to at least report back, right?" She glances to Taree to get her take on this as well.
A look at Taree and she shakes her head, "No, I mean for us to find a different spot to put in." She nods her head, "Avoid them." She looks at Saisho, "You are a student and…" She looks to Taree, "You are a genin. You are both my responsibility." She nods her head and then turns her gaze back to the island, "We avoid them if possible. The mission is not to fight bandits. If they are in our way, we deal with them but this is not going to be a situation were we go off and decide to try to take on a ship full of bandits just because they happen to be on an abandoned island." She nods her head.
Taree kept her concentration on the fog. Keeping themselves hidden was her highest priority at the moment. Listening as Saisho and Amata talk about the situation before them. "No worries I can keep the fog up for a good long time. The island is technically abandoned so its fair game. If they do give us problems they are assaulting Kiri. They will be dealt with." Letting the fog die down as the boat turns down a inlet. Finding a good cluster of trees to hide them on three sides.
Saisho nods and makes sure the boat is well secured and tied off to two separate trees, never one to do things by halves. She sighs, "Looks like they set up shop right where the old village used to be though… not sure how I'm going to dig up a field, or what used to be a field without being noticed." She points out as she starts to look through the stocks of things she brought, "Maybe if the jungle is
thick, but if I use the digging puppet it'll make a lot of noise. I don't think they would miss seeing us, or at least hearing us if I used him." She says thoughtfully, "I have an old map of the village, but from what I saw, it looks like a lot of it is over grown already. We might be able to sneak up, but if they spot us they probably would try to capture us…"
A look at Taree and she nods her head and then looks to Saisho, "Don't be so negative. We will act upon your original plan but we won't try to interact with them directly." She nods her head, "If we attack first than we are no better than bandits ourselves." She nods her head, "We move on our original mission. We act as we would and attempt to be unobtrusive." She nods her head and then looks at Saisho, "If they attack us, we kill them and use their broken bodies to chum the waters for perhaps a tasty shark meal tonight." She nods her head, "I know of a good recipe for shark soup." She then looks toward the area where the possible bandits are, "Just move. If they attack, then they weren't meant to live."
Taree would gather her spiders from all across the ship. Climbing back into her hair as she puts her sun hat back on her head. Taking time to prepare a few surprises for visitors just in case. Winding to bits of rope with a belaying pin in just in case. As the rope tightens the pin growing taunt. Securing it with another rope and a quick release knot. Forming a mass of spider silk around the knot She would
let a bunch of spiders make a little home in it. Rolling silk around the taunt pin she would wait till it started to ravel up, letting more and more spiders hide in it. "Well my spiders will put up a few unobtrusive webs. If someone boards the boat while we are gone. They will release the knot and shoot the web into the air. Will scatter spiders far and wide. A little warning at least that the boat has been
found." Picking up one of her bags Taree would stand ready and waiting for orders.
Saisho takes a deep breath then lets it out slowly, "Okay, so no sneaking but no yelling or looking threatening, right?" She says as she puts a box of stuff on top of the odd puppet then with some concentration gets it going. Apparently it is going to carry some gear. Not all that fancy as she had to strap the stuff to it, but at least she isn't having issues with carrying all of that stuff, or asking the other two to carry a lot of extra junk. "Well, let's go? I guess?" She sounds a tad unsure of herself as she looks into the jungle and with a kunai in one hand steps on to the land and glances around, "Was thinking we'd dock at the main village spot, so… um, since we went this way, I guess it's over around… that way?" She asks as she points in what appears to be the right general direction. She looks to the other two for confirmation and if given will start tromping through the jungle in the indicated direction.
A smile and a nod to Taree, she nods her head to Saisho, "Nothing goes as we expect." She nods her head, "That's what variables are." She smiles gently before gesturing for Saisho to lead the way. She herself grabs up whatever needs to be carried before pondering and hmming softly, "I believe it is wise for us to simply try to complete our mission while remaining wary of our 'neighbors'." She nods her head, "Don't advertise our presence but don't hide it either. This area isn't off limits so it isn't up to us to judge them guilty of anything just because they exist."
