Defenders of Juicetess

Shika, former harbinger of justice, lay on a field staring at the empty sky. Was I... Doing the right thing?

She closed her eyes for the briefest of moments, contemplating exactly the kind of thing she'd been doing for the past eight years. What is the right thing, anyways? If I do the right thing... Will it really make everybody happy?

She opened her eyes, now scowling at the clouds. Damn her and her morals. Without them, everything would be so much easier.

It's been a long walk, well..flight for those blessed with the capability of flight at a very low chakra cost, the path branched off on their way and Blues gestured for his companion, who has yet to give his name to him, to follow him before he rose above and flew a bit faster, and hovered to a stop in a clearing, before his feet return and he lands...Wincing slightly as his sore feet make contact with the ground and he breathes in slowly...The Sun is getting low, this clearing looks good enough to make ca-
He pauses as his vision catches sight of another person in the clearing, staring up into the sky, surely his thrusters must have alerted her to the presence of the two..He stares for a moment, unsure of what to do...What if she's dangerous? What if she's scared? What if she thinks we're after her or that were scouts for an invasion and she attacks u-?

After a moments of appearing to be regarding her stoically and perhaps sizing her up, his body takes matters into it's own hands and raises a gloved hand to give a small cautious wave, the gas mask and the goggles perhaps making him seem a bit..intimidating the way he just showed up and has yet to say a thing. But he hasn't made any threatening motions and perhaps after a moment, his traveling companion will join him and they can set up camp...
He hopes his unnamed friend will get here soon, he really has no idea what to say or do or if he should ask her if it's okay to camp out here or if he should just ignore her or-
His head tilts to the left curiously as his hand lowers and he let's out a small breath, the gas mask making it echo slightly...Though he really hopes a fight doesn't break out, he's not in his maximum condition.

Hado zipped along the highway, err, the tree tops, until there were no more of them and he was falling through the air. "Woah!" He saw the ground approaching fast, and began rolling, landing relatively smoothly, and keeping most of his momentum, continued running, this time in the grasses of the area.

Blues was just ahead on those awesome blaster thingies that let him fly. Hado really wanted to be able to do that stuff too.

For now though, he was practicing a different kind of jutsu. Concentrating, he tried to concentrate his chakra into a form that could be applied to different things, such as people's wounds. He wanted to be able to patch people up, so he tried applying the chakra to his arm, where he had been scratched by a branch as he fell. It took a little practice but he was soon able to work at fixing his arm up until the scratch was gone.

He was looking at his arm, and even with his metal sensory, nearly ran straight into Blues, skidding to a halt about two centimeters away. Peering around Blues, he could see why the other fellow had stopped. About 10 meters away a girl who looked to be about the same age as Blue under all that gear, was lying on her back. Was Blues shy? Was he... interested? Well, shy was most likely considering he was still a little awkward with yours truly. Blues was probably too young for that stuff and Hado was not at all interested in that sort of thing anyways.

Hado swerved around from behind Blues and ran up quietly to this girl. Standing a half meter behind her head, from her view directly above, he peered down at her. “Hi there!”

Two boys approached her. One from behind, the other from the side. Be careful, a little voice in her head warned her. They could be potentially hostile.

Her mature and responsible retort consisted of three words. No shit, dumbass.

Shika chose to continue lying down in her comfortable position. There was no way she could react in time to defend against any possible attacks, and if she was going down, at least her last thoughts would be of the sky. I can think of worse ways to go.

Then, she noticed that one had started talking to her. She opened an eye and raised an eyebrow.

"...Good afternoon." She replied apathetically, before closing her eyes once more. A few moments passed before she surprised herself by speaking up again. "...Tell me, What is it that you think of when you stare at the night sky?"

Arashi didn't really think of himself as only a genin, and Akihana seemed to agree, but as tradition stated, he had to prove himself, usually within an exam.  Since they were all trying to restart a dying village, time was a luxury they really didn't have.  It was because of that he acted like a genin while doing the jobs that higher ninja would have done.

On this night, he was on patrol, at least within the village itself.  With the guards better trained and armed, they were able to keep watch on the land itself, even outside the village.  In fact, they had a forward waystation on the borders now.  It was this waystation that sent a bird messenger to the gates of Hoshi, and the guards at the gate waved down the lone ninja.

"Arashi, is your mother or Den awake?"  Of course, they would first ask about his elders.  Arashi sighed, and turned back towards the Palace.

"I'm not sure, Den is usually off in his own little word, and Aki-san I think just finally went to bed.  It took me an hour or so to convince her that I was old enough to patrol the walls.  What do you need?" he asked, hiding the annoyance that they were immediately asking for his mother.

"Oh, the border station reporting seeing a small group of travelers coming down the road.  They didn't look like the typical bandits or ninja we were used to, so we wanted support.  Are you.. do you..."

Arashi smiled.  "No one is better equipped at recon than me, if you want to let mom know that I'm headed down the road, go ahead.  I'll go take a look." he said, waving to open the gates of the village as he pulled off his headband and retied it on his arm, as well as tightened the smaller water canteens he wore now instead of his large satchel.

*********************

Arashi was hitting tree after tree, hopping from one branch to another until he reached the waystation, and then dropped to the ground.  From that distance he could faintly see the shadows on the road, but he didn't want to give his position away just yet.  Bringing his fingers up, his eyes swirled as he activated his cloud body and dissolved into mist, floating through the trees to the left of the group, silently chatting to each other.  They seemed to be their own strangers, at least a couple of them.  Gauging the risk, Arashi reformed himself, though after he pulled out a kunai in his hand, he kept himself in the cloud body in case they started with an attack.

