Starring:
Date: September 11, 2015
Summary:
A pair of Suna nin head out to retrieve a runaway cart and horses.
"The Stray Cart"
Desert Cliffs [Land of Wind]
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The sweltering heat during the day reflects off the cliff walls that rise up here. At night the towering buttes appear to be even taller than they normally are — cold, remote, and perhaps even a bit alien. They are massive, naturally-formed walls of sandstone that can serve as a point of reference for those seeking Sunagakure — to the south — or simply desiring a land mark to navigate by. Further north lies open desert, inhospitable and bereft of any towns or other establishments other than perhaps a few nomad camps. South lies the desert sands surrounding the gates of the Hidden Sand Village. East lies lots and lots of sand.
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C-rank: A caravan going through the Land of Wind was attacked by a hungry wildcat. The animal was chased away before anyone was seriously injured, but a cart was dragged off by its panicked horses and lost. Track down the cart and recover the valuables it was carrying, preferably with the horses intact as well. Watch out for further wildlife ambushes.
Another mildly dangerous and difficult mission for Suna nin: recovering a runaway cart for a caravan. It seems that a wildcat spooked some horses, which split off from the caravan and took their cart with them. Since this is something that shouldn't be too hazardous, apart from the usual perils of the desert, it was decided that a pair of ninja would be enough for the task.
Sousa, as usual, volunteered for a menial chore like this because he needs to gather specimens from the area it takes place in for his personal studies anyway. Might as well pick up some cash while he's about it, lab materials don't come cheap after all. "Have you any experience with tracking?" Sousa inquires as he and Arika approach the spot where the caravan was ambushed by the wildcat. "It shouldn't be particularly difficult when the quarry is a pair of horses pulling a cart, but a sound background knowledge would be helpful nonetheless."
Arika yawns a bit as she moved along with Sousa. "Tracking? Sorta. I'm not too good at it… Usually I jus' follow someone and keep 'em close. So I can be super sneaky! Sorta…" She shrugs a bit, then looks around to see any signs of the cart. "I can look everywhere, though! Lots of places where things can be hiding!"
Sousa chuckles. "The only aspect of tracking we shall be likely to need is following a trail. Our quarry is quite large and should be easy to spot once we come within visual distance, and the horses should be willing to cooperate with humans, although they may attempt to hide from predators." It doesn't take long to spot a pair of wheel ruts and hoofprints veering off from the main tracks of the caravan, and the Suna nin are on their way.
Of course, the trouble with following after something is that very often something else is following the same trail. A pair of slitted eyes peer at the shinobi from the underbrush as they move along, watching them intently.
«OOC» Sousa says, "If you'd care to roll a perception, I think our watcher would be hidden with about a 25."
RP: Arika joins the roleplay.
COMBAT: It is now Arika's turn.
RPCOMBAT: Arika defends against with a AIR-CURRENTS…28
«INK» Arika whee
RP: Arika leaves the roleplay.
«OOC» Sousa says, "It's a wildcat, probably the same one that scared the horses off in the first place."
Arika nods a bit and doesn't really pay close attention to the path, letting herself sort of daydream until they reach some tracks that lead off to the side. On the breeze, she sensed something a bit odd… "I think… There's something following us," she says, looking around before spotting some slitted eyes. "Over there," she tells the former Kage.
Sousa glances over to where Arika indicated. "Hmmm. Perhaps it is the same wildcat which ambushed the caravan. The fact that it was willing to attempt such a thing indicates it may be desperately hungry, in which case it would not be surprising for it to be stalking a mere two humans. Simply keep an eye on it and be prepared for any sudden — " Just then the cat launches itself out of the brush! O.O But it doesn't go for Sousa and Arika, it sprints off down the trail of where the horses went. c.c Sousa furrows his brow. "…Then again, perhaps there is more to this incident than a hunting animal. I believe we should quicken our pace."
Not too long after that, the trail leads to the wall of a cliff. A little ways into a canyon in the cliff face, there are the horses, still attached to the cart! :D The cart looks a little light on wares, but otherwise intact. The horses might not remain so for very long, though, because there's the wildcat too! It's managed to get around in front of the horses, and the panicked beasts can't cooperate enough to turn the cart around and flee. The wildcat snarls and stalks closer…
Arika looks ready to fight the cat as it springs out of the bush… But not at her. At the cart not too far. She frowns, then dashes after it, using wind to keep up with the cat while she tries to send a gust of wind that would knock the cat off-balance and draw its attention to her. Also, there are two Arikas! One is approaching the wagon while the other is facing off against the mountain cat. Hopefully they didn't need to ask Sousa's permission…
RP: Sousa joins the roleplay.