All this worry about our neighbors went to the way side for a moment in Taree's brain. Taking a look at all the jungle around them. Silently mouthing a whistle. "With any luck there is some really nifty spiders out there Amata. Permission to gather specimens? safety permitting of course." Getting off the boat and sending a few spiders outward to scout the area. Taree would look around for any form of natural trails or animal made ones. Bending down to feel the soil and how moist it was Taree would grin. "Just in case this place is practically soaking with water. I can bring the mist up really easily if there is trouble. Just give the order Amata"
Off she goes, intrepid explorer Saisho, hacking her way through the undergrowth when she can't just push it back or slip under it. She's small enough she can slip past some things that the other two might not be able to, give or take depending. In either case the group heads through the jungle, finding what seems to be an animal path of some kind, perhaps wild boar or feral pig from the look of the tracks. Wide enough that the little digger puppet can clank along fairly easily behind Saisho as she pauses every so often to look at her map and glance around as if trying to get her bearings. "I think…" She says after a ways, "I think we're pretty close to the far edge of the village. There should be… some where here…"
She finally spies it, "Yes, the remains of a small stone fence. This was the outer marker of the fields I think." She explains, "Not very tall but… enough to mark. If the reports were right, most of the fighting happened…" She glances at a compass, then at her map and notes, "Um, Well, all over really, but a lot of it in the fields on this side of the village and nearer the water. They attacking bandits came in mostly by water I guess. Didn't say in the report." She admits, "But yes, should be this side. Probably closer to the actual buildings though… cause they were protecting those mostly it said." She apparently read over the report quite a few times to know that much about the supposed conflict.
A look at Taree and Amata nods, "Of course, any opportunity to learn new things should be dove upon and acted upon immediately." She nods her head before she turns her gaze back to Saisho as she moves ahead. Amata smiles briefly as the girl eagerly moves forward and then starts to speak. She nods her head, "Well, then lets start with that field then and when we get done with that we can see about trying to get closer to the water." She nods her head, "Lets just try to find what you are looking for. Hopefully these men on this island will leave us be." She nods her head.
Taree was used to fitting in small places but the jungle was sure trying her patience. It would seem her spiders would move through the plant life far better than the humans. The path getting far easier once the animal path was found. The tracks not looking to fresh so not to many nasty surprises expected. Holding up her hand and looking off to the side Taree would point out a strange looking plant to Amata. "Careful that bulbous looking thing just ate one of my scout spiders. Carnivorous plants in a jungle go figure." Shrugging as they continued down the path, noting the plants locations If time allowed to fetch a sample of it. The rock wall at the edge of the field showing that things were about to get interesting.
Saish nods to the instructions, "Okay, let's get closer to the field we want…" She says and to be sure moving forward now is a lot easier. Mostly because until a handful of years ago this was actually a field for crops. And while jungle can reclaim land pretty quickly in this kind of rich soil and wet environment, it still takes time for large trees to grow and underbrush to really get thick. But in some ways it's harder because without the shade of the trees the growth at ground level is thicker. So a mixed blessing, until Saisho finds what remains of a stone path, or maybe it's the remains of a stone wall that crumbled, hard to tell. Either way it gives a nice almost straight line in the direction she seems to want to go. She's rather focused on the map and compass and path at the moment.
The other two however don't have maps to stare at and are probably more alert to their surroundings. For example both notice that there are some signs that humans have been through here before, and not too long ago. Signs of blades used to cut a path through that might be making this route easier for the group still remain as gashes on some of the thicker branches. Any tracks are lost though between the hard stone and the wet mud that is to either side. If there were prints there, they aren't recent, as the mud shows no signs of being disturbed. But, for the more alert pair, the fact that scents fill the air may give more clues.
The group seems to be down wind of the camp, and the smells of cooking meat, and some kind of sharp metallic tang both waft through the air. One clearly is that of a cooking fire, but the other one might be someone working some kind of forge or something. Also the scent of what seems to be lye soap being cooked up, which might indicate the camp is a big bigger than the one ship might have indicated. Or not, hard to tell just from some smells. Still it shows that there are some long term things going on ahead, as one doesn't whip together a forge or stop to cook up lye soap on a whim.
A look at Taree and Amata nods, "I see." She states before she looks in the direction of the bandit camp, sniffing the air. She ponders as she looks at the direction of the smells before glancing around and hmming, "They have been through here. They aren't even remotely being quiet about this camp. This is a serious set up." Amata nods her head, "I doubt they'd be making soap if they didn't intend to stick around." She hmms before looking at Saisho, "We may have to be far more careful than intended." She nods her head before licking her lips, "Not sure how much in the way of bones you'll get to recover if we have to spend our whole time fighting these guys. Hopefully they aren't default aggressive."
Sending a thought out to her spiders Taree would keep her scouts actively searching for possible problems. The closer they got to the camp, the more and more obvious that it as a major undertaking. "We could always stop tippie toeing around and just walk up and say hi. There is no real reason to assume they are aggressive. Heck If they are normal bandits they will know how determine shinobi can be. They won't want to mess with us. And Saisho would get her bones really easy that way." It was only a idea, granted but Taree would shrug. "No surprises that way if they turn out to be hospital we can be the ones to drop the boom on them."