"Excuse me." he called out, coming from the trees.  Considering the direction he came from, it was clear that he was from the land.

"You have just crossed the border into the Land of Haven.  Do you hail from another village, or are you here an your own will?" he said, bracing himself in case these were the type of ninja who were looking for kills.


(w/c: 509)

[Some things of note Arashi, we're currently in a clearing to the side of the road, be sure to pay attention to such large details like this in the future.]

His nameless friend very quickly makes his presence known to the Kunoichi in the field and he lets out a small sigh of relief, he can't handle situations like this...Without something else to focus on he very quickly allows his anxiety to overtake his thoughts and run rampant, though eventually he does get past it..Unintentionally more often than not, but in another kind of situation.
His gaze turns towards the newcomer, a Kunai is drawn in his hand and he asks for immediate identification after revealing himself to be a Shinobi of this land, so of course he answers. "I am Blues of Cloud, I seek out your land to warn you of attacks on villages along your borders...And I also seek information on the current state of Kumogakure.." He asks, his voice a strange echoed whisper from underneath his gas mask. He himself is on guard as well, though the twitches in his arms show off his own injured state rather clearly, his next words are "We also seek refuge for a time until we can complete our travels..?" He states, he knows what his Unnamed companions goal in Haven is, but not the Kunoichi.

The presence of a weapon is making him a bit tense, whilst he can understand the need...Well he is a Shinobi from Kumogakure, a village filled with hot blooded warriors. When a weapon is present violence is almost assured.

"What do I think of when I look at the night sky? Mostly that it would be nice to also have a blanket." Hado grinned sheepishly. What about you?"

He focused on his body, focusing and then circulating his chakra in an attempt to strengthen the flow in a way that would shrug off outside influences.

This was harder than he thought. He frowned slightly, unaware of the new arrival until he spoke. Hado jumped slightly, and if he was standing as close as he had originally intended, Shika might have had a footprint or two on her face.

Apperantly his metal sensing did not extend very far unfortunately.

Another youngster, also a little older than himself. He wanted to know who they all were? Hmm. Hado opened his trap to spew out some words. "Heya! I'm a survivor of a Missing Ninja Raid on a little town way far away, been running around by myself until I found this here fella on the way up to your place." Hado gestured in the direction of Blues.

"And, umm, yeah. I don't know about this one..." Hado gestured at the girl lying on the ground nearby. "But me and Blues could sure use some grub, we've both come a long way apparently in search of some hot meals. A new family too perhaps."

Shika, eyes now open, contemplated her new company. "...I've done some things... That I'm not too proud of." She spoke in monotone as she began to stand up to her full height of five feet ten inches. "Things that can't be forgiven. But that doesn't mean I won't try my hardest to make this world a better place... For everyone else, if not for me." The missingnin's gaze grew firm as she looked down at the strangers surrounding her. "I travel alone, but I can swear that I bear no ill intent towards Haven or its residents."

Arashi visibly relaxed, especially after one of them identified themselves as Kumo.  He spun the kunai in his hand and then slipped it back in his pack, before walking towards them.  However, he did make sure he was within range in case he had to leave in a hurry.

"Kumo?  A bit far from the Land of Lightning for information.  Lucky for you.." he said, turning so that the kumo headband on his arm was visible in the moonlight.  "I'm a survivor of the attacks on Kumo.  I can let you know the most I know myself, but you may be better off taking to the ninja leaders.  I don't know if you remember her, but Akihana Akari is here." he said, gesturing down the road to the gates.

"Anyways, my name is Arashi, a ninja of the Star Village, Hoshigakure.  If you would like, I can escort you to the village for rest and food, we only ask that your intentions remain clear and benign.  We are a new village, or rather, an old village now being protected by its own ninja." he said, walking closer to the group.  It would wait for their answer before he would decide whether to take them, or leave them here.

The familiar sign of the Cloud Village has Blues releasing a breath he didn't realize he was holding in, his shoulders relax from their ready stance and with a sigh he brings up his hand and pulls down his gas-mask to reveal his face, his goggles are slid up revealing hazel colored eyes as the Kumo-Refugee now has his full attention. His brows are furrowed in worry now, there's only one circumstance he can think of where a Kumo Shinobi would identify themselves as..as the Shinobi of another village. A Disciplinary Squad Member's presence here instead of In the Village also has a cold chill run down his spine, he worries his bottom lip with his teeth briefly before he nods. He folds in half in a bow "I am Blues, Genin of Kumogakure, a refugee of the attack...Could you please escort me to Akari-sama?" He repeats his eyes sharper now, but filled with the apprehension that comes with what he's already deduced.
Confirmation is what's left, but...already thoughts of what he's supposed to do next come whirring through his head. "Is..Yaju-Sen-" He pauses and clears his throat "Is Raikage-sama also here?" He asks his quiet whisper neutral as he asks.

The blade upon his hip feels heavier as he asks this question, he doubts that if these two are here...Yaju Hayate would not flee, if Akihana Akari, a Member of the Disciplinary Squad is here...
It does not bode well for the Denizens of Kumogakure. He'll get his answers from Mistress Akari, then he'll...He'll figure out what to do.