Starring:
Nanashi (under the name Miyako), Tsuchi, Akiko, Rikuto
Date: November 18, 2014
Summary:
Tsuchi’s team goes to the Dead Sands to help Miyako, who pursued a group of bandits into the desert after they stole a merchant’s goods.
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Trouble in the Dead Sands"
Dead Sands - Land of Wind
It's a bit after noon in the Land of Wind. Most people in their right minds are way closer to Sunagakure or one of its settlements. Miyako, however, wanting to try and be useful, decided to pursue a group of bandits to try and retrieve an elderly merchant's goods for him that were stolen by the bandits. Word would've gotten to the Chuunin at the gates what was going on once the merchant arrived at Sunagakure. By the time they would arrive, however, Miyako is already surrounded by over a dozen bandits with blades drawn, and she herself appears to be unarmed. As one slashes at her, though, she sort of halfway blocks, only for the blade to pass right through her and her body to reform unharmed.
"What the-" the bandit starts to say, interrupted by an orb of sand that flies from her palm almost automatically to slam into the back of his head and send him skidding headfirst in the sand.
"What is she?"
"I don't know. Just kill her."
Having been on patrol, Tsuchi blinks at hearing that Miyako was off on her own and Tsuchi almost immediately bites her thumb and slams her hand down. A moment later, Maki appears. She points at her and states, "Find Rikuto and Akiko now. Find me with them…NOW!" She then rushes off in a burst of speed in the direction of where the merchant indicated. Meanwhile, Maki would rush off, using her skills to find the two genin and tag them both quickly before indicating for them to follow her. The ferret will race off, using its abilities to sense chakra to chase after Tsuchi and get to her quickly so that they can all head off to where Miyako is…of course by the time Maki drags both to Tsuchi, Maki points out how of course she is and directs all of them toward Miyako, though they haven't yet arrived.
Akiko blinks when Maki appears in front of her, following after the ferret and Rikuto when he joins the group. "Wh-what's going on, Maki-san?" she asks, letting out a piercing whistle for Kotone to fly ahead to where Tsuchi is. Her falcon flies ahead quickly to check up on Akiko's sensei as Akiko gets to the area with her friends/teammates. "Miyako-san? Wha-" Her eyes widen a bit when Kotone comes back with her report. "She's facing a horde?!"
"On her own? Didn't she just get to Sunagakure? Just give me a second and.." Closing his eyes for a fleeting moment, Rikuto's eyes open widely with a bit of a stagger. "'It'?!" Turning his focus to Tsuchi, he points out to the dunes close to where Kotone was returning from, "Sensei, something huge I mean massive is over there. It's a jounin or one of the missing ones. If she's over there we have to hurry!" Turning his attention to Akiko, the young Miira winces at the news of a horde. "That's worse than I thought."
Miyako's eyes widen a bit at the order to kill her, as if that might actually be possible. She seems to not be totally aware that she basically almost split one guy's head open. "Just give me the stuff back, and I'll leave," she pleads, but they don't seem to be listening. Another man charges her, and another, one grabbing her and holding her still while the other goes to plunge a blade into her gut just under her chest. As it stabs through, however, it only meets sand and impales the other bandit, who falls down clutching his gut as he starts to fade away while Miyako only ends up with a nasty cut to her kimono top.
"What the senate ARE you?!"
"I don't know," Miyako replies to the bandit, looking a bit fearful as she points a hand at his face and sends an orb directly at it at short range. Right after that, however, the rest of the men decided it's a good time to charge her in mass, stabbing her over and over in unison, which leads to her falling into the sand and curling up in a ball as blade after blade pierces her again and again to no avail… 'What are you?' she rehearses in her mind, thinking on the men's words again and again as she shivers a bit.
"We have to move…NOW!" Tsuchi rushes out of the area where they are, following after Maki as she makes her way toward the scene. She peers after Maki as the ferret shows the way to the fight. As they arrive, she watches the bandits and then appears beside the group and Tsuchi shakes her head, "You lot picked the wrong day to be housin' me off." She starts making handsigns and quickly finishes with a hand slamming downward before she lifts it up. Almost immediately, two columns of wind appear and start spinning around the outer edges of the circle of bandits, attempting to yank several up. She looks at Akiko and then Rikuto, "Finish these idiots off…now." She seems especially angry for some reason…almost abnormally so.