Saisho nods silently to the two talking then frowns, her forward progress stopped while some decision making seems to be done. After a moment she says, "Can you send spiders up to look? I could send TsuTsu, but I don't know how well he can move in the mud…" She admits, "And he's kind of small so doesn't move that fast. I mean, he can but…" She shrugs, "Don't know if your spiders would be better for that? And they are a lot less likely to notice some spiders than a walking stuffed panda bear." She points out, still frowning. She obviously is not pleased by this latest development.
A nod to Taree but then a nod to Saisho as well. Amata reaches up to tap her chin before nodding ahead, "Lets send some spiders up to look around first." She starts sending her own, "We look first then approach. Search for any obvious signs of danger and get a good idea of how many we are dealing with." She nods her head, "Then it might be wise to simply introduce ourselves and our purpose. If they ignore us, for the most part, we just do the search then leave. They attack, we kill them." She smiles a little and looks from one girl to the other, Prepare yourselves."
Taree would prepare herself, take a moment to stretch as she gave her spiders marching orders. Sending out a wave of spider forward toward the little village. "Saisho does your map show if the village had a well. Or what water source it is using?" Waiting for her spiders to start reporting back before making any other moves or tactics. Looking toward Saisho trying not to crack a smile at the thought of a stuff panda bear puppet.
As the spiders head out to scout, Saisho prepares herself, obviously focusing some chakra, and slipping on what can only be described as a gauntlet of some kind. It looks rather strange, but if anyone knows anything about Ishino, and HARPS it is not hard to imagine the inspiration for this odd contraption. She does something to 'activate it' as it starts to hum softly, of all things. At Taree's question, Saisho shakes her head, "No, there was a stream from the mountain, that they diverted for crops and water. The plans show something about a watermill of some kind for something. Not sure what, but I can't imagine it's still working or anything." She says softly, trying to get into the right mind set for possible combat.
Meanwhile the spiders are out scouting and what they find is rather interesting. Maybe two dozen men in a crude camp. There might be more still on the ship that's docked at the end of the simple pier. Several of the port buildings have been rebuilt with sub-par construction. Wood replacing stone, tarps replacing tiles roof. Only one building seems to be really in good shape, and it looks like it took some
effort to get it that way. On closer examination there is little doubt these are pirates, as crates of various goods with multiple ship labels are scattered around, most pried open with their contents either gone or half consumed in the case of several boxes of sake.
From the markings on the boxes, it is clear that these guys have been going after merchant ships of some kind. The big building that is the most restored is not the captain's house, or even a pub or tavern, no it is some kind of metal works. And the lye that was on the air is actually not lye at all but something else being made. Something rather caustic.
Most of the men are laying around, perhaps a dozen of them dozing or just taking it easy. The rest are moving things around. A cook seems to be working at a communal fire pit, but the rest of the active guys are working in the metal works, where they seem to be melting down some metal from various forms into ingots, and it has to be a metal with a low melting point because iron wouldn't melt from that kind of fire, depending on how much knowledge the Okumo pair have about such things.
All in all this looks more than a tad suspicious.
Actually leaving her spiders out, she starts to have them prepare traps and such so she can quickly attack with webbing as need be. She then looks over at Taree before nodding to her and looking to Saisho, "We need to move." She states, "These guys aren't friends by any stretch. We take them down and fast." She then starts to move forward, "I need both of you to stay out of sight, act after these fools act. I need you to have the element of surprise on them. I will act as the distraction. They won't even be able to touch me. Once we have t hem all wrapped up or dead, we will use their camp as ours and get your bones." She nods as she starts to walk forward. She looks back, "I'm relying on you."
Taree would shake her head as this is not the choice she would make. Pouting in thought as Amata gives her orders. Staying close to Saisho she would lean down ready to pull Saisho out of trouble if need be. Nodding softly to Amata. "I disagree with that course of action. But your are the chuunin in command. As you order. You can rely on me." Taking a mental inventory of where her spiders were placed. She gather information of were the greatest source of mud was. "Just stay close to me Saisho i try to make sure nothing really bad happens to you."
Saisho nods to Amata, and looks ready for action, her little digging puppet is actually not active now that she has her glove on and out and working. Seems she's only running one puppet at a time at the moment, if the glove can be said to be a puppet. "Should we circle around so we can hit them from another direction or will you circle around so we can get them from behind?" She asks, softly as she tries to figure out the strategy. However at Taree's words Saisho frowns, "But…." She cuts herself off, not continuing whatever she was going to say, just waiting to see what the others are going to do.
