Starring:
Date: January 24, 2016
Summary:
Tatsuo and a Ruins Hunter goes to find a ruin she previously found before, but when they arrive the find a Ruins Raider!
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"The Difference Between Hunting and Raiding"
Land of Fire
It's 4:00 p.m. on a lazy saturday, in the midst of the return of spring. Winter's last grasp onto the world is slowly slipping, but it's icy fingers still bite into the skin of those who dare walk outside.
Though most might find solace in front of open fires, there are a few of those who brave the elements regardless. Those like Rita, whom despite no obligation to journey into the early spring cold, does so with the intent of journey and adventure! What does this entail? This actually entails a scroll that she purchased from a local antique shop. The owner guarunteed that it was official while he clasped his sweaty palms together and grinned most fiendishly. Seems legitimate? The scroll outlines a 'ruin of darkness' within the Land of Fire. A place untouched by any individual since the time of the 'Rabbit Goddess'. Well! The time for it to be touched upon is now! Whether the scroll was absolute drake or not did not matter to Rita. All that mattered was finding the answer to convoluted hints of the location of the first landmark. What did it mean though?
"A Kingdom of Beggars, turned into a Land of Princes" Rita groaned as she held the scroll in her hand, unwraveled to the first clue. She stood straight and tall on the shore of the lake, rubbing her chin as her bright blue eyes bored holes into the scroll. Her head looked up across the lake. Clearly, even looking into pristine waters did not jog her mind. A stray wind blows across her short hair, as she reached up and bit the side of her finger in thought.
The lake has water, lots and lots of water, and water was Tatsuo's friend. It drew him out no matter how cold it was so that he could relax on it's shores to stare across the lake and think about…things. And stuff. He was making his way out to the lake to do just that actually when he spotted the stranger standing at the lake holding a scroll of some sort. That caught his attention. Turning from where he'd been heading he instead moves closer to Rita, slowing as he nears. "Um…is everything okay?"
Was everything okay? Well…
Rita rolls up her scroll and slips it in her holster as she turns her head. "Are you kidding? Just look at that water! It's clear! It's spectacular! It makes you just want to dive right in!" She exclaims, a big smile on her face as she holds out a 'thumbs up' to Tatsuo. "Just the perfect time to stand mindlessly and stare at it all day and solve riddles. Nothing wrong here!" Her arm drops, as she lets it swing idly at her side. Her other hand grasps her hip as she finally turns completely towards Tatsuo. "This is quite some place. Konoha is a really loud town, but there is one place that isn't full of people. It's this lake."
Tatsuo blinks at Rita a few times as she makes her…statements. "Ah, yes, the lake is nice in the winter time. Nobody wants to come because it's too cold. And it's still frozen in parts too." As he speaks he motions out to the water and some of the ice. "It's too cold to really go swimming though. I don't recommend it." Dark eyes shift from the water back to Rita then, his head tilting slightly as he considers. "Um…are you new here? I don't think I recognize you."
Rita raises a hand to her chin, thoughtfully. Nope. She has seen clans with commas in their eyes, and clans with dogs with commas on their face. Yet, this guy wasn't either of those. He looked average. Rita approached, closing the distance between herself and Tatsuo. Stopping about two arm's length from him, she would suddenly spin around once! The ribbons on her arms would follow her gracefully in a spiral. Her spin stopped with her facing Tatsuo as she extended her pointer and middle finger and saluted him with it! "The name is Ashura Rita! Ruins Hunter!" Full time ruins hunter and part-time pick pocket. At your service. Jones, she even winks. "I'm absolutely new, yet I've already made great gains!" She drops the salute and raises a hand out to Tatsuo for a friendly shake!
Tatsuo's eyes widen slightly when Rita…twirls…and then introduces herself. What an extravagant way to do so. Ashura the ruin hunter…that doesn't even make sense. "Oh…nice to meet you. My name is Nara Tatsuo, Chuunin of Konohagakure." He takes the hand to shake it with only a hint of uncertainty. Surely she wasn't going to bite his hand off or anything right? "What does a ruin hunter do?"
