Starring:
Sakuya, Yori, Hiei (as Seer), Zori, Sanda, Seiji
Date: January 27, 2016
Summary:
A routine escort mission turned violent as the Daimyo's ceremonial sword is found to be one of the items being transported.
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"The Path From Parch to Plenty"
A Path from Kumogakure to Raiun
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The Path From Parch To Plenty
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Mission: This mission entails a simple Convoy from Kumogakure to Raiun City. The expected hostile activity is low, but stay alert. There have been reports of explosives used in the area recently.
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It is a bright and rainy 8:00 a.m. on a rainy depressing early spring day. At least the temperature wasn't terrible. This was to be a simple transport mission. A mission that isn't to take any longer than a day. In charge of this operation was someone who needed the experience, but wasn't the most capable soul when it came to coordinating an operation. It was none other than Hebisuuhai Sakuya, whom had an extra purpose to undertaking this mission. To bring Sanda to Raiun and attempt to expose her to large crowds in order to break the chuunin free of her shyness in large cities. What better way to do this than desensitization? Her snake, Zuzu, was present as he pretended to be a snake-skin belt, wrapped around Sakuya's midsection and wide awake though keeping on the low down. He was discussing logistics with Sakuya at the moment, which should have been planned out earlier but there was a time limit involved in this mission. Everyone who had tagged along would already be walking alongside the supplies of unknown payload to the capitol. «Yes, yes… I understand that walking on the main road isn't as safe, but the caravan head absolutely wishes brevity over safety.» … «That is what I am afraid of. Let's just hope that the bandits decided to just go to sleep today.» Sakuya would pull her hood down over her eyes a little more as she took the front…
The Individuals that requested transport was just a group of three men, two of home were completely un-noteworthy. The third was the driver, and he was quite old. He had lost an eye and seemed rather wise. He was clearly the one who gave the mission. He might become important later. For now? For now…
A Sakuya led mission? Yori wasn't going to pass that up if he could help it. Support and all. Granted it meant he'd had to stay up late to finish some extra paperwork but when the time came he was free and clear to join the mission! Yay! He is indeed there and walking alongside the cart, hands clasped behind his back as they go along and just kind of looking around to make sure no trouble sprouts up or anything. Just a nice relaxing guard mission.
He hated when Hiei asked for personal favors, but this time Seer didn't seem to mind. He'd been asked to accompany Sakuya and her group so right now he was walking alongside the cart. The large goat was mostly minding his own business when he wasn't chatting with Zuzu. For some reason, he rather liked the snake and had a high opinon of him. "Zuzu, my friend. I suspect that as long as you keep giving your human partner such good advice then we shouldn't have too much to worry about, yes?" If other people were wondering why there was a huge talking goat with the group, he didn't show it. Afterall, Yori already knew him. He only wished Kimura was able to come along as well.
Sanda had packed yesterday (with help from Arashi), so now she has a pack on her back that looks as if it's bulging at the seams. She may have over-packed for this supposedly simple mission, but they were apparently going to stay in the city for a bit. Thus… Changes of clothes were within the pack, along with snacks. Sanda was a bit unused to seeing talking animals, admittedly, and she kept glancing at Seer and rubbing her eyes as if she couldn't believe it. Was she dreaming? Occasionally she would also give herself a pinch to make sure there was no genjutsu happening. The Hizumu would, after enough of a journey (half-way in all likelihood) begin to accept that there simply existed in her world… Talking animals. Specifically Goats. And Snakes.
Zori tagging along on the mission..because Hiei ordered for him too. This is his last test before Hiei considers for Zori to go back to Konoha. Zori is walking alongside the cart, with his hands in his pockets. Looking left then right just to glance at everyone one at a time. Zori summons many tiny wires within the local area waiting for danger to rub up against it. He would then feel the vibration if so. Zori doesnt say anything to anybody, he has a straight face right now.
Sakuya was glad that the roster was full of people more qualified rank-wise to run the mission than she. It meant that if there was a screw-up they could step in. "Seriously, Zuzu. There is even a Toukubetsu on the job… They must have no faith in me what-so-ever." Zuzu's reply was the parallel of a snake laughing. It was a most loud of hisses. "Well, I don't have any faith in you either. I am glad that if you fail, the entire mission won't fail along with you." Sakuya wasn't liking Zuzu that much right now. At least… At least Yori was here to support her in this endeavour. "Y-Yori, you have faith that I'm going to perform well, don't you?" She asks as she turns around as she speaks, looking for a bit of support from a significant other. Always a happy thing.