Akiko shrugs as best she can, telling Kotone to take off again. She would call the falcon down when she needed her assistance, but for now Kotone should keep an eye not the situation. "I guess? She's strong, though, apparently. She's managed to hold up for this long." The girl nods a bit. "We should get there quickly, though. Kotone just saw a mass of men surrounding her and she couldn't escape!" On her signal, Kotone unleashes a number of explosive tags on the men below. Only the ones on the edges, though, so as not to endanger Miyako. Akiko readies her bow in preparation for battle, drawing several arrows. "Got it, Sensei!" she says with a nod as Kotone fights against the wind devil that Tsuchi formed.
Furling his brows, Rikuto looks around into the open clearing where Miyako was along with the group surrounding her. "Which one of them is.. doesn't matter." Bringing his hands together, he soon begins to make a few seals suddenly before moving his fingers to his mouth and exhaling. Three groups of small orbs flow from the boy, exploding on contact around several of the bandits below. 'Killing them is a bit much isn't it?' was mumbled to himself as he tries to see through the haze of exploding sand.
By the time the team arrives, Miyako's been stabbed more times than she could hope to count as she shivers on the ground. When the winds of Tsuchi's attacks start to rip bandits up from around her, she finally looks up as the bandits look around in a rather confused manner. They seem to realize they're pretty much presidented at this point, but it's too late. Explosions rings out and send the men flying, mangling some as those who remain start to charge the arriving shinobi. Meanwhile some from up the dunes start to come back as well. From her position on the ground with her clothes rather tattered, Miyako calls out, "There are more ahead with the stolen goods!" As she calls out, her eyes almost seem to glaze over as the words 'What are you?!' ring over and over in her head… And then come the drums, causing the bandits all around to start to look fearful. Even the ally shinobi would start to hear them if their minds are open, though without the ill effects given the enemies. 1 2 3 4… 1 2 3 4… 1 2 3 4… 1 2 3 4…
Rushing into the fight as the explosions go off, she sends off a blast of wind into one guy who will then also find a trio of throwing stars made of pure lightning thrown at him as another is thrown at another guy, "I want them all down or dead, now!" She calls out and even as she does Maki moves, rushing into the group with her blade drawn. She slices into one before flipping over another and sending a slice down his back before she spins and tries to drive the blade right through another's gut. She lands with style and then blinks as she looks over at Miyako. Tsuchi rushes over to Miyako and tries to grab the girl by the face with both hands and stare into her eyes, "Miyako." She states and looks her square in the eye, "What are you doing out here?"
Akiko dashes forward with her bow, raining arrows down at the enemy that still remains. Once they're over and done with, she continues on with the trek, stopping before Miyako. "Miyako-san, are you alright?" she asks, frowning with concern. She double-checks that the ones she shot were dead. If they aren't, they will be with such a close-range arrow-shot.
Bringing his hands together as Rikuto begins to walk away from the main group. "Great.. there's more." Shaking his head, he raises a hand to the side of his head, "What's that ringing?" Gritting his teeth, the boy closes his eyes trying to focus, continuing to weave a few signs, causing the winds to begin picking up and move away from the main group and soon snares around a few outlying members before setting them ablaze. "Is she okay down there?"
As Tsuchi grabs her face, Miyako looks in her eyes, seeming lost for a few moments before snapping herself out of it. "I.. uh… I was… I was trying to help, Tsuchi-senpai," she says, blushing in embarrassment at having to be rescued like this as she turns her eyes down. As a bandit charges Tsuchi from behind, Miyako's eyes seem to glaze over a bit again as she lifts a hand again, sending a wave of sand up from the ground to wrap around the man and engulf his body before crushing it to a sound of screams and crunching bones. Thus far Akiko doesn't seem to be noticed by the Genin who seems to be almost in a trance-like state just yet…
A blink at her and then she looks back as Miyako does that before she turns back around and grabs Miyako by the hand and pulls it down before saying, "You stop…right now." She states, "That is an order…" She glares at Miyako and then steps up close to her, "You are a genin…a genin." She growls and then looks at her carefully, "I don't care what kind of power you have…you are not to run off on your own. Not even chuunin run off on their own like htat. You are not even a chuunin." She states, "We move as a team or we die. We are not lone wolves and we don't take things into our own hands." She states and then looks at Rikuto and Akiko as they seem to ask Miyako about her mental state and she points, "Are either of you mednin? No? Then you had better start chasing after those escaping bandits…NOW!" She yells, clearly angry and glaring at the pair, "And I don't want to see either of you again until you have secured the stolen goods!"