Don't get her wrong. Rita -loves- being interviewed by every shinobi in the village about her profession! She places her hand behind her head sheepishly as her head tilts up to look at the sky. "Well! Think about it! There are places in which people haven't tread in centuries. Places with lost knowledge, hidden away. History, lost forever! Then, suddenly…" She looks down at Tatsuo. "You find them! All of their secrets, and their history are discovered again. You learn things no one else has ever learned, and that itself… That itself is reason enough to spend all the effort finding them! Admittedly, a little low on the 'pay' end of the agreement. Not everything you do has to involve eating on a regular basis, heh." Nervously, again, that is why she is a pickpocket. "Konoha is actually rich with untold history. Much of it isn't more than twenty years ago, from the era of the clan wars. When the hidden villages were founded, a lot of people moved underground too. A lot of clans buried their secrets to protect them." Not anymore! Rita is on the job.
"Uh…huh…" Tatsuo says after Rita has answered his question. And then some. He seems entirely uncertain about the whole prospect really. What could one find when the Villages were just formed after all? Most clans had their secrets hidden, but not in ruins. Right? "Have you ever found anything interesting?" he asks after a few moments, deciding to see just how lucrative her business actually was.
Rita honestly should just show people what she found and charge them for it. "Of course. I came to the Land of Fire finding a statue of a 'Snake Headed God' hidden within the Land of Fire. It took one of those swirly eyed individuals to help me out, but we found a ruin deep in the woods with a giant snake statue inside! It was where people signed summoning contracts… … I bet you want to see, dontcha?" She placed her hands on her hips and tried to look for any sign of interest from Tatsuo. Right now, he just seemed skeptical.
Skeptical to the core. Besides the whole 'swirly eyed' ninja thing there wasn't much to the story that seemed all the feasible. Summoning contracts signed somewhere in the Land of Fire but not anymore? "Sure…" he says after a few long moments, the word a bit drawn out as he does seem rather unbelieving in the whole thing. Nope, totes can't be true.
Rita is a 'Seeing is believing' kind of person anyways. She raises a hand and beckons Tatsuo with her fingers. "Don't believe me?" She asks. "Then, let me show you!"
~~~
Though they are far from the destination, Rita might have been so confident that there was a ruin that she might have persuaded Tatsuo to join her on a 'hunt for ruins'. Of course, she failed to mention that the ruins were barely standing and that the statue was overgrown to the point that it didn't even seem like a statue until you got closer. They were instead heading along an animal trail, branches often brushing against them, small divots on the ground often threatening to break an ankle, and thorny bushes threatening to cut skin. So far they have been walking, sometimes running, for about three hours. "Almost there~! Can't wait to prove you wrong!" Rita says with a bright grin, as she keeps a swift pace, jumping over rocks. "Hey, will you do me a favor though?" She asks. "The statue has two precious gems inset as it's eyes. Will you… let them go?" She asks. "I mean, not pick them out and sell them?"
Tatsuo hadn't realized quite how /far/ this place was, but then again he hadn't asked either. He'd just kind of assumed it was closer! Still he didn't mind the trip so much as he didn't really have any other plans for his day off. "I don't need money or anything, I don't see any reason to take anything like that," he says as they go through. As he gets little scrapes and cuts from branches and thorns most of his wounds seem to heal themselves in quick time.