"Girl, please focus on the road. I 'ave quite the bad feeling." The head of the caravan said rather worriedly. "This road is quite dangerous this time of 'ear, ya hear?"
Yori listens to the chatter from Sakuya and Zuzu a bit before looking over to her when she calls his name. "Of course Sakuya-chan! You'll do great! I'm only here because I asked to come and be a part of your team. I'm not worried however as I know you will do just fine." He even gives the elderly man a bit of a glare at his words but in the end…everything is pretty much okay, right?
Seer walks along next to Yori. "I also believe that she will do swimingly as long as she lisens to Zuzu. That snake is brilliant." He frowns a little. "Though he could do without insulting her. I'm sure that kills her self-esteem somewhat." The golden horned, snowy white goat looks over at the driver of the cart and snorts a little. "She's not the only one focusing on her surroundings, sir. That's why she has a team with her." However as soon as he says that, he pauses to pull up some flowers alongside the road and starts walking again while eating them. "Mmmm. The flora here is so much richer than back home." He comments.
Sanda just doesn't speak as she wanders along the road. The girl wasn't inclined to make a fool of herself on some evaluation mission, and there really wasn't much to talk about on her end. So silent she stayed. Her eyes would roam across the land a bit as she tried to seek out trouble that was suggested by the driver, but she… She just wasn't that good at searching, apparently. She didn't know what to look for, nor did she know where to look. "Umm… Mr. Goat…" she says suddenly. "Do you notice anything off?" Surely a goat would know if there was someone else nearby. Hopefully even with the flower eating.
RPCOMBAT: Sanda defends against with a PERCEPTION…27
Zori could hear the chatter coming from that snake and Sakuya, Zori's eyes flicker over to there direction. Zori opens his mouth as he gets ready to say something to the snake nin but closes it. His eyes flicker back to the road as he focuses. The tiny still out the ground waiting to detect any movement or vibrations.
Having been picked to accompany Sakuya on this mission, Seiji had overslept, it was a rough night and well yeah, he overslept. Still, Seiji is quickly informed of the direction of where the transport group went, so Seiji quickly moved to catch up with the team. Using a bit of his other abilities, Seiji is able to quickly catch up with them. As he does, he focuses his chakra so that he can sense out others outside of the team.
RPCOMBAT: Zori defends against with a WIRE-SENSATION…48
Having been picked to accompany Sakuya on this mission, Seiji had overslept, it was a rough night and well yeah, he overslept. Still, Seiji is quickly informed of the direction of where the transport group went, so Seiji quickly moved to catch up with the team. Using a bit of his other abilities, Seiji is able to quickly catch up with them. As he does, he focuses his chakra so that he can sense out others outside of the team.
It was all just an easy relaxing mission. A simple D-rank, possibly C-rank mission that would likely lead to nothing in particular happening. Sadly, little did the shinobi know that within that well fortified wagon was actually something far more special than anyone here had previously thought. The Old Man on the Wagon was covertly transporting a rather special blade to Raiun. A blade that would be the Daimyo's Ceremonial blade. This was an important honor, and losing the blade would be akin to discrediting the Daimyo himself. This was clearly a reason for special bandits to do a 'special task' in discrediting the Daimyo. These Bandits were likely shinobi from a minor nation, possibly the Land of Snow. Zori would be able to sense the bandits nearby, as well as Sakuya. That would cause her to signal to hold the cart to a stop. "Hold on, everyone. I've got a bad feeling about this…" She smells people. Lots of people. That… That, and gunpowder. Lots of gunpowder. "What in the…" … "Sakuya, this is a trap. I recommend fully reversing immediately!"
"They're here. The wagon is nearby. Set off the explosives!" Suddenly someone would say. In short order, Sakuya had just failed her mission. The reasons being, there were a large amount of explosives suddenly set off around everyone protecting the caravan.
The explosives were initially meant to kill everyone around the carriage, but at that moment something unprecedented happened. The The explosives seemed to be absorbed by the surrounding ground. Suddenly, the ground caved in. There was something below the earth where they were at…
RP: Sakuya rolled a 15 with 10d2 die.
OOC Note: Anyone who rolls a Tai and Sta less than 15 will take heavy falling damage.
RP: Sakuya makes a Tai and Sta roll and got 10 and 14, respectively, for a total of 24.
Yori was a bit surprised by the sudden shouted words and feeling of unease. But before they could do anything the ground gave way and swallowed them up. Well plethora. He tries to watch what happens to everyone but the falling ground kind of takes most of his attention. He does his best just not to get crushed by anything.