In either case Saisho plans on being ready for whenever Amata strikes, to try to do her part to catch the bad guys off guard, and get the best chance she will have of a successful attack. She looks a tad nervous but not upset or anything. This will be her first real battle after all, so some nervousness is probably acceptable.
Slipping up quietly, Amata moves up to the edge of the camp and steps out to near to one of the men and states, "Hello." She nods her head to the lot of them, "Hi, my name is Amata." She nods her head and looks around at the men, "I would like to speak to your leader. I am leading a small expedition to this island to look for a specific material and I mean none of you any harm. However, it appears that you might bandits or pirates." She nods her head, "And if that is so, we would have to come to blows. I'd like to go ahead and assuage any fears myself or my companions might have of this." She gives a slight bow and looks around at the group, "So, come on. Go ahead and get him or her out to me so we might parlay."
Taree would give amata this she was nice and bold. Smiling to herself looking to see who would be the poor slob to admit to be the leader, or at least prove to be the intelligent one. Gathering her wits watching the bandits slowly stir into motion. Moving forward quietly as possible waiting for the best targets to present themselves. Hoping silently that Saisho does not get hit to badly.
As Amata breaks into the camp, catching everyone completely by surprise, several of the few moving things drop them with loud clanks. The dozen or so men lazying about scramble to their feet and grab cutlasses. Only… at her words they stop and frown and look back between each other. It is clear that her approach has caught them all off guard, not just in arrival but how she has arrived and spoken to them. Finally one guy goes running back up the dock and to the ship calling out, Captain Kenki! Captain Kenki! Come quick! The rest of the men look mostly confused and are grumbling to each other as they stare at Amata, trying really to figure out what to do next it would seem.
In short order a rather large man, both in height and girth comes wandering down from the ship, What is it you fools, did you… He pauses as he spies Amata, he cuts himself off and looks startled. He stares, but there is no doubt this is a kiri-nin. And not a poor one either, and rich means successful, and successful shinobi mean trouble. He takes this all in then hollers, Attack her you fools! As he hurries back up the plank to the ship and out of sight, moving suddenly far faster than he has any right to do considering his mass.
At the order the now almost 18 men who are armed and facing Amata apparently consider this enough of an order, and charge, blades swinging as they try to catch the woman off guard. They look confident, as if their numbers against just /one/ person they can see should mean they can't lose.
A chuckle and Amata shakes her head as she watches the large man come out before giving the order and leaving. Amata shakes her head, "Well, I guess we do things the hard way." She looks over her shoulder, "You two, kill them at your leisure! I'm going to kill their Captain." She nods her head and the men all…HIT?! Wait…no, they are hitting after images. Amata was moving so fast that they men were actually slicing through an after image of Amata. She is behind them in an instant. She simply shakes her head and turns quickly to give a quick gesture and almost immediately a cloud of pure static surrounds the three men that hit her before she suddenly dashes forward.
Amata doesn't even draw out Nuibari, shaking her head as she starts to make her way toward the ship. As she passes by men, she sends spiders up their body, each one probably none too happy as the spiders try to web the men up. This will only slow the men down but that is the point. She wants fat travesty.
Mumbling to herself as Taree would draw chakra to the offensive. "Why does it always have to be the hard way. Can someone please tell me that." Hand signing bringing up the mists again. Thinking lets let the silly pirates swing at themselves in the mists. Staying out of direct combat Taree would keep a eye on Saisho while she would send out clones from the bushes to do their dirty work. The clones littering the area with bits of webbing. The clones laughing calling out to the pirates. "You know if you just lay down your weapons and surrender you might just live through this."
Saisho emerges half way from behind the wall and holding her hand up in front of her, a static discharge builds up along the glove… then shoots forward crackling like lightning. The net effect is that while it is not terribly accurate, it does hit though and each person goes down. Mind you, that she is targeting the three hit by the static cloud didn't hurt one bit. So not like she took one out alone but still, it is clear she was targeting those already hit. In fact had those three not been rather distracted by it all and already in pain, and had the static maybe helped a bit in the lightning blasts hitting their targets it might have been a different story, but for now, three down there.
Men attacked by the spiders of Amata drop their weapons and are slapping at the spiders desperate to get them off, as they are webbed up. It is pretty comical, well, comical if you're not the one being webbed. Amata is able to burst through the men by sheer speed as she makes her way towards the ship. As she does so, the mist rises up. Which is great to hide in, but suddenly Saisho has no targets to hit, Amata races free of the mist and can still see the dock she's running towards. Several of the pirates are hit with cobweb clones as they vanish from view in the mist in the main brawl. Suddenly it is pandemonium out there, as visibility drops to near zero, and men are stumbling around and tripping over each other or flailing with blades only to nick or cut each other.