If Rita had bothered to look, she might have noticed it. Unfortunately, as she grabs into a branch to move it away, she inhales sharply as a thorn-filled vine wrapping around the branch dug into her finger. She quickly put that into her mouth. This… This is usually the greatest hazard when it comes to ruins hunting. Nasty plants, and the occasional colorful bug that nibbles on human flesh. She would swish her hand in the air a moment as she looks back at Tatsuo. "Good! You'd make an excellent ruin hunter then! Better than those darn tomb raiders, who do it for the money." She knows a few of them. They are the worst kind of people. Rita would slowly make her way to a small cliff. "We're almost there! Can you feel it? -This- is adventure!" She walks up to the wall and places her hand against it, using chakra to adhere. "You can climb walls right?" She asks. Though she doesn't wait. She begins scaling the wall, "If you can't, I'll throw a rope down. We're not far now… HEY! Don't look up my Kimono! I'm watching you. Perv." He's bothersome personality is cute, but he's not cute enough for that.
Tatsuo blinks, then blushes when she talks about looking up her skirt. "I wouldn't do that…" he mutters under his breath before he hops onto the cliff and starts walking vertically up it. As far as this being an adventure…well, he's had plenty of adventures in his young life, so he doesn't really have much to add to that. Instead he just kind of gives a small nod of understanding as he walks up next to where Rita is.
There it was. The meadow. A meadow with tall uncut grass that was high enough to tickle someone's chin. There was a huge stone statue in the middle of said meadow. Rita slips her hands behind her back as she meanders in! "Here we are!" Suck it! It's real! The giant snake statue has engravings on it that are rather worn by the moss and plantlife growing upon it. Rita would gracefully jump onto the snake's back and run across it until she was standing on it's head. Strike a pose! She placed her feet together, crossed her arms, and let her scarf blow in the wind… (Even if there was no wind). "This is a real Ruins, right?" She asks with a grin! "Bet you've never seen something so old before!"
Tatsuo follows after Rita through the tall grass to the statue. When they arrive he doesn't even really pay much attention to whatever it is Rita is saying and doing. Instead he reaches out a hand to rest gently on the statue and feel the stone under his fingers. "I don't think this is as old as you might think. And a ruins usually requires more indication of something having inhabited the area than a statue." Buzz kill much?
This Tatsuo person is way too down to earth. "Probably Clan-wars era. It's a lost piece of history in my book. Joykill." She says alloud. She would sit on the bridge of the snake's nose. "Wow, wouldn't it be awesome to ride something this big? Hey! Tat-san. Stand over there and look into the snake's ruby eyes!~" Rita suggests.
Ruby eyes… Ruby eyes? Where did the eyes go? Oh no… Tatsuo better alert Rita that her amazing discovery has been defiled!
Tatsuo hmms softly as his fingers feel over the different divot's on the statue underneath the moss and after a moment water starts spreading from his hand and quickly covering the statue, though it leaves the area near Rita dry. Tatsuo's eyes close as he focuses on what is on the statue underneath the growth. All the way until he reaches the eyes. Even without looking he can't sense anything else there. "There's nothing in the eyes Rita-san," he says in a slightly distracted tone.
Such a statue is indeed a testament to it's creator. It seems this statue is permeated by chakra metal in low amounts, as if focusing chakra into the statue causes it to glow. What a find, right? Well, when Tatsuo mentions the eyes are gone, Rita raises an eyebrow. She stands up and steps onto the tip of the nose of the snake and turns. No eyes… Rita seemed… insulted. "W-who took the eyes!? They were here two days ago when I found it… I sware if Kyuketsuki took them, I'm going to cut him… He said he wouldn't!
Fortunately for Kyuketsuki, he was indeed not the one who defiled the statue. That honor goes to a man whom was sitting on a tree branch. Young, possibly Tatsuo's age, he had a white bandage around his head that covered one eye. He had on a brown jumpsuit with a black vest. Terrible style in comparison to the clearly well-dressed Rita. It could only be her rival. "Yo! Rita… Looking for something?" He raised two large rubies in his hand, shifting them around each other with a grin. "Sorry. I know how much you wanted to steal these for yourself. Finders keepers. Man you are slow!"