RP: Yori makes a Tai and Sta roll and got 9 and 13, respectively, for a total of 22.
explosion happened and the ground opened up beneath him, he manages to stomp his hoof on the ground and cause a stone column to rise up underneath him. The column then lowers him down to the ground inside of the hole where everyone else is. Sometimes it paid to be an earth jutsuist. He comments. "Is everyone alright?"
RP: Seer makes a Tai and Sta roll and got 14 and 16, respectively, for a total of 30.
Sanda heard the word explosives and was about to try and defend the cart when the ground seemed to swallow her! The Hizumu landed on her butt in … Somewhere. She wasn't sure what it was, actually. She just knew that it wasn't very pleasant to be down here. "I'm fine…" she says with a frown, standing and dusting herself off. She looked around in the limited lighting and would ask, "Where are we?"
RP: Zori makes a Tai and Sta roll and got 7 and 11, respectively, for a total of 18.
Zori alerts everyone in the group "Bandits nearby". Zori could feel there vibrations coming from the wires as the bandits would brush up against them. Zori looked down as the ground started to break apart and open up beneath him. As he's falling down through the ground, Zori's wire's lashed out from underneath the sleeves of his hoodie out to something like a branch or a pole or something like that to brace his fall. Zori then reels down with his wire down to where every one is. Zori still blank faced as he stood there. "Im Good". Wait a minute… Did that goat just talk? What in the. Zori then looks over at the goat and gives it a super stare.
RPCOMBAT: Zori defends against with a STRING-STEERING-TECHNIQUE…42
The explosions do catch him off guard, honestly you wouldn't think that someone would setup explosive along the ground that explodes and drop you in a cave. Reacting as quickly as he can, Seiji, manages to roll and hop up. Dusting himself off, he moves off to the side and begins trying to sense for where the bandits are and if there are any down where they are.
RPCOMBAT: Seiji defends against with a CHAKRA-LOCATION-TECHNIQUE…41
The Fall came hard and fast, and unfortunately the carriage was completely destroyed and the three carriage operators were dead or dying. The Old Man, in his last breath would scour through the rubble to find the heirloom sword. Clutching it in his hands, he would soon make sure everyone would know. "The truth of this mission is not the carriage itself, but this blade! It must reach the Daimyo! It must!" They were a good ways underground, and the 'bandits' hadn't discovered that everyone was likely still alive. While they could likely move up above, where an ambush awaited them, the tunnel that they had fallen in was a strange relic. It was clearly man-made, and might have been used by royalty at one time a long time ago based on how the architecture was seemingly Land of Lightningesque. Seiji was able to see a large amount of fighters whom were converging on the hole. They were likely going to try and take the katana, and it was important that everyone moved on. That was Sakuya's guess anyways. The snake had landed on her bottom, and she might have hurt her back had she not been flexible… She would have stood up and declared. "I think everyone but the… Oh no!" She would quickly move over to the rather wounded olf man. "Zori! Yori! I need you to help me with this man…" Sakuya would take the sword and sigh. She has the worst luck when it comes to bladed weapons, doesn't she? "We can't hope to climb up that hole with shinobi at the top. We have to move on, and quick! We'll see if this tunnel leads to an exit." She would clutch the blade and groan. Hiei was going to kill her. She was going to die. The mission was practically failed, but there was still a chance to salvage it if she kept her cool…
Yori had landed in a bit of a crouch before having to dodge some falling earth, but in the end he's dirty and uninjured. He starts to take roll in his head as he looks around when he hears Sakuya calling him over at which point he appears in a flash of speed and crouches down, putting a hand to the mans head. "Sakuya-chan…he's hurt bad. I can try and heal him but we won't be able to move him yet," he says softly so as not to alert whomever may still be above. His hand is already glowing green as the medical chakra starts flowing…Talk about a hard decision to make. He didn't know if he should leave this up to Sakuya or not. No, not unless she asks.
COMBAT: Yori finishes his turn.
COMBAT: It is now Seer's turn.
Seer comments, "We must remain calm. That is paramount." The goat walks around to the various people, making sure they're alright. He meets Zori's stare with one of his own. "Yes. I'm a talking goat. I am Seer, Class three Battle-goat from Goat Village." He snorts. "Now that we've got that out of the way, this man says that the blade needs to reach the Daimyo. We can do that. I trust Sakuya's judgement. We should follow this tunnel as she suggests. Master Yori will do what he can as far as healing goes. If nothing else, I will allow the driver to ride upon my back. That way he doesn't have to move much." He looks at Sakuya. "Does this meet your approval, my lady?"