Saisho frowns, "Hey, now I can't see anyone!" She complaints to Taree, with annoyance.
The fat man, apparently Captain Kenki, is up on deck and while the mist rises up in the camp. All of the group can see the sight of a cannon being swiveled to point down at the dock, right where Amata is headed. There is little doubt she'd notice that too, in fact from this angle even Taree and Saisho would notice that swiveling gun.
Moving at speed toward the dock, Amata growls as she looks at the ship and the Captain, getting ready to destroy the dock. She hurrms and starts to try to mvoe faster, though she really can't pour on too much more speed. She instead simply keeps moving. If that man thinks destroying a dock will help, he's a fool. She instead shakes her head and turns to run to the side. She is now aiming…to the side of
the dock? Strange, as she runs toward the water…and then on to it, attempting to make her way across the water and then up the side of the ship as she performs a few hand signs and then sends another burst of static electricity…this time it is going to be surrounding the captain.
Taree would let the fog swirl around the men and slowly tighten around them. Letting the fog drop down around them letting one or two come out of the fog at once. Running over to Saisho she would motion her to walk away from the ship, back toward the field stone wall. "I agree they can't see us. If they can not see you they will not hit you. At least in theory." Standing back a moment watching the crowd of men cut each other to ribbons. "Nice glove by the way. I am freaking impressed with how much of a jolt pops out. If you have the range blow the cannon up. If not I suggest we move out of range of that cannon." Letting her spiders in the area go after the men. Grinning at all the confusion that would ensue over men suddenly finding spiders nipping at there feet.
As the racing Amata gets close and tosses her electrical discharge towards the man behind the cannon, she'll notice that the man is not alone. There are two others by his side. One is turning to face her as the other is helping the captain aim the gun. It's not easy to quickly turn one of these huge cannons after all. And while the big man is obviously strong, it is a two man effort. An open keg of gunpowder is at their feet as it was simply left there by lazy pirates after it was last loaded.
Meanwhile even before Taree gets to Saisho, she's turned her glove towards that cannon. She already had that idea, since it really was her only target with the mist blocking the view of the deck hands. She gets off one blast, her lightning catching up with Amata's foot speed and use if the Static Cloud attacks. They both hit at once, Saisho's arc discharge drawn by the large metal cannon and right down to the end of it to light the contents before it is ready, and Amata's static setting off the keg.
The resulting explosion rings out, ripping through the air. The flash seems to almost vaporize the two men next to the captain. The blast knocks Amata back, and away from the gun, back towards land, doing some damage probably but not that much thanks to her speed and the protection of her spiders. A smoldering bit of deck is left where the cannon used to be and the cannon ball? Well it's flying through
the air towards some spot well inland, no threat to anyone. A splash is the only sign of where the heavy cannon itself went as it toppled over the side as a result.
Taree is able to guide Saisho back, after that, as the student is in a bit of shock herself, staring and blinking as her sight is a tad blinded. Deck hands were swatting at spiders and trying to get free, but after the explosion they are all stunned, making them great targets for the spiders who are not stunned by the sudden explosion.
Only problem here is…. the captain. He's not dead. He should be by all rights. A normal person would be dead, but then most normal shinobi would not, as Amata could attest to at this moment even if she was not so close to ground zero. His clothing is ripped to bits, and he looks badly injured but he is now at the back end of the ship, dusting himself off and looking more than a bit angry.
Taree is able to get Saisho back behind a wall, and out of harms way for the moment, as Saisho stammers, "Did I do that?" She stares at her glove, looking as if she's trying to figure out what just happened and completely unaware of Amata's role in that explosion. From Saisho and Taree's point of view Saisho's blast hit just at the same time as the explosion and they couldn't see Amata's attack.
Spiders move out from in front of Amata and back into their pouches, those that aren't dead. She stares back at the ship and chuckles, "Right, gun powder." She grins and slowly dusts herself off before shaking her head and then blinking as she watches the big Captain move on the ship and looking worn but still alive, "Well, I'm impressed." She nods her head and then immediately starts running back up and toward the ship, getting back on to deck and looking down the ship toward him. She focuses for a moment before saying, "I could just sink your whole ship if you would like." She nods her head, "And bury you in this bay." She then gestures before looking out over the fight with Taree and Saisho in it before looking back at the Captain, "You know? I'm just going to kill you anyways. Principle and all that. I'm sure you have plenty of blood on your hands from the Land of Water." She then directs her spiders and starts moving them around the ship but doesn't attack just yet.