While Tatsuo must have been bothered, he likely would initially be confused that suddenly someone arrived to ruin his not-ruins experience. Rita would explain it. "Reizei Sashimaru!" Rita would point her finger at him from above. "How did you… Why are you -here-! Leave me alone! This is my hunt, not yours! Put those back!"
"Why should I put this back, so you can get it? No way. You snooze, you loose. I found these ruins first. Now you'll have to eat my dust." Sashimaru would stand on his branch and strike his own pose. Oh peabody. The poses. He would give Rita a flamboyant 'Thumbs Down'. "By the way, really? Orange underwear? What are you, six?"
Rita blushes and tugs her collar. "How do you -know- these things!? Croft! Give me back those rubies!" Rita would jump off the snake head, and charge the Reizei. It all escalated so fast.
Tatsuo would notice a pretty butterfly land on the statue and rest itself…
Tatsuo was rather more engrossed with the statue itself than the rubies. They were baubels in the end and while they might be pretty the statue itself was far more interesting. His water continues to spread around all of it now that Rita is no longer atop the head. After a few moments the water vanishes as if it evaporated and Tatsuo turns to see what's going on. "Um…who is that?"
Tatsuo's question was initially unanswered. Likely because the two ruins hunters were fighting over ruin territory. "I was here days ago! You give those back! This is too precious for you to just ruin like this!" She reaches back as she nears the tree branch that Sashimaru, and tugs on the bow that her rather long ornate sash is tied into. The bow was rather compact, and when she pulled upon the sash it created a rater long section of cloth. For what purpose? She would jump towards the branch and spin. The ribbon, which almost trails behind her like a tail, would sweep around as she spun mid air out towards the branch to cut it and send him to the ground! Yes, that ribbon sliced through the tree! Though he disappeared from the branch, that cloth sliced through the branch like it was nothing! "Where did you go!?" She growled.
Sashimaru was standing on the top of the snake! So fast! "Who am I? I'm the fastest ruin hunter in the entire world! The name is Reizei Sashimaru!" He balls up his fast and plants it against his chest in a salute just as silly as Rita's! "Are you with that chick?" He asks.
Tatsuo just watches with a rather blank expression, as if he's hearing some kind of fable or something. Still, his dark eyes seem to take in everything. "Reizei," Tatsuo says softly as he turns to look up at him. "Sworn to Kumogakure and masters of the Reizei Blur…" As for the cloth that cut through the branch…well, he doesn't say anything about it. Her name didn't match the clan such an ability did, but maybe that was her preference. "You are in the Land of Fire, not the Land of Lightning, and so you've stolen something from your allies. Not only that but your friend was here a few days ago and made any possible claim to the statue. You should return what you took."
Sashimaru seemd to blur out of existence, before appearing beside Tatsuo. His arm was on Tatsuo's shoulder, and his free hand was poking the side of his face. "Just because I am a Reizei doesn't mean that I have to bend the knee to my clan's will." In other words, he is a missing-nin? Or perhaps a wanderer? He had skill, that was for sure. "These gems aren't under the Jurisdiction of the Land of Fire either. This statue was made before you were even born."
Rita was already running back. "I promised I would beat the syaoran out of you the next time I saw you! Rita says as she swishes her cloth in the air so that a section of it travels in front of her. On the exposed side of the cloth was a seal! She created a handseal and senbon would launch out of the puff of smoke upon the scroll! "Eat this!" The little needles traveled through the air!
COMBAT: Rita attacks target 1 with SENBON-SCROLL with a roll of: 23
COMBAT: Rita attacks target 2 with SENBON-SCROLL with a roll of: 27
RPCOMBAT: Tatsuo defends against with a WATER-RIBBONS…31
COMBAT: Tatsuo attacks target 1 with INTERRUPT with a roll of: 63
RPCOMBAT: Tatsuo defends against with a WATER-RIBBONS…40
It's all fun and adventuring until someone shoots senbon's. Tatsuo doesn't seem phazed in the slightest by the Reizei's quick moves, nor his encroaching on his own space. Almost as if he isn't really all that worried about being harmed by him. "No fighting," he says simply as water seems to appear out of the air itself and whip to surround both of the ruin hunters to hold them in place. It was rather fast moving thin chains that were really as strong as their steel counterparts. "It doesn't matter how old the statue is. It's still in the Land of Fire which has existed long before any of us were born."