COMBAT: It is now Sousa's turn.
RP: Arika joins the roleplay.
COMBAT: Sousa finishes his turn.
COMBAT: It is now Arika's turn.
COMBAT: Arika focuses 5782 stamina to turn it into 9000 usable chakra!
COMBAT: Arika attacks target 1 with WIND-UNBALANCE with a roll of: 26
RP: Arika uses SHADOW-CLONE.
RPCOMBAT: Arika defends against with a WIND-DASH…37
COMBAT: Arika attacks target 1 with WIND-UNBALANCE with a roll of: 32
COMBAT: Arika finishes her turn.
COMBAT: It is now Sousa's turn.
«OOC» Sousa says, "Cat rolls 20 + 1d20 for defenses."
RP: Sousa rolled a 19 with 1d20 die.
RP: Sousa rolled a 16 with 1d20 die.
«INK» Arika says, "What's up with those rolls x.x"
«OOC» Sousa keeps forgetting that +npcroll instructions are listed in +news GMs. -.- It needs a direct helpfile.
The cat creeps closer to the horses dramatically, a killer light shining in its eyes. +.+ But when Arika arrives and sends her gusts at it, it suddenly forgets about the horses and springs sideways. It rebounds off the canyon wall and somersaults, avoiding both attacks. Wow, that's some acrobatic wildcat! O.O It must be more than a simple —*twangssssSSSST!*
That sound is all the warning Arika gets as an arrow flies at her from a high-up nook in the canyon wall. A lithe ninja nocks another arrow to string and shoots it at Arika's clone next. "This is OUR score! Nobody's taking it from us!" he shouts. D< Sousa catches up to the scene and is immediately rushed by the wildcat. >E
[NPC System]: RogueNin roll(s) Hunter's Shot from 25 to 35 and get(s) a 31. - Rolled by: Sousa
[NPC System]: RogueNin roll(s) Hunter's Shot from 25 to 35 and get(s) a 29. - Rolled by: Sousa
[NPC System]: NinCat roll(s) Feral Pounce from 25 to 35 and get(s) a 25. - Rolled by: Sousa
COMBAT: Sousa finishes his turn.
COMBAT: It is now Arika's turn.
«INK» Arika says, "Are those all me?"
«OOC» Sousa says, "Just the first two."
RPCOMBAT: Arika defends against with a WIND-DASH…44
RPCOMBAT: Arika defends against with a WIND-DASH…28
«INK» Arika :(
Arika squeaks a bit, jumping away from the whistle of wind. She's close to avoiding the other arrow, too, but it ended up giving her a cut on her arm that healed pretty swiftly. "Too bad! They gotta come back with us!" she huffs, gathering chakra to send another burst of wind at the enemy-nin. This time, the gust of wind would try and compress the person so it went downward, and he will hopefully get stuck to the ground.
COMBAT: Arika attacks target 1 with MACROBURST with a roll of: 41
COMBAT: Arika finishes her turn.
COMBAT: It is now Sousa's turn.
RPCOMBAT: Sousa defends against with a FLOWING-AVERSION…53
COMBAT: Sousa attacks target 1 with TRICKY-SHARP-THROW with a roll of: 37
[NPC System]: NinCat roll(s) Dodge from 20 to 40 and get(s) a 39. - Rolled by: Sousa
[NPC System]: RogueNin roll(s) Shelter from 30 to 50 and get(s) a 36. - Rolled by: Sousa
Most people would find it very difficult to ward off the claws and teeth of a pouncing wildcat, let alone a trained nin-cat, with their bare hands. Sousa isn't most people. He deftly twists sideways and shoves against the beast's shoulder, causing it to sail right past him. He then responds by tossing a shuriken at the cat's haunch as it's landing. The cat proves extremely alert, rolling sideways to avoid the pointy projectile. It then turns and opens its maw, spitting a plume of flame at Sousa.