Looking down at Saisho then back at over the wreck that now was the cannon, Taree would simply nod. "Yah that is why you do not mix gun powder with fire or lightning." Looking at the remaining pirates Taree would step forward with a few of her clones standing next to her. "Okay weapons down get down on the ground and surrender. Or my little friend will point her power glove at you and vaporize some more of you." To prove her point Taree would draw a kunai and throw it at closest pirate." Either way if they surrender or not as the mist falls further down around their ankles. Whispering "Fire away Saisho their dead just don't know it yet"
As Amata returns to the deck, and threatens the captain, he roars and makes a seal and claps his hands together. He makes a mighty blow of air and that combines with his hands coming together to send a massive cutting blast of wind towards Amata. It slices across the deck and shreds the sails, even though they are not up, but folded up at the bottom of the cross mast. The blast also cuts into two rather
surprised and now dead deck hands as they pop out from under deck at just the wrong moment leaving a bloody mist in the wind as it sweeps towards Amata.
That's all above on the deck, but below in the camp things are a bit different. As the mist lowers thanks to Taree's efforts, a ragged group of guys comes into view. Three alive guys are fully bound in webs. Three guys are obviously dead, the three Saisho hit that were previously hit by Amata. The rest are all in bad shape. Some have nasty chops from their friends flailing around with cutlass blades in the mists. Several are partially bound thanks to the effects of Taree's spiders, and Amata's.
The thrown kunai isn't that well thrown, but the guy is even less well off and now has a kunai sticking out of his shoulder. At the whispering of Taree, Saisho simply nods. Then… starts zapping away. Three quick zaps. A grim look on Saisho's face as she picks off the weary men. The third zap is aimed straight up though as she says, "Everyone down on the ground. Now." Her voice firm, and angry, but perhaps not quite as strong an effect as she had hoped, what with being 7 and all. Still, a 7 year old with what seems to be a pretty powerful weapon of some kind.
And then it appears for a moment that Amata is cut, too but the figure cut gives off no blood or noise. The why seems clear soon afterward. It was simply an after image of Amata as she slipped down and to the side and raced forward. She glares at the man as she comes in close and uses an attack that a few have seen and is as brutal as it ever was. She didn't need to pull Nuibari to be scary. She claps her hands together and spiders leap at the man from all angles, pulling webbing with them, more springing up to bind this webbing in an attempt to bind the man to the spot even as Amata sprung forward on to her hands, pressing down and then pushing off and up into the air. As she spun in the air, her right leg extended straight up before she starts to bring it down toward the man's head into a vicious axe kick that, if it connects might drive the big man into the deck of the ship.
Taree really did hope there would be less pirate standing than there was. Sighing mumbling about it still being the hard way. Taking one step aside from Saisho she would hope to Even a few of the numbers down some more. Hand signing repeatedly looking like she was chewing a big mass of bubble gum. Before shooting off three large blobs of webbing toward the poor beaten up pirates. With any luck the few remainder pirates would take the hint and surrender. "Saisho try to aim for the ones with out the web."
Down in the camp, the pair actually seem to have things well in hand. The pirates, seeing how things are going down here, and unsure what is going on up on the deck, are dropping weapons and dropping to their knees. Well, they are if they aren't being hit by blobs of webbing. Then they drop all the way. None of them are moving fast enough at this point to avoid Taree's attacks. So three more are wrapped up. Saisho points her gauntlet at the group but… they all are surrendering at this point. Seems the battle down here is over with.
The deck however is another matter. Things are raging up there. As Amata swings in for the entrapment, spiders coming from every direction and wrap around the man, only to have him vanish in a poof of churning air as Taree comes down hard on someone not even there. He's fast. Much faster than his size should allow for. There's no doubt why this was the captain. He comes at Amata from the side this time, swinging in from seemingly no where, as these two speed monsters fight it out. If watched by a casual observer it would be nearly impossible to follow the action. The deck crunches under Amata's blow but only cracks, while the Captain swings after some hand seals and slices at Amata with his arm. He's put his whole body into this, and it is clear it will hurt like art if it hits as the wind whistles with the force around the blade made of air extending out from his arm.
A sigh as she hits nothing and Amata looks over to the side at the man only to shake her head, "Fine." She simply isn't there for the attack. Her body seems to be moving even faster now. Those who could sense chakra would feel a greater degree of it coming off Amata. Her body opening up along new chakra routes as she stands now beside the man before she crouches down to deliver a brutal uppercut into the man's jaw before she would use her speed to come around to behind where the man would fall if hit and produce a vicious upward kick toward the man's back.