COMBAT: Tatsuo attacks target 1 with WATER-CHAINS with a roll of: 48
COMBAT: Tatsuo attacks target 1 with WATER-CHAINS with a roll of: 46
[NPC System]: Reizei Sashimaru roll(s) Mastered Blur from 40 to 55 and get(s) a 49. - Rolled by: Rita
[NPC System]: Reizei Sashimaru roll(s) Mastered Blur from 40 to 55 and get(s) a 48. - Rolled by: Rita
The Reizei didn't need the help, but was glad Tatsuo was on his side. "That's right, Rita. No fighting! Heh… I guess you're in the wro-" Suddenly the Reizei disappears as the chains miss him. He appears sitting on the back of the snake statue with a shrug. "Hey, woah. No need to use ninjutsu, Konoha-bro. I'm just going to sell it to a museum! Or something. Hehehe… Gotta catch me before you can get them back anyways, Rita!" He derived a lot of pleasure out of giving a girl trouble and making them chase him…
Which is exactly what Rita does. "Sorry Tat-san. I'm fighting. I don't care who is in the right!" Those ribbons attached to her arms? Also weapons. She sends her chakra through them, hardening them as she uses them in sweeping blade motions, which require her to spin! Strike, spin and use her sash for an attack as she spins, and strike! Reizei. c.c; They are difficult…
COMBAT: Rita attacks target 1 with STEEL-CLOTH-SLASH with a roll of: 31
COMBAT: Rita attacks target 1 with STEEL-CLOTH-SLASH with a roll of: 35
COMBAT: Rita attacks target 1 with STEEL-CLOTH-SLASH with a roll of: 26
Tatsuo lets out a mental sigh as it seems the fighting will be continuing. While he doesn't feel fighting is exactly the way to go about it he also doesn't want the other kid taking off with the rubies. He would have to see about having people from the village come up and view this for historical purposes. Perhaps get a seal put around it to prevent thieves. He just steps back to watch for the moment, allowing his chakra to focus as he prepares to play tag with the Reizei.
[NPC System]: Reizei Sashimaru roll(s) Mastered Blur from 40 to 55 and get(s) a 51. - Rolled by: Rita
[NPC System]: Reizei Sashimaru roll(s) Mastered Blur from 40 to 55 and get(s) a 46. - Rolled by: Rita
[NPC System]: Reizei Sashimaru roll(s) Mastered Blur from 40 to 55 and get(s) a 47. - Rolled by: Rita
[NPC System]: Reizei Sashimaru roll(s) Blur Trip vs Rita from 25 to 40 and get(s) a 34. - Rolled by: Rita
RPCOMBAT: Rita defends against with a ACROBATIC-DODGE…39
Reizei Sashimaru would defend against Rita's strikes with as little effort as possible. "As strong as you are, chick, you're not fast enough for a Reizei!" He would strike awkward poses as he dodged her abilities, all making her feel rather terrible that he was keeping up with her so easily. "Why don't you have a seat on your butt, and let the big boys chat!" He would attempt to trip Rita, but!…
As it were, she was quick to dodge in strange new ways, such as jumping in a flip right over the Reizei and landing on a knee. "Not so fast! Now I'm going to slap your face!" Rita declared. Of course, she didn't slap his face, she whent for a blow in the breadbasket… Welcome to dirty uncouth fighting between rival ruin hunters! It's not pretty…
COMBAT: Rita attacks target 1 with SUCKER-PUNCH with a roll of: 17
Dark eyes follow the, er, 'combat' as it was and watches the trip attempt follow by the nut shot. Poor guy. Tatsuo's eyes shift though since they are both busy they might not even notice. No longer black, they shift to a dark red as a sickening chakra seems to fill the area. The water forms into chains once again before it quickly whips after the Reizei, trying to wrap him up and away from the nutcracker.