Sanda glances around and can tell that everyone is okay because they all decided to start talking at that moment. Well, then… Sanda would just stand there off to the side, waiting for someone to decide something about anything. It sounded like they had a plan, and she wasn't even sure what all was going on above. But it /sounded/ like a bunch of bandits were upstairs. "Are they after the sword specifically?" she wonders aloud, not asking anyone in particular. The girl was just … curious if that was the case. If she remembered right, it sounded as if they were… But who knows.
Zori still staring at the goat as he talked to him, he mutters "Wierd.." Zori hears Sakuya call for him. He slowly walks on over, until he stood directly above the old man. Zori looks down at the man and Yori beside him with his hand to the mans head. Zori crosses his arms over his chest. Turning around, facing his back to the old man as he stares ahead. "Since we cant move him. I could serve as some protection while you heal him." Zori doesnt even know who this Yori is. He doesnt even know his name, hes just a stranger to him.
Seiji moves closer and he crouches off to the side, "Everyone move off to the side, we have a large number of bandits coming towards the hole right now." he says, still focusing his chakra. "I'm trying to get a accurate count now, but I think we should push forward into cave." he states as he goes counting.
Little does Zori know that Yori is his counter opposite. While Yori is nice, kind, and respectful, Zori takes all those characteristics and gives them the bird. An interesting interaction that would make, but that is for another day. Yori has enough know-how to stabilize the old man, but it would not be enough. The man would need to be carried by someone… Sakuya would reply to Sanda. "Yes, it seems that they are. These bandits planned this out really carefully. It almost seems as if they weren't bandits at all…" How did they get explosives for one. Sakuya would move over to Sanda and hand her the blade. "I'm entrusting you with this. You, Seiji, and Seer need to move forward and make sure this gets out of the tunnel. This tunnel could be one of two things. A royal passageway, or an old pathway used by Buddhist Monks during the era of religious prosecution. Either way, if we continue along this path." She would hand it off to Sanda and turn to Seer. "Listen… I'm going to salvage this mission to the best of my abilities. Hiei asked you to come along because he knew something like this was going to happen. I trust that you'll be able to find the path to the end, no matter how obscure. Animals are like that…" She would look over to the man upon the ground. Yori could patch him up no better, and the man was going to get in the way up here. She needed Yori for his combat expertise. "Also… It does meet my approval. Move out!" «Don't butter up that animal, wench. What do you plan to do, squad leader? Are you going to pace and wait for death?» .. »Idiot snake, I'm going to provide them an easy retreat. This tunnel collapsed once, and it will collapse again.« Sakuya took notice of Zori's abilities and turned to him. "It won't be long before the enemy starts funneling down into where we are. Can you do me a favor, Zori, and tell me if you can use your technique to collapse the tunnel?" Use his wires to somehow pull the ceiling down. Surely he might be able to. She knows she is an anti-personel fighter. This is beyond her ability.
Yori works quickly, getting the old man just healed enough so that they can move him. Only then does he reach under the man and help him up, then onto Seer's back. "Thank you Seer-sama," he tells the goat quietly before he reaches out and clicks his blade out of it's locked position, then draws his sword entirely. Apparently he wasn't going anywhere else just yet, not until Sakuya had formulated her plan and put it into motion.
Seer rolls his shoulders slightly to adjust the man's weight. Being the size of a horse did have it's advantages. However, the goat begins to move down further into the cave on Sakuya's order. He keeps his senses peeled for anything that might be amiss. For now, he simply inclines his head to Yori and moves on, keeping his chakra signature up so he can react if anything happens.
"Oh, wait," Sanda would say as Seer starts trotting off. She had shoved rope in her bag, so the girl would tie the injured man to Seer's back to make sure he was nice and secure. Working on a boat sometimes had its perks, as she knew quite a lot about knots and how to tie them securely. Once everything seemed like it'd be fine, Sanda would check to see that the sword was tucked away safely… Meaning she'd tie it to herself. Not the best solution, but decent.
Seiji nods his head when he is called to go with the others to get the sword out of here. "Alright." eh says as he begins moving towards Yori, Seer and Sanda. "They are still moving in and I don't think bandits could be this prepared. Sakuya-san come with us." he calls to her. He brings his hand to the hilt of his katana, the old blade feeling comfortable in his hand as he looks out towards where the damaged wagon is and Sakuya. He doesn't want to leave, but he was given an order, so he has to follow.