Walking over to the surrendering pirates, Taree would have walk behind them and proceed to shoot web at anything that resisted at all. Taking her time to apply web to each one of them until they were all unable to move. Secretly hoping inward that one of them would try something. "So my nice young friend here is looking for bones that were left around here. If anybody knows where any bones are well. speak up. She would be very less inclined to stick that glove of hers. Well you get the picture." Looking off into the distance Taree would be awed at the speed the wind users were moving. "You know Saisho that pirate captain probably has a bounty on his head. You need to buy anything special for that puppet of yours?"
Well either the captain is running out of juice or he's just not having a good moment. So… the first attack hits, and the man goes flying up in the air with a crack, only to come back down and… get hit again. It is unclear if the first hit or the second hit is what did him in, but in either case his rag doll body and the odd angles his body ends up at when he lands makes it very clear that Amata has dispatched this person. His back is clearly broken, and his neck, and who knows what else. His eyes are still open, and he twitches once after landing then… nothing. There is the faint sound of a hatch opening behind Amata as three more people peek out from below decks, staring…
Back in the camp, the resistance is over. It may annoy Taree that they aren't resisting but Saisho makes a comment, "Um, you know Taree-san? We could get some of these guys to help dig maybe?" She points out. She glances up to the deck and calls out, "You okay up there Amata-san?" She asks, as there seems to be an ending to the sounds above on the deck. Still Saisho remains on alert as Taree continues wrapping up the prisoners, which are clearly what they are now.
There's an actual hissing sound from the tips of Amata's foot and fist. Pure chakra had burst of her as she had hit. She turns slowly to look at the open deck door and states over her shoulder, "Out now…get on land." She then turns and starts toward the edge of the ship, calling back and loudly, "If I have to go inside this ship to find out who is still alive in there…I'll make sure NO ONE is left alive inside there." She then hops off, "Every bandit part of this gang who is still alive, if you can still move, move into a line before me and prepare to be restrained. If you would prefer not to…just kill yourselves where ever you are and save me the time." Amata then looks over at Saisho and Taree and smiles, "Good job. Lets prepare to dig as soon as we clean up. Not much time to find Saisho's bones."
Taree would look toward the all the now prisoners and open up her small pack. Pulling out small bundles of silk bandages, and other basic first aid supplies. "Okay who wants to get medical treatment first, So they can start digging." Going from pirate to pirate trying to deal with any major injuries first. After a pirate was treated Taree would take a kunai and cut the webbing away from just their legs, only enough to walk. Carting them over to the line of pirates that starting to form. Looking at Amata with new sense of respect. "Wow you really broke the captain in half practically. Saisho dig out that map of yours and pick where you would like to start the prisoners digging." A idea popping into her head Taree would smile and grin evily.
At Amata's orders several emerge from below decks and take to the shore. None are in fact left below decks, at least that is what they claim as they emerge and any check by person or spider will confirm that fact. When lined up the body count can finally be made. Two dead by being effectively blown to bits by the explosion, one dead captain, and two killed by the captain's own attempt to hit Amata with the slicing wind that hurt the sails.
Back on the ground at the camp there are three dead by a mix of Amata's charged static and Saisho's arc blasts, plus one more from later blasts from Saisho. And finally two others are dead from other injuries, be it cuts from flailing blades in the mist or what not, they are dead. This makes the dead count total to be eleven people, leaving twenty one left alive, and of that twenty one all are bound at this point thanks to spiders and the like and twelve of the twenty one are injured enough that even if they were free they wouldn't be going far. This leaves roughly nine able bodied people left alive but bound up thanks to webbing.
Saisho nods as she looks at all of this and agrees with Taree, "Yep, looks like it was a pretty…." She stops then grins, a mischievous grin, "Um, guys? Do you think that we could fix those sails with your spiders? Wouldn't it be something to sail back to Kirigakure in that, with the loot and these prisoners?" She says softly, just mulling that over in her head. "Just imagine…." She says then smirks, "That sound like a plan to you two?" She asks as she deactivates her glove and gets her digger puppet out, "I don't have enough shovels but I think they have enough to dig with around here." She points out as she looks around, "I wonder how much gold or silver they have in there?" She adds as she glances towards where they were smelting the metal.