RP: Tatsuo transforms into SANBI-PARTIAL-RELEASE.
COMBAT: Tatsuo attacks target 1 with WATER-CHAINS with a roll of: 46
COMBAT: Tatsuo attacks target 1 with WATER-CHAINS with a roll of: 55
[NPC System]: Reizei Sashimaru roll(s) Mastered Blur from 40 to 55 and get(s) a 41. - Rolled by: Rita
[NPC System]: Reizei Sashimaru roll(s) Mastered Blur from 40 to 55 and get(s) a 43. - Rolled by: Rita
[NPC System]: Reizei Sashimaru roll(s) Mastered Blur from 40 to 55 and get(s) a 54. - Rolled by: Rita
Reizei Sashimaru was quick on foot, and he knew that Rita was going for the low blow. "Not this time!" As if this was the first time she has kicked him a swift one where the sun doesn't shine? He dodges forward, but sadly, it was right into Tatsuo's ability! "Shoot! No way! I was caught!?" Is his life of Ruins, delving… finally over!? "Hey, Konoha-bro! Don't be so ticked. If you give them back, will you let me go? Heh, no. It wouldn't be that simple would it?"
"Definitely not Sashi. You're trapped now! Guess what? It's illegal to defile relics like that statue… r-right?" She asks Tatsuo… Well, no matter. Now that Sashimaru was all tied up, she literally approaches him again and kicks him where it hurts once more. c.c;
COMBAT: Rita attacks target 1 with SUCKER-PUNCH with a roll of: 27
Well it appears he's given up four of his jewels now! Tatsuo just winces and turns his head a bit before he walks forward to take the rubies from the man. "It's not exactly against the law since no one really knows about this yet, but I intend to have the historical section of Konoha to come examine this in case they want it protected as historical. It needs to be whole for that."
"Oooooh! I… My… Ugh…" Looks like he's slowed down for a while, crippled by the boot. "Curses…" It appears that he was foiled, but it was fun while it lasted, he supposed.
Rita was pleased that Tatsuo had stuck in and decided to go with preserving this place. Now that Sashimaru was knocked out, she would pat her hands and walk around him. She approached the statue, and admired it. "I'd hope it was protected. I hope you'll tell them that it was Ama… Ashura Rita who found and reported the ruins to benefit history! Oh, and…" She would walk over to Tatsuo, and quickly went about giving him her salute. She spun around once, extended her pointer and middle finger and saluted Tatsuo with a wink. "Thanks, Tat-san. You really helped me out here." She dropped her hand and placed both on her hips. "If you ever want to join me on my next scavenger hunt… Well, you have a really nifty jutsu." Tatsuo basically just clipped her rival for her! That's got to count for something!
Tatsuo walks back to the statue and holds up the rubies, letting small rivlets of water carry them upwards and replace them back in the eyes. Only then does he look down at Rita and offer her a small smile. "Steel cloth style. I'd heard of it but hadn't seen it before Rita-san. It's quite interesting. As for your next adventure…maybe. As long as it doesn't interfere with my duties as a shinobi."
Huh? How did he? "Count on it." She ignores him knowing about her style. Which was fine. Sashimaru had to break the ice a little. "She is an Amaro all right. Don't let her fake name throw you off. She changes it everywhere she goes. Did you know she is a wanted criminal in the Land of… OOOHF!"
COMBAT: Rita attacks target 1 with SUCKER-PUNCH with a roll of: 16
That was Rita, driving her foot into his groin again. "I look forward to it, Tat-san! … Soon as I figure out the first clue…" From a Kingdom of Beggars, to a Land of Princes… Whatever could that mean?