The archer in the cliffside tries to duck back into the recess of the cliffside nook he's in, but Arika's wind gets in behind him and pushes him out into space. @.@ As he falls, he draws back his bow and fires a wild but powerful shot at Arika. Then he hits the ground, and the breath is knocked from his body. "You…meddling munchkin," he rasps, trying to push himself to his feet. >.<;
[NPC System]: RogueNin roll(s) Power Shot from 25 to 35 and get(s) a 29. - Rolled by: Sousa
[NPC System]: NinCat roll(s) Great Fireball Technique from 25 to 35 and get(s) a 28. - Rolled by: Sousa
COMBAT: Sousa finishes his turn.
COMBAT: It is now Arika's turn.
RPCOMBAT: Arika defends against with a WIND-DASH…26
«INK» Arika peers
RP: Arika stops using SHADOW-CLONE.
RPCOMBAT: Arika defends against with a WIND-DASH…46
Arika-clone ends up poofing out of existence when the arrow strikes it, but Arika is all well and good. The girl promptly sits on the downed shinobi and ties him up with some rope she happened to have. "How come you wanted to get the horses?" she asks after making sure this dude was secure.
COMBAT: Arika finishes her turn.
COMBAT: It is now Sousa's turn.
RPCOMBAT: Sousa defends against with a SHAOLIN-DODGE…33
COMBAT: Sousa attacks target 1 with MAZE-ILLUSION with a roll of: 48
Sousa leaps overhead to avoid the cat's firestream. Landing on the other side of the feline, he runs through some handseals and projects his chakra at the beast. The nin-cat suddenly finds itself lost in a labyrinth of canyons, separated from both its enemies and its trainer. ^@.@^ Of course, that's only in its own head; in reality it's still standing there, spacing out.
The rogue-nin grunts and struggles as Arika lashes his wrists together. "Horses? What are you…um, I mean, I need them for, uh…a demonic ritual! I'll summon darkness upon this corrupt land!" >.<; Sousa walks over and starts patting down the rogue-nin. "Really Arika-san, didn't you notice how sparsely the wagon was packed? It makes little sense to leave a wagon so underutilized in a caravan. Some of the goods might have fallen out while the horses were running away, but then we'd have come across the litter while tracking them."
Sousa finds a large sealing scroll tucked into the rogue-nin's jacket. Sure enough, unfurling it and summoning out the first item reveals a package of spices much like the ones sitting in the cart. "He must have been in the midst of storing his ill-gotten gains when his cat companion came to warn him of our approach," Sousa concludes. "Tell me, what was happening when you arrived here? I fell a bit behind because I spotted a rare beetle I wanted to catch."
COMBAT: Sousa finishes his turn.
COMBAT: It is now Arika's turn.
"I dunno. I saw the cat. An' it looked like it was heading for the wagon, so I knocked it off course. And then this guy shot a bunch of arrows at me, but I stopped him!" She nods once, then peers at Sousa. "Quit getting distracted on missions!" she huffs.
Sousa chuckles. "Arika-san, while missions do tend to be rather important, they are not all-important. Sunagakure expects us to be wise and shrewd, and judge for ourselves whether something we happen across during a mission is more important than completing our objectives." Sousa taps the bamboo container on his belt where he's keeping the beetle he caught. "With that said, most people probably would tell me getting to the cart as quickly as possible would've been more appropriate than stopping to catch a beetle. I can get away with being a little selfish like that because I'm a Kazekage." ;9
Sousa picks up the spice package and puts it in the cart. "It sounds to me as if the cat's hostility was a ruse. By threatening the horses, it put pressure upon you to act quickly, and that drew you within easy range of this ninja's archery. Some would say you should have been more aware of the oddities of the situation and approached it more cautiously. Others might say that taking the risk in order to increase the success of the mission — namely by protecting the horses — was the right thing to do even if you'd realized it was likely a trap. Regardless of what you conclude about it, I hope you'll learn from the experience." Sousa takes the scroll and puts that in the cart too. "No point in unpacking this, it'll be easier to transport this way anyhow and it might have traps in it to boot." Let's not dwell too long on why scrolls aren't used for nearly everything in Narutoverse shipping. ;)
*//*//*//*//*//*//*//*//*//*//*//*//*//*//*//*//*//*//*//*//*//*//*//*//*//*//*/
The sweltering heat during the day reflects off the cliff walls that rise up here. At night the towering buttes appear to be even taller than they normally are — cold, remote, and perhaps even a bit alien. They are massive, naturally-formed walls of sandstone that can serve as a point of reference for those seeking Sunagakure — to the south — or simply desiring a land mark to navigate by. Further north lies open desert, inhospitable and bereft of any towns or other establishments other than perhaps a few nomad camps. South lies the desert sands surrounding the gates of the Hidden Sand Village. East lies lots and lots of sand.