Akiko winces a bit and offers a quick salute to the angry Sasaki, dashing off after the bandits. To slow them down, she sends arrows that are supposed to pin the targets. With those arrows to slow the thieves, it would be easy to catch up to them. "Rikuto-san, let's go, quick!" she exclaims as she moves quickly, sprinting at the people who had taken Miyako's things.
Turning his head to the side, Rikuto looks at Tsuchi and watches her rather carefully but then for once doesn't ask a question. The young Miira's eyes settle onto Miyako for a lingering moment before turning to Akiko. "She said move, so I'm going" was offered up half heartedly, before running along in the girl's wake. Once the pair had continued moving he would ask somewhat quietly, "Why would a jounin join another country as a genin?"
Even as her hand is grabbed and she is ordered, Miyako seems a bit hesitant to stop attacking. She seems quite intent on annihilating the bandits, but, as she looks back to Tsuchi, she seems confused, almost frightened, but not of the bandits. If Tsuchi really gauges that look in her eyes, she'll notice Miyako was likely never frightened of the bandits at all… but of herself. ~Kekekekeke… All that untapped power, and you're taking orders from some punk Chuunin? REALLY?!~
Maki ran ahead with Akiko and Rikuto before looking at the pair, she dives on to a bandit and misses him with her blade before she turns and slices off his leg. She glances at him as he screams and falls down crying out. She looks toward Akiko and Rikuto, "You two ever see her angry like that? It seems out of-" She pauses and dives out of the way of an attack and lands, "-character."
"You need to calm down, right now." She states and stares at Miyako before she takes a step forward, "Focus." She nods her head and points a finger right into Miyako's face, "I don't know what came over you to come out here by yourself but you have a lot of people worried and that is not where you wanna be right now. You are of Sunagakure now and that means we look out for you. We are a family. You don't run off alone…not now, not ever." She then looks in the direction that the pair went before she starts up toward the top of the dune the pair went off toward the bandits and she notes the bandits in the distance, "You wanna see what happens to the enemies of Sunagakure?" She then starts making handsigns as she looks at one half of the enemies, squinting at the side with the most. She then makes several gestures and then raises her right hand up and her left pointed toward the enemy. She then pulls her right hand down and almost immediately teh sky yanks downward even as clouds not normally found in the land of wind begin to form even as sand flickers up from the ground to rip those poor men up and away.
Kotone quickly zooms down upon feeling the change of the air, not wanting to get caught up in the tornado that started to form. Akiko keeps her falcon on her shoulder as she sends a few more shots at the enemy. "Oh my… I hope nothing valuable is in that cart if it blows away…" She comments with slightly wide eyes. The Sasaki was getting to be a rather fearsome threat! "Rikuto-san, we really need to catch up to Sensei! D'you think if we work on our genjutsu we could beat her someday?" she wonders as she sends shots towards the enemy.
Not gaining an answer, he doesn't repeat himself when he noticed Maki so close as well. Pressing his lips closed, the Rikuto slows down, looking forward towards the remaining bandits and twists his fingers slowly before nodding. "Tsuchi-sensei has time ahead of us, that gap won't be forever if you focus, think outside the box. I have an idea if you want to get that edge with genjutsu but.. might take a while." The Miira's words were slow, some what distant as he comes to a stop.
The bandits that caught his attention would see a lesser horror. At their feet, one after another, snakes form from the disturbed sands, two or three pet leg before slithering upwards rapidly before biting into their thighs while others move higher to bite at other points and even wrap around their throat, binding them in place.
"The three on the left by the remaining crates.. Use your heavy arrows, they shouldn't be moving too much for a moment. Hurry."