This would mean that Yori, Sakuya, and Zori… The ones who stayed behind, would watch as the light is removed from the premesis. "This should hold them off. They don't know where the outlet of this tunnel is either. Hopefully, it is near Raiun." Sakuya would tap Yori on the shoulder. "Thank the Gods you were here, Yori… Without you, that man was one hundred percent dead…" After all, he was the one that paid out when the mission was done. "We're going to bring up the rear. If they get through, they will have to get through us…"
Speaking of getting through, Sanda, Seiji, and Seer would not have to travel far before it was clear that something else was living in these tunnels. Seemingly living there for quite a long time, were pale white and large arachnids whose feelers tapped the floor to find prey in these tunnels. Each spider was about as large as a baby child, and there were quite a few.
[NPC System]: Non-Okumo Spider roll(s) Venomous Bite vs Sanda from 15 to 30 and get(s) a 30. - Rolled by: Sakuya
[NPC System]: Non-Okumo Spider roll(s) Venomous Bite vs Seer from 15 to 30 and get(s) a 17. - Rolled by: Sakuya
[NPC System]: Non-Okumo Spider roll(s) Venomous Bite vs Seiji from 15 to 30 and get(s) a 23. - Rolled by: Sakuya
RPCOMBAT: Seer defends against with a EARTH-BARRIER…32
COMBAT: Seer attacks target 1 with EARTHEN-RAIN with a roll of: 18
Seer moves along and then stomps his hoof on the ground when the spiders attack. It covers him and the old man on his back in a dome of earth, protecting them for a moment before exploding outwards in little slivers of earthen rain to attack the spiders. Seer himself moves quickly, trying to get out of the area.
RPCOMBAT: Sanda defends against with a STORM-ORBS…38
Sanda would gather orbs of light to hover around her and just… keep the spiders away. A lot of them would get zapped into oblivion, and Sanda herself would use electricity (which also lit the cave to an extent) to zap the buggers into further oblivion. The Hizumu glances over to Seer, hearing the goat move, and she'd follow him with her arms outstretched so she didn't bonk her nose on a wall or something.
RPCOMBAT: Seiji defends against with a FLASH-PRECISION-PARRY…40
Well the only thing that could happen is coming face to face with SPIDERS!!! Seiji hates spiders, how can a bug be that fast and vicious, it's not even a mere bit of hesitation in his movement who quickly brings his katana out and focusing charka through his body and he parries the spiders attack away from him at the same time dancing away from it. "We need to move and fast." he says as he moves to the one who has the sword.
The Spiders would quickly be felled by Seer's attacks, and those that weren't would likely pursue. Yet the end is almost in sight. Sakuya hangs back with Yori and Zori in preparation for the bandits. They would continue that fight another time. Now the story shifts to Seiji and Sanda, along with the esteemed Seer. It seems that the tunnels did have an eventual end. A light at the end of the tunnel, you could say. Though there were many branching points, one that might require archealogical exploration, Seer would be able to guide the group towards one end. Raiun City is surrounded by mountains which twist and turn and make it difficult to reach it. This tunnel seemed to bypass it, and was part of a branching network no one seemed to know about until now… The tunnel let out in the ruins of an old castle, that wasn't far from the city. The castle was long overgrown, and so was the entrance, which required someone to cut through it.
Seer moves at a light trot, not wanting to go too fast as he might jostle his passenger too much. With his injuries, that wouldn't be good. So the goat reaches the castle and the entrance and slows to a stop. "Someone will have to get us through this. Seiji…Hiei told me you were his student. He teach you anything to get past this?"
Sanda would just step aside when Seiji came up. She followed along Seer, glancing at his passenger. She didn't know anything medic-related, but she could probably tell if he was getting jostled too much or something, right? Sanda felt pretty useless overall, though. It's not like she did much of anything except for carry a sword. And now she was stuck in Raiun city, at least for a few more days. Maybe she could disappear for a little bit…
Taking a breath, and looking towards the oncoming spiders, his sword is resheathed. He moves ahead of the others, "I can do this." he says with a determined look as the spiders seem to be coming out of the tunnel they need to go. Crouching slightly, moving his right foot forward, and after a few heartbeats, Seiji flickers forward, the sound of a sword escaping his scabbard, in three swings, spiders begin dropping. Nine spiders in a matter of three swings are cut down quickly clearing a hole for the others. Panting a little, "Hurry!" he says, but those who are able to track the movements, he did, it looked liked he only swung his sword three times, when actually, he repeated one maneuver three times.
Seiji's triple slash would cut through the brush easily, not surprising that a Yotsuki would do as much. The city was not far away, and now that they were free they could deliver the blade to the Daimyo, and report what had happened to him.