*//*//*//*//*//*//*//*//*//*//*//*//*//*//*//*//*//*//*//*//*//*//*//*//*//*//*/
C-rank: A caravan going through the Land of Wind was attacked by a hungry wildcat. The animal was chased away before anyone was seriously injured, but a cart was dragged off by its panicked horses and lost. Track down the cart and recover the valuables it was carrying, preferably with the horses intact as well. Watch out for further wildlife ambushes.
Another mildly dangerous and difficult mission for Suna nin: recovering a runaway cart for a caravan. It seems that a wildcat spooked some horses, which split off from the caravan and took their cart with them. Since this is something that shouldn't be too hazardous, apart from the usual perils of the desert, it was decided that a pair of ninja would be enough for the task.
Sousa, as usual, volunteered for a menial chore like this because he needs to gather specimens from the area it takes place in for his personal studies anyway. Might as well pick up some cash while he's about it, lab materials don't come cheap after all. "Have you any experience with tracking?" Sousa inquires as he and Arika approach the spot where the caravan was ambushed by the wildcat. "It shouldn't be particularly difficult when the quarry is a pair of horses pulling a cart, but a sound background knowledge would be helpful nonetheless."
Arika yawns a bit as she moved along with Sousa. "Tracking? Sorta. I'm not too good at it… Usually I jus' follow someone and keep 'em close. So I can be super sneaky! Sorta…" She shrugs a bit, then looks around to see any signs of the cart. "I can look everywhere, though! Lots of places where things can be hiding!"
Sousa chuckles. "The only aspect of tracking we shall be likely to need is following a trail. Our quarry is quite large and should be easy to spot once we come within visual distance, and the horses should be willing to cooperate with humans, although they may attempt to hide from predators." It doesn't take long to spot a pair of wheel ruts and hoofprints veering off from the main tracks of the caravan, and the Suna nin are on their way.
Of course, the trouble with following after something is that very often something else is following the same trail. A pair of slitted eyes peer at the shinobi from the underbrush as they move along, watching them intently.
Arika nods a bit and doesn't really pay close attention to the path, letting herself sort of daydream until they reach some tracks that lead off to the side. On the breeze, she sensed something a bit odd… "I think… There's something following us," she says, looking around before spotting some slitted eyes. "Over there," she tells the former Kage.
Sousa glances over to where Arika indicated. "Hmmm. Perhaps it is the same wildcat which ambushed the caravan. The fact that it was willing to attempt such a thing indicates it may be desperately hungry, in which case it would not be surprising for it to be stalking a mere two humans. Simply keep an eye on it and be prepared for any sudden — " Just then the cat launches itself out of the brush! O.O But it doesn't go for Sousa and Arika, it sprints off down the trail of where the horses went. c.c Sousa furrows his brow. "…Then again, perhaps there is more to this incident than a hunting animal. I believe we should quicken our pace."
Not too long after that, the trail leads to the wall of a cliff. A little ways into a canyon in the cliff face, there are the horses, still attached to the cart! :D The cart looks a little light on wares, but otherwise intact. The horses might not remain so for very long, though, because there's the wildcat too! It's managed to get around in front of the horses, and the panicked beasts can't cooperate enough to turn the cart around and flee. The wildcat snarls and stalks closer…
Arika looks ready to fight the cat as it springs out of the bush… But not at her. At the cart not too far. She frowns, then dashes after it, using wind to keep up with the cat while she tries to send a gust of wind that would knock the cat off-balance and draw its attention to her. Also, there are two Arikas! One is approaching the wagon while the other is facing off against the mountain cat. Hopefully they didn't need to ask Sousa's permission…
The cat creeps closer to the horses dramatically, a killer light shining in its eyes. +.+ But when Arika arrives and sends her gusts at it, it suddenly forgets about the horses and springs sideways. It rebounds off the canyon wall and somersaults, avoiding both attacks. Wow, that's some acrobatic wildcat! O.O It must be more than a simple —*twangssssSSSST!*
That sound is all the warning Arika gets as an arrow flies at her from a high-up nook in the canyon wall. A lithe ninja nocks another arrow to string and shoots it at Arika's clone next. "This is OUR score! Nobody's taking it from us!" he shouts. D< Sousa catches up to the scene and is immediately rushed by the wildcat. >E
Arika squeaks a bit, jumping away from the whistle of wind. She's close to avoiding the other arrow, too, but it ended up giving her a cut on her arm that healed pretty swiftly. "Too bad! They gotta come back with us!" she huffs, gathering chakra to send another burst of wind at the enemy-nin. This time, the gust of wind would try and compress the person so it went downward, and he will hopefully get stuck to the ground.