Miyako had seemed to be mostly calm if not a bit shaken up. However, when Tsuchi actually puts a finger in her face, the Genin frowns and looks the Chuunin in the eye. ~Bahahahaha! Getting frazzled now, Miyako-san? Don't like her getting in your face like that? Come on. Fight back. Just once for me?~ Miyako would peer over as Tsuchi starts her attack, glancing back at the Sasaki once before actually turning away from the fight and starting to step back. "… No thanks."
Letting the two genin finish it up with Maki, Tsuchi turns back to Miyako and stares at her before walking down a few steps to the girl and peering at her. She almost glares at Miyako before saying, "You don't get it, do you? We worried about you. /I/ worried about you." She states and then licks her lips softly, putting a hand to her chest, "You think you can run off and not have people worry about you? It hurts…it's pain for us to think that you might be out here, lost to us." She shakes her head, "You are tough but no one is invincible, Miyako. Everyone can die…" She nods her head, "I've seen some pretty powerful people get nearly killed despite all their power and all their thoughts of it, don't become a statistic."
Akiko nods and sends three of her stronger arrows at the men paralyzed by Rikuto's genjutsu. It was an easy target, hard to miss. Kotone continues to keep low at the moment since the storm is still in the air. She learned both through instinct and because of special falcon training that it was bad to fly through a storm like that. "I think … I think that's all of them, Rikuto-san. Maki-san. We should probably make sure that all the supplies are here. And then report back to Sensei." She nods a bit.
Nodding to Akiko, the boy lingers in his place before focusing onto Maki. "You should report back that we've cleared the area, securing it now." Raising a hand, he gives a loose finger solute to the large ferret and makes his way out and across towards the remaining crates in the area. Slipping his hands into the length of his cloak, Rikuto slowly shakes his head as he begins hopping over several corpses to get closer and make an inventory.
"Yes, I understand all that," Miyako says, nodding to Tsuchi before taking another step back. "But, despite this current situation, I have always shown you respect and consideration, Tsuchi-senpai, even when…" With a pause, she would clutch her head, her finger seeming to act on its own as it taps out that rhythm. 1 2 3 4… 1 2 3 4… 1 2 3 4… ~Dooo iiiiitttt… Come on, little brat. Let it all out just for a moment.~ Miyako actually growls a bit, seeming to get more and more frustrated before she finally snaps, turning away from Tsuchi and slamming her palms on the ground to send a massive tidal wave of sand crashing down on the desert terrain ahead of them to wash over it and create basically a flatland within the desert for a while until the winds overtake it again…. and then she would fall to her knees and hug Tsuchi's legs tight, that fear seeming to grab her again.
Looking over at Miyako and then watching her as she destroys part of the desert, she peers at the girl before she reaches down a hand to pet her head lightly. She shakes her head and then takes a breath before letting it out. She licks her lips softly before she looks in the direction of Maki as she comes back. The ferret had nodded to Rikuto before she had turned and rushed off in the direction of Tsuchi to tell her that only to be there in time to watch the desert get nearly destroyed. She blinks a few times as she watches that happen before swallowing softly and then looking at Tsuchi, "I believe, we have secured the stolen goods." Maki nods softly to Tsuchi before turning her gaze to the flattened desert.
Akiko just…. stares as the desert gets a nice flattening. "Hey, one of the oases my brood was after was in that area!" she exclaims, pouting just a bit. She moves to grab some of the things that were in the transport/bag/whatever it was they were chasing after, picking up as much as she could carry. "Oh well… Let's go, Rikuto-san. We should get back to Sensei quickly. She seemed a bit angry earlier." She nods and wanders back in that direction, leaving Rikuto to whatever it is he's doing.
"Hang on there Akiko-san. Let Tsuchi-sensei be for a minute.. she seemed odd, ever sense we were sent out here. Anyways, you hardly picked things over." Walking towards the crates that remained, he begins to try to help pile the things that were left in the sand. Drumming his fingers against some of the remaining things he asks, "You brought your scrolls didn't you? We should be able to carry most of these things then, right?" Even if Akiko didn't return, Rikuto showed in no hurry to return to the group hastily.