"More than enough. However, stop thinking about what might be or what our return will be like." She nods to Taree and Saisho, "We came here for Kaguya bones, right?" She nods her head and smiles as she walks along to look at the men left over, "We didn't come here for pirates or treasure. That is secondary." Amata smiles at Saisho, "Remember, mission first. Then we can wrap up the rest." She then chuckles and nods her head, "And besides, I'm sure those who can help will be glad to help unless they want to be completely without use." She peers at the healthy looking men, "None of you want to be without use, right? I…don't have much use for those who don't want to be of use." She looks at each in turn, looking to make sure there's plenty of proper fear there before smiling back at Taree and saisho with a nod.
Sending her spiders to check out the others ship and just what was on shore, a tally was quickly accounted via spiders. As the eight legged members of the party did their work, Taree would pass out a few shovels letting the healthy prisoners earn their keep. Keeping webbing around their chest and adding a few of her spiders mostly for show. "Now these spiders are well hungry. Dig quick so I can find something to feed them." After that the digging went pretty quickly. With Saisho directing the efforts Taree would stand relative guard at the prisoners.
With 48 hours and planning to stay the night, it's not that hard. The group has time to fix the ship up, get the old crew digging, find some bones. Not a lot mind you but enough that Saisho looks pleased. The 'loot' is able to be gathered together and loaded back on to the ship along with what is already on the ship. A rather impressive pile of silver and gold igots are part of the haul. But most importantly is when a scan of the ship is made it seems that this crew had bigger plans, or at least the captain did. There's information about a planned raid on another small village with a temple, and plans to ransack the temple for anything made of silver or gold. Seems Captain Kenki had a thing for precious metals.
The digging goes faster than Saisho could have hoped in fact, thanks to the help of all the extra prisoners. The smaller sailboat can be towed behind the much larger ship and the crew bullied into sailing her, as three shinobi aren't really going to be able to do that, although it is clear that the three could kill the remaining prisoners so with hope for simple jail time and not being hung they all go along.
So it is with this pirate ship, sails repaired by spider silk, and crewed by Amata, Taree and Saisho and their band of prisoners, that they sail back into Kirigakure harbor. Saisho with her bones, enough to work with anyway. Prisoners to turn in, a dead captain that might have a bounty on his head, and a small pile of precious cargo to turn over to the authorities. All in all this should make for quite an interesting report to the Mizukage!!
Board Post: Kirigakure
Title: A Strange Ship Sails In!
In the strange news category, an obvious pirate ship with some minor damage to one rail, was sailed right into Kirigakure harbor today. The ship, captained by Okumo Amata, who stood proudly at the front of the ship as it sailed in, apparently was a ship used to loot merchant ships in the area. Rumor has it a rather large pile of 'loot' was recovered along with twenty or so prisoners and the body of the dead captain who had a bounty on his head.
Also on the ship were Okumo Taree and Tsuko Saisho, genin and student. Apparently the trio had headed out on some kind of expedition at Saisho's request and had returned with their much smaller sailboat in tow of the bigger pirate ship. The contents of the ship, the prisoners and the ship itself were turned over to Kirigakure authorities after docking. The prisoners were taken into custody. The ship is still moored
at the harbor and the contents of the ship as well as the ship itself have all been claimed for evidence and as proceeds to the village.
Several covered crates were removed from the ship by the student, Saisho, but they did not seem to be related to the captured spoils.
Mission Report from Saisho to Meruin:
Mizukage Okumo Meruin,
While not going as planned, my trip turned out to be rather eventful. The visit to the ruins of Kitori Village revealed a group of pirates operating out of the harbor there. I had taken both Okumo Amata and Okumo Taree with me this time due to the nature of the dig I had planned. I was able to assist them in subduing the pirates. 11 lives were lost, including the captain.
A ship was recovered as was a large amount of gold, silver and alcohol. I am unsure of the full inventory of what was recovered. I am sure that the harbor master can provide that information. We did return with 21 living prisoners. They have been turned over to authorities. The body of the captain, who was slain by Okumo Amata, has been turned over as well. I was informed there was a bounty on his head. As a student I imagine any reward for our actions will be turned over to Amata and Taree. But I must thank you for allowing me their assistance.
With the help of the two Okumo and the unexpected assistance of our prisoners, I was able to recover several crates of Kaguya bone left behind on the island after the last major conflict there. These were the goal of my mission and it was successful.
With deepest respect,
-Tsuko Saisho
P.S. I regret any damage I caused to the ship in the detonation of a cannon. It was an unexpected result of setting off a large amount of black powder by electrical discharge. In addition I apologize that only 21 prisoners were returned. I have reason to believe that at least 5 of the deaths were as a result of my actions. I can only hope that you can get any valuable information from those left alive.