Most people would find it very difficult to ward off the claws and teeth of a pouncing wildcat, let alone a trained nin-cat, with their bare hands. Sousa isn't most people. He deftly twists sideways and shoves against the beast's shoulder, causing it to sail right past him. He then responds by tossing a shuriken at the cat's haunch as it's landing. The cat proves extremely alert, rolling sideways to avoid the pointy projectile. It then turns and opens its maw, spitting a plume of flame at Sousa.
The archer in the cliffside tries to duck back into the recess of the cliffside nook he's in, but Arika's wind gets in behind him and pushes him out into space. @.@ As he falls, he draws back his bow and fires a wild but powerful shot at Arika. Then he hits the ground, and the breath is knocked from his body. "You…meddling munchkin," he rasps, trying to push himself to his feet. >.<;
Arika-clone ends up poofing out of existence when the arrow strikes it, but Arika is all well and good. The girl promptly sits on the downed shinobi and ties him up with some rope she happened to have. "How come you wanted to get the horses?" she asks after making sure this dude was secure.
Sousa leaps overhead to avoid the cat's firestream. Landing on the other side of the feline, he runs through some handseals and projects his chakra at the beast. The nin-cat suddenly finds itself lost in a labyrinth of canyons, separated from both its enemies and its trainer. ^@.@^ Of course, that's only in its own head; in reality it's still standing there, spacing out.
The rogue-nin grunts and struggles as Arika lashes his wrists together. "Horses? What are you…um, I mean, I need them for, uh…a demonic ritual! I'll summon darkness upon this corrupt land!" >.<; Sousa walks over and starts patting down the rogue-nin. "Really Arika-san, didn't you notice how sparsely the wagon was packed? It makes little sense to leave a wagon so underutilized in a caravan. Some of the goods might have fallen out while the horses were running away, but then we'd have come across the litter while tracking them."
Sousa finds a large sealing scroll tucked into the rogue-nin's jacket. Sure enough, unfurling it and summoning out the first item reveals a package of spices much like the ones sitting in the cart. "He must have been in the midst of storing his ill-gotten gains when his cat companion came to warn him of our approach," Sousa concludes. "Tell me, what was happening when you arrived here? I fell a bit behind because I spotted a rare beetle I wanted to catch."
"I dunno. I saw the cat. An' it looked like it was heading for the wagon, so I knocked it off course. And then this guy shot a bunch of arrows at me, but I stopped him!" She nods once, then peers at Sousa. "Quit getting distracted on missions!" she huffs.
Sousa chuckles. "Arika-san, while missions do tend to be rather important, they are not all-important. Sunagakure expects us to be wise and shrewd, and judge for ourselves whether something we happen across during a mission is more important than completing our objectives." Sousa taps the bamboo container on his belt where he's keeping the beetle he caught. "With that said, most people probably would tell me getting to the cart as quickly as possible would've been more appropriate than stopping to catch a beetle. I can get away with being a little selfish like that because I'm a Kazekage." ;9
Sousa picks up the spice package and puts it in the cart. "It sounds to me as if the cat's hostility was a ruse. By threatening the horses, it put pressure upon you to act quickly, and that drew you within easy range of this ninja's archery. Some would say you should have been more aware of the oddities of the situation and approached it more cautiously. Others might say that taking the risk in order to increase the success of the mission — namely by protecting the horses — was the right thing to do even if you'd realized it was likely a trap. Regardless of what you conclude about it, I hope you'll learn from the experience." Sousa takes the scroll and puts that in the cart too. "No point in unpacking this, it'll be easier to transport this way anyhow and it might have traps in it to boot." Let's not dwell too long on why scrolls aren't used for nearly everything in Narutoverse shipping. ;)
